The Giants took a rather circuitous route to a 27-26 victory over the Colts in Indianapolis, running their preseason record to 3-0. Let’s shake down this virtual eyesore of a victory if you can stomach it.
Giants Rally in Wild Fourth Quarter
Nothing More Than a Morale Boost: Had this been a regular season game, this victory would be one of those miraculous comebacks that get full-game replays until the end of time on NFL Network. It would’ve been the lead story across all of the talking-head networks and Giants fans would have the date of Aug. 16, 2014 permanently branded into their collective memories. Unfortunately, this was backups versus backups, complete with a fortuitous fumble recovery interspersed in with the last-minute chaos. It all just ended up leaving a lot of questions still unanswered about the assimilation of new parts from every spectrum of the team.
Giants Starters Have Been Abysmal: There is no other way to put it. Eli Manning had another bewildering evening as he completed just one pass in seven attempts on his night. Victor Cruz continues to have a tough summer as he fumbled after a catch. The running back tandem of Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams, after showing flashes of real consequence between the Bills and Steelers, were all but invisible on Saturday. I know that they’re probably still working things out under Ben McAdoo’s system; you could even make the argument that they’re deliberately holding back until the opener in Detroit. But man, oh, man, the Giants had better hope that this awfulness is not a clear indication of where the starters sit with three weeks to go.
Penalty Fest: There is a renewed emphasis on calling defensive holding downfield, and both teams had a hard time avoiding the laundry. The officiating crew likely will need surgery on their torn rotator cuffs after all the throwing of flags. A combined 26 penalties (which seemed like a light number, to be honest) made an already choppy and sloppy game feel that much longer. Both coach Tom Coughlin and coach Chuck Pagano were probably none too pleased about their team’s inability to play smarter. And you have to wonder how much longer games will be if officials are going to completely take out the option of letting the players play once the games start to count.
The Best Battle is For Eli’s Backup: Curtis Painter are neck and neck and I’m not ready to live in a world where Curtis Painter looks competent. It just doesn’t fit the natural order of things in this universe. Ryan Nassib was clearly the best player on the night. He engineered the last two scoring drives, including a 4th-and-16 strike to enigmatic tight-end prospect Adrien Robinson to set up the last-minute game-winner to Corey Washington.
A Royal Pain: Cornerback Prince Amukamara left the game with a groin injury. No immediate update was given, so the severity is unknown. You have my permission to panic, though.
Nicks Showed Up: The new Colt caught five balls for 53 yards. And drew he a taunting penalty in the direction of cornerback Trumaine McBride. Motivation has always been the key for the former Giant and he was that last night.
Up Next: The Giants “visit” the Jets in their usual preseason matchup on Friday night. It’s the “dress rehearsal” game for the starters, and Lord knows don’t Eli and company need the reps.
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