Preseason Game Review: Kansas City Chiefs at New York Giants, August 13, 2004

New York Giants 34 – Kansas City Chiefs 24

Game Overview: There were positives and negatives to point out regarding the Giants’ 34-24 come-from-behind victory over the Chiefs in the preseason opener. But what probably pleased new Head Coach Tom Coughlin the most was that the Giants did not hurt themselves in the game. They were penalized only five times for 40 yards and that is excellent for the first time out on the field. The offense did not turn the ball over either.

HB Ron Dayne was impressive. The quarterbacks played fairly well, especially considering all the blitzing the Chiefs did. The back-up tight ends made some plays as receivers. The starters and reserves on the defensive line were solid. The Giants defended the run pretty well against one of the best running attacks in the NFL. Special teams were improved.

However, the linebackers did not play well. Pass coverage by both the backers and secondary was not good. There were too many missed tackles. The starting offensive line, while it has talent, has a lot of work to do in order to come together as a cohesive unit and not a lot of time. In addition, depth on the offensive line is a concern. The Giants gave up one big kickoff return to start the game. And the Giants still don’t really know who will be returning punts or kickoffs at the start of the season.

And let’s be honest, the Chiefs really helped the Giants by committing an atrocious 19 penalties for 160 yards.

Some good, some bad. To be expected from the first preseason game. But the Giants came away with a victory against a Super Bowl contender and that has to have them feeling better about themselves.

Quarterbacks: The play of Kurt Warner and Eli Manning was surprisingly positive when you consider that both quarterbacks are still getting used to the Giants’ (1) new system and terminology, and (2) surrounding personnel. Plus, Manning is a rookie. Jesse Palmer is also learning a new system and terminology, but he also played fairly well.

Warner (3-of-7 for 49 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) looked very comfortable and sure of himself. He dropped back quickly, made his read, and got rid of the ball. There was no indecisiveness and he certainly wasn’t bothered by the pass rush. Also, he showed pretty good arm strength on his two deep throws to Ike Hilliard that fell incomplete. He was a bit off the mark on both these throws and that may be due to the fact that he is still getting accustomed to Ike’s (and all of the receivers) deep speed.

Warner’s most embarrassing moment is when the football slipped out his hand during a misdirection screen pass play. Whether this is an example of continued issues with his previously injured hand or simply a coincidence based more on a slippery ball remains to be seen. The play could have been very easily ruled a fumble. Kurt’s best play of the night came a few plays later, when on 3rd-and-25, he scrambled away from pass pressure and found TE Marcellus Rivers down the field for a 33-yard gain.

Eli Manning’s (7-for-13 for 91 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) first real chance to work for an extended drive came with only 1:09 left on the clock before halftime. However, just like he has demonstrated at camp, Eli was impressive in the 2-minute drill, moving the Giants 53 yards in 7 plays, setting up a successful 42-yard field goal. What is impressive about Manning is that, for a rookie, he seems to read the defense very quickly and throw the ball to the correct receiver. Not reflected in his stats are the two big pass interference penalties he helped to cause with accurate deep passes to WR Willie Ponder. What was also impressive was the poise with which he played despite the fact that the Chiefs blitzed him repeatedly – an unusual move in a preseason football game.

However, the media and many fans would have been all over Eli had former Giant safety Lyle West been able to hold onto a pass that he should have intercepted and returned for a touchdown early in the 3rd quarter. Manning correctly read the blitz on the play and tried to get the ball to what he thought was his open hot receiver, Rivers. However, Rivers wasn’t open and disaster almost resulted. This is rookie inexperience. Still, seeing all these blitzes early will only accelerate his learning curve.

A play that I really liked by Eli was the swing pass to HB Chris Douglas that picked up 22-yards. On this play, Eli looked off the coverage like a veteran before coming back in the opposite direction to Douglas.

I’ve been a very harsh critic of Jesse Palmer (3-of-6 for 37 yards), but he played pretty well. He did a nice job of hitting WR David Tyree for 8-yards on 3rd-and-8 on his first drive of the game. He then threw a perfect pass in the endzone to Tyree for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Giants ahead for the first time all night. This despite the fact that the Chiefs were coming on an all-out blitz on the play.

