The New York Giants easily cruised by the New York Jets with a 31-12 victory at MetLife Stadium. Brian Daboll gave the first team on both sides of the football a decent complement of snaps after the two teams shared the practice field twice during the week. It was the Giants who outgained the Jets 478 to 333 (yards).
It wasn’t a flawless game by the blue New York team, but there was plenty to get excited about, including a Russell Wilson moon ball and further development from rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart. Here are grades for each position group with analysis on their performance.
Quarterback
Russell Wilson showcased the moon ball off a play-action pass that followed a solid Tyrone Tracy Jr. first down on second-and-8. Wilson connected on an anticipatory pass over top the safety Andre Cisco for 80 yards to rookie UDFA Beaux Collins. It’s refreshing – to say the least – to see a quarterback connect deep with a wide receiver.
Wilson also found Wan’Dale Robinson on a third-and-6, but Brandon Stephens knocked the football away from Robinson, forcing a punt on Wilson’s second drive. Wilson started on his own 2-yard line on his third drive; he found Jalin Hyatt on a 21-yard comeback off play-action on the first play of that drive.
Wilson did end his day with an interception on a miscommunication with Beaux Collins. You win some, you lose some. Wilson finished 4 of 7 for 108 yards with an interception.
Jaxson Dart performed exceptionally well and led the Giants on a nine-play, 71-yard touchdown drive and a 12-play, 55 yard touchdown drive. He looked poised while clinically dissecting the Jets’ second-team defense for a rushing and passing touchdown. He had answers to the Jets’ defenses and proved himself well in his second preseason game.
Dart finished 14 of 16 for 137 yards with a touchdown through the air and on the ground.
Jameis Winston had exciting plays and also had his mistakes. He finished 6 of 11 for 112 yards with a rushing touchdown. The Giants did run a lot of tempo with Winston and Dart. The Jets did not seem to have much of an answer for either.
Grade: A+
Running Back
Tyrone Tracy Jr. picked up 39 yards on seven carries with one impressive 10-yard second-and-8 DUO run. Tracy Jr. had a few other very impressive runs, including this one:
Devin Singletary had two carries for five yards with the Giants’ first touchdown, as well as a catch for one yard. Dante Miller was heavily involved in the screen game and continues to show his explosiveness. Miller is a valuable player who has a shot to make the 53-man roster, which would be heavily assisted if he can prove his worth on special teams.
Miller caught screen pass after screen pass from multiple quarterbacks, while he received work well into the fourth quarter.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver
Beaux Collins started the game with a BANG, but had the miscommunication with Wilson, which led to an interception. Overall, it was positive for the rookie who is attempting to secure a roster spot as an undrafted free agent. It was pleasant to see Jalin Hyatt run this route and secure 21 yards on the first team:
Wan’Dale Robinson’s limited catch radius was an issue on the Giants’ second drive. Wilson found Robinson outside the numbers behind the curl-flat defender, but Brandon Stephens came off the vertical and drove through Robinson’s hands to force an incompletion on the Giants’ second drive. The young receiver has to be stronger at the catch point and come back to the football to maximize the very poor catch radius that he unfortunately possesses.
Dalen Cambre secured a 34-yard grab from Jameis Winston that set the Giants up at the Jets’ 3-yard line. The Giants committed a delay of game and Winston took a sack, leading to a field goal from New York.
Grade: B-
Tight End
Theo Johnson was the beneficiary of Jaxson Dart’s first pass play – a 30-yard pass play. It was Johnson’s only target, and Dart did an excellent job changing his arm angle for the completion:
Greg Dulcich also had a big play:
The tight end room is a tight battle on the backend and one could surmise that Dulcich could be the odd man out. However, he has made plays all throughout camp and seems to have a rapport with Dart. He’s a quality player, who had a solid outing against the Jets.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line
The Giants offensive line did enough to allow Tracy Jr. to average 5.6 yards rushing and Big Blue also scored two rushing touchdowns. Their timing on screens is much improved and the pocket off play-action was intact. James Hudson III allowed his assignment to reach Jaxson Dart from the backside, which prevented a MASSIVE gain from the rookie, but he wasn’t terrible in this game.
Evan Neal had some impressive reps in the run game and a quality pull-block that allowed Dart to step up in the pocket. He also had a bad miss that got Dart nailed. Baby-steps for the large man.
Grade: B
Defensive line
The Jets leaned heavily on the rushing attack to start the game. The Giants capitulated space but the pass rush – and pass defense – shut down Justin Fields on his two drives. The run defense was vulnerable with Elijah Chatman and DJ Davidson on the field. Roy Robertson-Harris had a highlight or two against the run (from the broadcast), but overall the run defense wasn’t excellent.
I have not watched the All-22 yet, so I want to reserve my official judgement of Darius Alexander, but I didn’t see him jump off the screen, again. He gets stuck to blocks too frequently and isn’t very noticeable beyond his impressive size.
Grade: B-
EDGE
Both Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux were active in run defense and they both had backside pursuit tackles down the line of scrimmage that held Braelon Allen and Breece Hall to minimal gains. Both had solid joint practices and they carried that momentum into the game.
Abdul Carter had his first real “welcome to the NFL moment:”
Carter had a nondescript game in the limited snaps he saw. I’m not too worried about this play, but it’s something he’ll see a decent amount on social media.
I want to shout-out Trace Ford who displays elite hustle and helped facilitate the Makari Paige interception early in the second half.
Grade: B
Linebacker
Bobby Okereke missed the first-team defense’s final drive and Darius Muasau stepped in for the veteran, but Okereke did return for the first second-team defense snaps. Micah McFadden missed a fit or two against the run.
Grade: C-
Cornerback
Cor’Dale Flott had a big pass defense against Garrett Wilson, which bodes well for the former LSU Tiger as he attempts to usurp Tae Banks as the starting cornerback opposite Paulson Adebo:
The Giants’ depth cornerbacks were aggressive during the Jets’ two-minute drill at the end of the first half. Art Green and TJ Moore were both quick to make tackles in bounds, forcing the clock down and preventing the Jets from scoring a touchdown at the end of the half.
Grade: B
Safety
Jevon Holland and Dane Belton were active in run support and helped the rest of the Giants defense shut down the Jets’ passing offense. Fields had one completion and looked erratic on most of his five passing attempts.
Makari Paige secured an Adrian Martinez interception on third-and-4:
Grade: B+
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