Rundown: Jets Defeat Super Bowl Champs!
All right, I know. It was preseason.
Still, there was a lot to like in tonight’s pre-season game against the NFL’s other New York team that ended in a 10-7 victory for the Green and White. Let’s start with the positives.
Jets fans could not have been disappointed with the play of Brett Favre who showed undiminished poise and skill in the thirty minutes that he played. Barring a couple of inexplicable penalties by an offensive line that seemed shaky in the face of a defensive line featuring guys named Umenyiora, Kiwanucka and Tuck (thank God his name didn’t run four syllables), Favre’s line would have read 11 of 14 for 174 yards, ten points and a touchdown. His quarterback rating would have been 143.03. Not bad for an old man. Of course, the penalties did occur so he didn’t have any touchdowns that counted but that wasn’t his fault. Even still his qb rating was a very respectable 97.9 (and we know what a reliable stat that is, don’t we?).
Brad Smith would seem to have the third wide receiver spot locked up as he started with the first team in lieu of Coles who didn’t play, and ran some nice routes and caught a few darts. Stuckey was in pretty early also so it’s fairly clear he’s the fourth receiver. Keller dropped a beebee but made a couple of nice catches including both a sidelines route (where it took four Giants to get him to the ground) and a beautiful seam route from the Rat in the second half. Signifcant YAC on the latter.
Kris Jenkins is the best free agent pickup in a generation. Early on, the Giants tried to single team him and he was five yards deep in the backfield collapsing the pocket in two seconds. He also played special teams and swatted a safety aside with his contempt alone. On the other hand, Calvin Pace is the best free agent pickup in a generation. He had two sacks and countless pressures. He’s picked up the system really quickly. When I think what will happen when these two guys really know the system I begin to see what opposing OCs will have to game plan for and I sigh happily.
Cotchery, well, you know.
Dwight Lowery got significant early reps and gave every indication of being a smart, young corner with good cover skills. He repeatedly broke off his route and made the tackle on plays to his side. That wouldn’t be surprising except he’s a rookie who knows he’s being judged by the coaches for a job. To break discipline on a receiver in order to make a better play on a screen pass showed real poise and sensibility. This is a smart kid who may start.
The Jets managed to stop a fourth and one for no gain. When’s the last time you saw that? On the whole, the vaunted running game of the Giants went nowhere. Linebacker play was, on the whole, pretty good with the exception of a few more mistakes by Gholston but he definitely looked a lot more like a football player tonight than he did last week.
The Giants’ first team offense scored zero points. In fairness, they missed a 42 yard field goal because their kicker is injured but the same offense that beat the daylights out of Washington’s defense last week couldn’t do a thing against the re-tooled Jets defense.
Kellen Clemens looked good in the first of his two possessions engineering a nice long drive at the beginning of the second half. This drive, which ended in a field goal, featured two fourth down conversions and a few nifty throws and one other thing, no mistakes.
Kareem Brown and Marques Murrell continued to impress. Murrell’s motor is a thing of beauty. He had countless pressures against the Giants’ second teamers. Abram Elam made a lot of plays with the second and third team.
Now the negatives:
What was going on with the O Line? They were less disciplined than a pre-K just before nap time. Faneca had a false start. Mangold (yes, Mangold) had a false start—he’s got the ball! There were illegal shifts on the tight ends, wide receivers who didn’t step up to the line on shifts, illegal formations. Mangini had steam rising from the top of his head. At one point they had to clear the sidelines of married Jets to protect their children.
The Jets repeatedly shot themselves in the foot negating at least a hundred yards and two critical plays that would have resulted in ten points.
I haven’t watched the game a second time but Justin Miller did not seem to be making plays. Lowery and even Poteat were clearly more involved in the defense. I’m not sure where Miller is going to fit in.
For you Caulcrick fans, not a good night. He had a couple of gaffes that Mangini could not have liked.
Interesting notes:
David Barrett played significant quality minutes at safety which was good because Eric Smith was not impressive. I know a lot of people want Barrett on a slab but he has not embarrassed the team. With his contract restructured, I can’t see the value in cutting him.
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Actually, I’m pretty sure Stuckey is the third receiver. The reason Smith started is because he’s backing up Coles and so is used to running the same routes, but when it comes time to go three wide, I expect Stuckey will be the guy in the slot. (Actually, I suspect Keller will be the guy in the slot, but that’s a separate issue.)