Wide Receivers: The Giants’ big two, Amani Toomer (0 catches) and Ike Hilliard (0 catches), didn’t play all that much. No passes were thrown in Toomer’s direction. The Giants surprisingly tried to hit Hilliard deep twice, but he was fairly well covered on both plays.

The leading receiver was JaJuan Dawson with 3 catches for 35 yards. He would have had yet another reception for 16 yards, but that was brought back due to a penalty. Dawson had a key 24-yard reception on Manning’s field goal drive right before halftime.

Willie Ponder (1 catch for 6 yards) was interfered with twice on deep passes from Manning, both resulting in 20-yard penalties. However, he also got chewed out on the sideline by Coughlin for his route-running on an end zone shot from Manning that fell incomplete. Ponder did a nice job of blocking on Dayne’s long TD run and on HB Chris Douglas’ swing pass, but he missed his man completely on the backside of the 4th-and-1 play that HB Ron Dayne did not convert. This missed block may have been the direct cause of the failure on the play.

David Tyree (2 catches for 19 yards and a touchdown) has struggled as receiver throughout camp, but he made the catch of the night with his 11-yard TD reception from Palmer. It was a great over-the-shoulder catch where he walked a tight rope keeping his feet inbounds. A big time play.

Chris Davis had a huge 19-yard reception on 3rd-and-2 late in the game when the Giants were trying to run out-the-clock. The play helped to set up the final Giants’ touchdown.

Running Backs: Like Toomer and Hilliard, Tiki Barber (4 carries for 20 yards, 1 catch for 6 yards) saw enough time to get some work in and then sat. No need to risk hurting the Giants’ feature back in the preseason. Barber looked sharp, averaging 5 yards per carry. He cut back well, squeezed through tight spots, and was elusive as always. He did a poor job of picking up the blitz on the play where Warner through to Rivers for 33-yards. Incidentally, the chop block penalty called on him was bullshit since the defender was not engaged with another lineman.

Ron Dayne (11 carries for 118 yards and two touchdowns) was amazing. Early on, it looked like a bit of the Ron Dayne of old as his inside the tackle runs were not picking up much yardage. However, unlike previous seasons, Dayne kept his feet moving and pushing forward and this paid off big dividends on Dayne’s 3rd-and-1 effort that was originally stuffed. Dayne broke through the line and was off to the races for a 29-yard touchdown run. On the very next drive, Dayne had a huge hole to run through and was not touched on his 67-yard touchdown jaunt, but what was impressive was that Dayne out-ran everyone on the Chiefs’ defense for the score.

Dayne started off well again in the 3rd quarter with a 14 yard run, but he was not able to pick up a first down on three successive runs on 2nd-and-3, 3rd-and-2, and 4th-and-1. However, to be fair to Dayne, backside penetration on the latter two plays led to Dayne being hit before he got to the line of scrimmage. Still, short-yardage failures have been Dayne’s achilles heel in the past and this was a bit disconcerting.

Chris Douglas (10 carries for 47 yards and one touchdown; 1 catch for 22 yards) looked pretty good. He’s not a very powerful runner, but he has decent speed, has some elusiveness in terms of cutting ability, and will fight for yardage. He can also catch the football. I was impressed with his blitz pick-ups – especially when you consider that he is a rookie.

As for the fullbacks, both Jim Finn and Charles Stackhouse just are not powerful lead blockers. They can get in the way and be effective in terms of position blocking, but they inevitably get stood up in head-to-head confrontations with linebackers. I still miss Charles Way.

Tight Ends: The presence of Jeremy Shockey dramatically changes the nature of the Giants’ offense and not having him in the game makes it easier for teams to focus on Toomer, Hilliard, and Barber. Visanthe Shiancoe and Marcellus Rivers will never be in the same category as Shockey, but that doesn’t mean they can’t become good players. Both showed well in the receiving department against the Chiefs, but had their ups and downs in the blocking department.

