The New York Giants Start With A Thud – Rattle And Hum Sports

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NFL: Preseason-New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars

NFL: Preseason-The New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars

The New York Giants Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

By: JT Kronemberg

The World Champion New York Giants played in their first preseason game August 10, 2012 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This game showed the Giants have a lot to improve upon. There were great moments and moments where you questioned what exactly they were doing. Nonetheless, the Giants did what they always do: let the other team stick around, giving them the opportunity to win the game. This is exactly what the Jaguars did when they pulled out a 32-31 win after being down by 17 at one point.

The starters played the entire first quarter, showing at times that they have the potential to be good. But of course mistakes were made. It is good that they make these mistakes now so they have the rest of training camp to resolve these issues and be near perfect at the start of the season. Eli Manning attempted eight passes, completing four of them for a total of 60 yards. Manning had a couple of miscues, though, throwing behind some of the wide receivers. The defense came out and let the Jaguars drive down the field, going 89 yards with only two third down plays for a total of 13 plays, resulting in a touchdown. On the second kickoff of the game, rookie David Wilson broke out for a 48 yard return and in the next play Manning connected with Victor Cruz for a 28 yard reception. Unfortunately, Jarrel Jernigan dropped a touchdown pass that was right in his hands on third down, forcing the Giants to kick a field goal and bringing the score to 7-3. On the Jaguars first offensive series after the Giants’ field goal, Prince Amukamara caused a fumble and Justin Tuck recovered it. This resulted in a DJ Ware two yard rushing touchdown. This series showed the offensive line creating holes for DJ Ware to move down the field. Considering the Giants were last in rushing yards last season, this is a good sign. The Giants ended the first quarter with a 10-7 lead.

In the second quarter, we started to see the backup players, with the exception of Jason Pierre Paul, coming back in for a couple of plays on defense. The first big play of the second quarter came when linebacker Adrian Tracy sacked the Jaguars quarterback, causing a fumble. Jason Pierre Paul recovered the fumble. This turnover led to a 15 yard run by DJ Ware, setting up a Martellus Bennett 12 yard touchdown reception on a pass from backup quarterback David Carr. This put the Giants up by 10. On their next series, David Carr was able to move the Giants down the field, resulting in a 5 yard one-handed touchdown catch by wide receiver Isaiah Stanback. This gave the Giants a 17 point lead, their biggest lead of the game. The Giants thought they would be going into the half with a 17 point lead and all Jayron Hosely had to do was catch the punt return. Instead he called for a fair catch, lost site of the ball and fumbled it at the Jaguars’ 5 yard line. The Jaguars recover the ball, scored a touchdown and the score at half time was 24-14.

In the third quarter, the Giants didn’t do much offensive-wise. Each rookie had a big play. Rueben Randle had a 21 yard catch and David Wilson had a 26 yard run, but the Giants weren’t able to capitalize off of these plays because they didn’t score in the third quarter. The defense let the Jaguars march down the field again and score a rushing touchdown, bringing the Jaguars within three points. On the touchdown play, two of the Giants missed tackles and one got run over as the running back ran into the end zone.

In the fourth quarter, the Giants defense was able to get two sacks on the Jaguars quarterback. Special teams had a fumble recovery off of a punt, placing the offense at the six yard line. This turnover resulted in a Rueben Randle six yard touchdown catch. This gave the Giants a 10 point lead and showed the coaches that the Giants know how to capitalize off of turnovers. The Jaguars’ three turnovers resulted in three Giants touchdowns. Rookie defensive tackle Markus Kuhn had a batted pass at the line of scrimmage. Jarrel Jernigan fumbled the ball on a punt return, giving the Jaguars the ball at their own 10 yard line. This turnover resulted in a field goal, making the score 31-24, because the Giants defense was able to stop the Jaguars from getting into the end zone. The Giants were not able to come up with a score on their drive, giving the ball back to the Jaguars. Again the Giants were not able to stop the Jaguars from progressing down the field, resulting in a nine yard rushing touchdown in which the Giants had two missed tackles. This made the score 31-30 and the Jaguars went for a two point conversion. The Jaguars scored the two points with a pass to the back of the end zone. Jaguars took a one point lead with a little under two minutes remaining. The Giants had the chance to come down the field and score a field goal but they made mistake after mistake. Third team quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was not giving enough time to make a decent throw down the field. Perrilloux was trying his hardest to move around and get to the open guy but the offensive line was not protecting him. Perrilloux threw the ball after passing the line of scrimmage, taking away the pass that got the Giants into field goal territory. The final play of the game was Perrilloux getting sacked, causing the loss.

The Giants showed some potential but also showed there is a lot to work on. This is the first preseason game, but everyone does expect more from the reigning Superbowl Champions. The Giants were able to get a 17 point lead over the Jaguars but were not able to hold on to their lead. The highlights from this game were the rookies and the returners on special teams. The most disappointing would have to be the defensive starters allowing the Jaguars to advance down the field and score a touchdown on their first offensive series. There are high expectations for this Giants defense. Regardless of being the World Champions, the Giants have a lot to improve upon to be ready for the start of the regular season. Next up, the Giants have their backyard rival the New York Jets on Saturday August 18, 2012. Hopefully, they will come out more prepared than they were for this first game.