Could be. I thought I remembered Smith running slot routes last week but I haven’t reviewed the tape and Coles was out then too, anyway. Speaking of Keller, I got the impression that Favre was looking for him when he was in there.
The Giants running game still averaged 5.1 yds a carry. That scares me a little. Overall the defense showed an improvement and that’s a positive thing.
i can see it the highlights of monday practice is gonna be laps and a whole lots of laps
we did some good things as a D , and yes jenkins is a beast
KC secured the 2nd string job for now and ainge is for sure on the practice squad he has no chance of making it
and the compitition for the 3rd WR spot is b/w stuckey and brad
atleast its an upgrade from justin drop every pass mccarrins
Nice writeup. Lots of positives to take from tonight, mainly on the defensive side of the ball. Lowery, Pace, Jenkins, Coleman all looked really good. Gholston showed some improvement. Elam, Murrell, and Brown made a few aggressive plays.
Offensively, Brad Smith looked good. Keller was getting open consistently. Cotchery was his usual studly self. Leon looked quick as always. The biggest problem (outside of inexcusable offensive line penalties) is that Thomas Jones looks washed up. He looks slow, and overmatched by the linebackers. He can’t turn the corner and cannot make people miss. I hope I’m not the only one who sees this!
you know what else i saw , i saw D brick dominate osi
nyckage,
agreed! i should have mentioned d’brick. he looked good tonight.
our D looked great tonite and it all starts with that big man in the middle….
also gholston i thinked looked alot better….
idk if anyone noticed but on the sack at the end of the half by pace if u watch the replay gholston was in on the play too and put great pressure on eli…
i really like lowery i think he is gonna develop into a ball hawk corner….
and it was a beautiful thing watching harris come right up the gut and sack manning for a loss of 10 all because of once again the presence of kris jenkins taking up a double team….
i love chad but he better watch out because i am sure this front 7 is gonna be hungry
and of course favre was….well favre.. he looked great
Who would have guessed and 8-1 sack differential would have gone in the Jets favor?
One thing for sure is that Kris Jenkins is not “the best free agent pickup in a generation”, the reason being that he was acquired in a trade and was not a free agent.
I don’t think T Jones will have problems he just hasn’t been the focus and I think that is partially because they are going with a lot of passing plays for Favres benefit.
If you have Jones in the swing pass safety valve isn’t as good as when Leon is in.
Brad Smith finally looked like a WR to me tonight. He showed hands and concentration and took hits.
Chatman also looked decent. He can catch out of the backfield too.
On Gholston’s first play he pressured Eli. He also took on a double team and strung the play out to the sideline and helped force the ball carrier out. He is starting to play football.
Pace and Woody look good. It’s early still but I’d be very surprised if Pace is a waste of money like so many people speculated when he was acquired.
The reason nobody saw Miller, is because he got injured early during the game. He was unable to put any weight on his left knee.
Paul,
The 5.1 yds/run average was for the whole game. What really matters is the first half with the starters. Then the avaerage was 3.4 yds/run, much better and telling.
ramble914,
You have to take into account the 19 yard run by Jacobs in the first quarter. They allow too many big runs, and that was the first team D. I have a little concern there.
paul
that 19 yard run happened becuz jacobs reversed his run back to the right side where VG broke off his containment…but on the very next play VG learned from his mistake and held his containment allowing barton to make the play…other than that our run defense did look good…but still needs to get better…just my thoughts…
Ramble914, Jacobs had 6 carries for 26 yards (4.3 avg) and Ward had 4 carries for 36 yards (9 avg). So where did you get 3.4 ypc in the first half?????
I don’t know why but Brett Favre looks tired to me–tired and older than his 38 years. Well time will tell all.
I liked the resilience of the D. All teams get gashed. It’s what happens after they do that is meaningful. The D tightened up and held time after time, firsts and seconds. They only gave up one FG attempt and one TD. Pretty good against a good Giants team.
Our D looked very good considering the new key players. The Giants had first and goal and came away with nothing. It’s what happens inside the 20 that is most important.
The O line penalties were Kotitian — Thomas Jones is not getting it done — Leon Washington is –