Shiancoe caught 2 passes for 24 yards and looked much more natural as a receiver than he did last year. However, his blocking was inconsistent. Unlike Rivers, he has the ability to move defenders off the line of scrimmage with power due to his physical ability. There were times when he did just that. For example, he drove the left defensive end inside on Dayne’s 67-yard touchdown run; this was a key block. He also had a good block on Dayne’s first TD run. But on another drive, I saw him have problems pass blocking the defensive end and then miss a run block.

Marcellus Rivers caught 2 passes for 47 yards, including a 33-yarder. He can get down the field. However, even though he has become a better blocker over the last couple of seasons due to his ability to stay engaged with his man more effectively, he does not get any movement. Worse, he sometimes gets pushed backwards and this causes penetration that sometimes disrupts running plays.

Joe Dean Davenport didn’t look bad blocking, but he is clearly behind Shiancoe and Rivers on the depth chart.

Offensive Line: I am not as concerned about the starting unit as I am about the depth situation. Yes, there were some rough spots with the starters. But that is to be expected in the first preseason game when you have four new players at four positions, one of whom is a rookie. But there were bright spots too. For example, Warner had plenty of time on his two deep throws to Ike Hilliard.

David Diehl is obviously not comfortable at right tackle yet. He had some rough plays in pass protection. Both he and LT Luke Petitgout struggled in picking up a couple of stunts when the defensive tackle looped to their side. Petitgout looks like he has put on more mass. He mostly did a good job when run blocking, but he missed some blocks too (such as on Dayne’s 29-yard TD run). He also gave up a pressure on Warner’s 33-yard pass to Rivers. Diehl gave up a sack late in the second quarter.

Inside, Shaun O’Hara is not a mauler, but he looked quick and adept at engaging linebackers at the second level. LG Barry Stokes made a great block on Dayne’s 67-yard TD run on a pull to the strongside. However, he is not a particularly strong player and he did get shoved backwards on the bull rush. He also doesn’t get the movement at the point-of-attack that RG Chris Snee gets. Snee looks like he is going to be a great run blocker. He attacks the defender, gets movement, and sustains his blocks. He also did a fairly good job in pass protection, except for one holding call.

The back-up situation scares me, especially with Ed Ellis now done. Wayne Lucier played center against the Chiefs, but he can serve as a decent OC/OG swingman for the Giants as a reserve. He got a good block on Dayne’s 14-yard run in the 3rd quarter. However, he got beat pretty badly on a Douglas run late in that quarter and was forced to hold on the play.

Ian Allen only played left tackle and I am not sure it is a good sign for him that he didn’t play any snaps at right tackle. There were plays where Allen perfectly controlled his man, but his complete breakdowns are too frequent and I seriously question his future as a Giant. He as beat to the inside for a sack by a rookie early in the 3rd quarter.

LG Scott Peters was terrible. He had problems both as a run and pass blocker. For example, he allowed backside penetration on Dayne’s unsuccessful 3rd-and-2 run in the 3rd quarter. He also gave up a bunch of pass pressures and got no movement in the running game. He was also flagged with holding on a Douglas run for 6-yards.

Travis Scott didn’t impress me at right guard. He appears to lack power and didn’t seem to be particularly effective in pass protection either. I am not sure why Mike Saffer didn’t play since he had been ahead of Travis on the depth chart.

Greg Walker didn’t look too bad at right tackle. He gave up a sack and a pressure, but there may be something to work with there as he certainly has the size and he didn’t seem to embarrass himself in the ground game. I have to see more of him before I make a strong judgement.

I would have liked to have seen LT Drew Strojny play more. He got a real nice downfield block on Douglas’ TD run.

Overall Defense: The good news is that the ground defense was surprisingly effective against a top rushing team despite the fact that the Giants had six new starters playing and SLB Carlos Emmons was out. Mental breakdowns in pass defense did occur, as was to be expected given the new system. However, the physical breakdowns in coverage were a bit worrisome. The linebackers looked slow and had problems in pass coverage. Will Allen had a bad game. The Giants gave up drives of 66, 91, 64, and 84 yards in the first half – mostly through the air. That is not good.

Defensive Line: I thought the defensive line played well, and did a good job in run defense against a team renowned for its offensive line and rushing attack. The Giants gave up 100 yards rushing and were only really hurt by one HB Priest Holmes run for 20 yards on their first scoring drive – and that play was more of a case of the linebackers not making the play.

