The New York Giants scored 42 points and held the Patriots to just 10 in their third and final preseason game at MetLife Stadium on Thursday. All three quarterbacks who saw the field threw touchdown passes, as the Giants gained 431 yards of total offense, and held New England to just 190 yards.
It was – another – impressive performance in the preseason by the Giants. Now tough decisions are set to be made. Let’s go over how each position group performed for the Giants, and see if any fringe roster players may have played their way onto the final roster.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart continued his impressive preseason by connecting with Gunner Olszewski for 50 yards on his first pass of the game:
Dart finished 6 of 12 for 81 yards with a touchdown to Greg Dulcich to conclude his initial drive. Five of the six incompletions were dropped or very catchable passes by the Giants’ receivers, and one by Jonathan Ward. Dart, however, failed to slide on an excellent third-down run when he easily already secured the first down. He was tackled by a pursuing defender and fumbled the football. Luckily for the Giants, the Patriots were guilty of a defensive hold; even luckier – Dart cleared the concussion protocol and was okay after the hit.
Jameis Winston replaced Dart and this was his first pass:
Winston finished 4 of 8 for 47 yards with a touchdown and an interception. It appeared as if the coaching staff wanted to target Jalin Hyatt deep often in this game; Winston uncorked it a few times and once to Beaux Collins – that’s where the interception happened on a fourth-and-4 in field goal range. Winston missed a wide open Greg Dulcich on one of his misses to Hyatt, who was double covered.
Tommy DeVito led an 11-play, 74-yard drive on the Giants’ first offensive effort of the second half. He was ripping RPOs and was on-target. The ball was jumping out of his hand on the short passes and he looked crisp to start. He concluded that drive with a Thomas Fidone II touchdown on an out.
DeVito then connected with Jonathan Ward on a 41-yard screen touchdown that was well blocked and timed by the Giants. DeVito also looked good throughout the game, finishing 17 of 20 for 198 yards with three touchdowns.
Grade: A
Running back
The Giants rocked with Dante “Turbo” Miller and Jonathan Ward after giving Cam Skattebo his first professional action with three carries for 12 yards – he got four yards on each carry. Miller finished with a 3.7 yards per carry average (11 carries, 41 yards). Ward had six carries for 29 yards (4.8 yards per carry) with a long of 12 yards.
Miller and Ward were both heavily involved in the passing attack. Ward had the 41-yard screen touchdown and Miller caught all three of his targets for 12 yards. The running backs were fine in this game and continue to be reliable check down options for their quarterbacks.
Grade: B+
Wide receiver
Undrafted Notre Dame rookie Beaux Collins dropped two passes from Jaxson Dart in the first quarter. Jalin Hyatt also dropped two Dart passes, one that hit him on the inside shoulder. Hyatt would make up for it later in the game with a Jameis Winston 27-yard touchdown reception. Other than the Gunner Olszewski 50-yard catch and run, the Giants’ receivers were struggling early with Dart at quarterback.
Olszewski led the Giants in receiving with three catches for 68 yards. He may stick around on the roster through his special teams value, but he has also done well operating as a backup slot receiver as well. Hyatt had three catches for 38 yards with a few disappointing plays as well. Overall, it wasn’t the greatest outing for the Giants’ receiver group.
Grade: C
Tight end
Both Greg Dulcich and Thomas Fidone II found pay dirt in the game, and both played a large compliment of snaps. Dulcich caught two touchdown passes, after Fidone II almost scored for a second time but was brought down at the 1-yard line.
The two tight ends are presumably fighting for a roster spot and it’s plausible that the Giants would LOVE to keep both, and may try to sneak one onto the practice squad depending on their vision and plan for Daniel Bellinger, who is entering a contract year and is more costly than the other two players.
Grade: A+
Offensive line
The Giants’ offensive line was sufficient. They weren’t paving paths in the rushing attack, but the pockets were solid other than a few mistakes; one was an Evan Neal mistake or miscommunication on a deep pass by Dart that went incomplete; the rookie took a big shot on the play.
I usually like to reserve a lot of my judgment on the trench play until I can get my eyes on the coaches’ film. However, off the cuff, they appeared to be solid.
Grade: B
Defensive line
The Patriots had every intention to establish the run against the Giants with their second and third string offense (first string did not play). The Giants’ defense held their own and they were not bullied. Several stretch zone plays where the defense built a wall and bottled the run up for minimal gains. Players like Elijah Chatman, Elijah Garcia, and DJ Davidson had a few highlight plays that I’m excited to see on the All-22. Overall, the defensive front did well.
Grade: A
Edge defenders
Chauncey Golston and Abdul Carter saw snaps early in the game with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux resting. They held their own. Trace Ford, however, earned plenty of snaps and continued to hold his own as an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma. There could possibly be a spot for a player like Ford on the final roster, although he’s competing with another player who has been solid for the Giants in Tomon Fox.
Fox won around the edge against a tight end, who held him, and sacked Ben Wooldridge in the two-minute drill to conclude the first half. Overall, Ford will – at the very least – be a quality practice squad player, and he did well once again against the Patriots
Grade: B+
Linebackers
Similar to the defensive line, the linebackers were in position. However, they missed several tackles in the hole, putting the secondary in a position to be that last line of defense. I appreciated their ability to keep the continuity of the defense in-tact, but they need to do a better job at finishing.
Grade: B-
Cornerbacks
The Patriots had a very conservative approach against the Giants. Wooldridge played the entirety of the game and the Patriots passing attack never took flight until a few chunk plays in the two-minute drill to conclude the first half. TJ Moore was picked on a bit during that drive, and he was guilty of a defensive holding penalty. Dee Williams surrendered a touchdown with nine seconds left in the half.
Cor’Dale Flott and O’Donnell Fortune had several positive plays as the catch-point that earned PBUs or incomplete passes. The young secondary held strong throughout the game. Art Green also did an excellent job imposing his physicality with two big first quarter tackles; one forced a field goal attempt on fourth-and-1 after two other Giants missed tackles – the field goal went wide right.
Moore earned his redemption at the end of the third quarter with this pick six as an underneath zone defender in Cover-2:
Moore was unfortunately injured, seemingly severely, in the final four minutes of the game on a special teams’ play.
Grade: A
Safeties
The Giants only had TWO safeties dressed against the Patriots: K’Von Wallace and Makari Paige. The Giants were running wide receiver Antwan “Juice” Wells as a safety in pregame. Paige had an excellent play in run defense to start the second half. Nic Jones, who was the primary backup for Dru Phillips when he was injured, continues to show his versatility by playing some safety. Overall, the safeties were not tested much in the pass game and were solid in their run fits. Although there wasn’t anything overly exceptional or flashes, they executed their assignments well.
Grade: B+
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