Of the starters, the guy who surprised me the most was DE Keith Washington, who played both the run and the pass well. Keith (and Quincy Monk) stuffed the first Chiefs’ run of the game. He later nailed HB Larry Johnson for a 1-yard loss. In the 2nd quarter, a strong pass rush by Washington forced an incompletion.

DE Michael Strahan didn’t play long, but almost sacked QB Trent Green on a play where he forced an incompletion.

The two new defensive tackles are an imposing presence in the middle of the line. The Chiefs didn’t really challenge them and that probably says something. Norman Hand pick up a sack. Fred Robbins did get flagged for being offsides.

Interesting Osi Umenyiora saw time both on the strongside and weakside. He came into the game for Strahan early on. Umenyiora didn’t start really making plays until the second half against the Chiefs’ reserves, but he was very effective at this point of the game. He was disruptive against the run, beating the offensive tackle to hit the halfback a couple of times in the backfield. On one play in particular, he made the play despite being held and drawing a flag. Umenyiora also got some heat on the quarterback a couple of times and tipped a pass away.

The second team defensive tackles were Martin Chase and Lance Legree. I wasn’t impressed with Chase who got walked back into the endzone on Larry Johnson’s 3-yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter. Lance Legree did better as I spotted one good run defense from him as well as a decent pass pressure. He also drew a holding call.

The pleasant surprise to me of the reserves was DE Khaleed Vaughn who was pretty stout against the run and had a couple of decent pass pressures. Vaughn did have some problems playing down the line of scrimmage on outside the tackle runs in his direction and got hemmed inside on one 16-yard run in the 4th quarter. Still for an undrafted rookie free agent, I was impressed.

Third-team defensive tackles Mario Monds and Delbert Cowsette did a good job too. Monds stuffed a 3rd-and-1 one run and later made excellent penetration and hit the ball carrier on the Chiefs’ one fumble of the game. Cowsette got excellent penetration on this play as well and was credited with the forced fumble. On the next Chiefs’ drive, Cowsette got good pressure on a 3rd-and-8 pass play.

DE Issac Hilton didn’t flash and I was unimpressed by his lack of hustle on one quarterback scramble.

Linebackers: This group did not have a strong game. To be fair, starting SLB Carlos Emmons did not play and starting MLB Nick Greisen left the game on the first drive. That only left WLB Barrett Green. And he didn’t play particularly well. He got fooled by a play-action fake on the Chiefs’ second series on play to the tight end that picked up 14 yards. In the 2nd quarter, Green was badly beaten by the halfback out of the backfield for a 22-yard gain. Pass defense is supposed to be the strength of Green’s game, but he didn’t show it against the Chiefs.

Quincy Monk saw snaps both at middle linebacker and on the strongside. He had an up and down game. There were times when he did a good job of playing the run, such as the Chiefs’ first offensive play of the game. He also showed good pursuit from the middle linebacker position on the next Chiefs’ drive on a 4-yard carry by HB Priest Holmes. But later in the drive, he got blocked at the point-of-attack on Holmes’ 20-yard run. Monk had a chance to stop HB Larry Johnson’s 3-yard TD run for a loss but couldn’t make the tackle. On the Chiefs’ next drive, he badly missed a tackle on Johnson after Johnson caught the ball – leading to a 13-yard gain.

Reggie Torbor was used both at linebacker and defensive end. As a linebacker, he struggled. He completely ran himself out of the play on Holmes’ 20-yard run. On the next drive, the fullback beat him for a 13-yard reception. Torbor was also nowhere to be seen on the 14-yard screen pass later on that drive. On the play where the Chiefs’ scored, he got blocked at the point-of-attack. The good news? Torbor doesn’t look stiff at all and runs like a linebacker (unlike many defensive line conversion projects). He also hits.

Wesly Mallard was much more sound in pass coverage than the other linebackers. He did a great job of disrupting a screen pass by reading it early and staying with the back. Mallard also made some plays against the run, something he hasn’t done in previous preseasons. Kevin Lewis saw time both at middle linebacker and outside linebacker. He nailed the back for a 1-yard loss on one play and did a good job of playing off a block and tackling the ball carrier on another. However, he looks slow in coverage. There was one pass play to the back that went for 19-yards when Lewis was late getting over.

As for the third team guys, I wasn’t impressed with Jim Maxwell. He looks too lean to stand up against the run. However, MLB Robert Peace was around the ball quite a bit. He smacked one Chief after a short reception and recovered a fumble. He also looked pretty good in run defense.

Defensive Backs: There were some big mental mistakes. The most glaring was the complete breakdown in coverage on TE Kris Wilson’s 23-yard touchdown reception. I have no idea who was supposed to pick up Wilson on this play, but someone goofed.

Will Allen had a rough game. Worse, some of his bad plays were against a rookie free agent. Allen started the game off well with a sure, open-field tackle on a pass to HB Priest Holmes. He later made an excellent play in run defense. But he got beat by WR Samie Parker on what should have been a 1st down on the Chiefs’ first drive, but the ball was overthrown. On the Chiefs’ second scoring drive, Allen got beat badly by rookie WR Richard Smith for 32 yards on 3rd-and-11. On another scoring drive, he got beat over the deep middle for a 27-yard gain by Smith again on 3rd-and-8. Allen had tight coverage on the play, but failed to make a play on the ball.

CB Will Peterson was not picked on except for one play where he got beat and then fell down on a 19-yard gain by no-name WR John Booth.

SS Shaun Williams is a frustrating player. There are times when he excels as when he was left all alone with All Pro TE Tony Gonzales on one play down the deep middle and he covered him like a blanket. But he got beat by TE Kris Wilson on another play – luckily, Wilson dropped the ball. Williams badly missed a tackle on FB Omar Easy after a short pass – and this turned into an 18-yard gain for the Chiefs.

The very costly defensive holding penalty on nickel back Terry Cousin on 3rd-and-6 was a terrible, terrible call. Bad officiating. Cousin did get beat for a 15-yard reception late in the 2nd quarter on 2nd-and-8. In the 3rd quarter, Cousin made an excellent open-field tackle on TE Kris Wilson for no gain.

CB Frank Walker got burned for what should have been a big play by the Chiefs on 3rd-and-11 in the 3rd quarter, but Samie Parker dropped the ball again.

CB Curtis Deloatch got badly caught inside on an off-tackle run in the 4th quarter that picked up 16-yards.

CB Jamie Winborne had a good game in run defense. He played way too off the receiver on an easy completion for 6-yards. But he was very aggressive and physical against the run, including making a superb play on 4th-and-1 by tackling the bigger back short of the 1st down marker.

FS Jack Brewer knocked away one 3rd-and-8 pass late in the 4th quarter (he probably should have intercepted the ball) and knocked away the final Chiefs’ pass of the game in the endzone.

Special Teams: Things didn’t start off well when the Chiefs returned the opening kickoff 45 yards. It didn’t help matters that kick-offs by Bill Gramatica and Todd France were poor. But kickoff coverage settled down after that with David Tyree making a couple of tackles.

Punt coverage was decent. A lot of this had to do with superb punting of Jeff Feagles, who punted for hangtime, distance, and direction. Making tackles on punt coverage were Quincy Monk, Marcellus Rivers, Jack Brewer, and Reggie Torbor.

Willie Ponder did a fairly good job on kick-offs (averaging over 27 yards per return on four returns). He was aided by some strong blocking from the wedge. HB Curtis Keaton is too sluggish to be a returner.

Punt returns were not as good. Curtis Deloatch muffed a punt that should have been a turnover deep in Giants’ territory, but the officials called a bogus penalty against the Chiefs. WR Avion Black had one good return for 14 yards.

Both David Tyree and Jack Brewer got good heat on the punter and Tyree caused former Giants’ P Rodney Williams to actually pull the ball down or it would have been blocked. It would be nice for the Giants to find a way to keep both Tyree and Brewer as both appear to be good as rushing the punter (Brewer blocked a punt against the Giants last year).

(Box Score – Kansas City Chiefs at New York Giants, August 13, 2004)