Preseason Game Review: New York Giants at Carolina Panthers, August 19, 2004

Carolina Panthers 27 – New York Giants 20

Game Overview: As usual with most preseason games (and most regular season games), there was some good and some bad to comment on. The most positive development was the command and poise of the #1 pick in the draft, QB Eli Manning. Facing one of the toughest defenses in the league, and a defense that once again was intent on blitzing the young signal caller, Manning did a great job of recognizing defensive schemes, calling out adjustments, making correct decisions, and firing the ball accurately. Indeed, Manning looked more like a veteran than a rookie.

The offensive line, playing its second game against perhaps the toughest defensive line in football, showed some progress but also made some mistakes. HB Barber Tiki Barber made some plays running and receiving. Both starting wide receivers looked good. However, Ron Dayne gave up a sack in pass protection and fumbled twice.

Defensively, pass coverage remained a problem despite decent pass pressure from the defensive line. The reserve linebackers, filling in for three missing starters, didn’t play fast and certainly didn’t make any plays of note. DE Osi Umenyiora and the linebackers had problems playing off blocks on some running plays.

Specials teams were mostly positive. PK Todd France nailed two long field goals. Coverage was good, but the return game was mediocre again.

One thing I would like to caution all Giant fans on is to not always believe what the announcers are saying, but watch with your own eyes what is transpiring on the football field. For example, when the second half started, the Giants’ starting offensive line was not in the game despite the fact that the announcers said so. However, many posters in The Corner Forum failed to recognize this fact. Also, the announcers said the offensive line was not upset when Eli Manning got hit before a play started. Yet you could see that OC Shaun O’Hara and RG Chris Snee were visibly upset. Watch the game folks.

Quarterbacks: QB Eli Manning (9-of-15 for 117 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) was impressive. No, not because of the numbers he put up, but because of the way he handled himself and the offense. In a very loud and fired up stadium, against a very aggressive and physical defense, Manning kept his poise. He calmly walked up to the line of scrimmage, read the defensive sets, called out adjustments like his older brother does, changed plays, made the correct decisions, and threw the ball accurately. There were plays where he looked off the defense like a veteran as well as spotting the blitz well in advance of the start of the play.

The only negatives I really saw on him were one delay of game penalty and some jumpiness on the series in the 1st quarter that began inside the Giants’ 10-yard line (Manning bailed on the pocket prematurely on one play and then overthrew a receiver two plays later).

One of Manning’s prettiest passes of the night was the laser strike to an extremely well-covered Amani Toomer for 21 yards. On the very next play, Manning correctly read a blitz, changed the play, and threw a quick pass to his hot receiver, TE Marcellus Rivers, for 12 yards. This was a VERY veteran play. Manning just missed Toomer deep on what would have been a touchdown on a wonderfully thrown ball.

Kurt Warner (9-of-11 for 71 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception) also had a good night. He was very, very accurate on most of his throws, missing only two passes – this despite very inconsistent pass protection when he entered the game. Warner moves around the pocket better than I expected. The big negatives that I saw were that one sack he took was a coverage sack (he should have thrown the ball away) and of course the interception that was returned 49 yards for a touchdown on 4th-and-2. However, I give the corner more credit on this play for making the correct read and gambling on an interception. For had the Giants ran a pump-and-go here, the corner would have been burned like toast. Warner was not helped either by the route that WR Jamaar Taylor ran, allowing the corner to jump in between him and the ball.

I thought Jesse Palmer (5-of-15 for 65 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) played well again. His stats don’t look great because there were a lot of dropped passes on his long drive that resulted in a touchdown. He made sharp-looking throws to TE Joe Dean Davenport for 13 yards, WR Chris Davis for 8 yards on 4th-and-6, and WR David Tyree for 13 yards on 3rd-and-7. His best throw of the night was a superb play where, scrambling to his left to avoid pressure, he threw back across his body and rifled the ball to WR Avion Black for 20 yards (on 4th-and-10 no less!).

Wide Receivers: I like the fact that the wide receiver screen seems to be a big play in the Giants’ play book. This is a good play for Ike Hilliard (3 catches for 40 yards) because he is so elusive after the catch. Hilliard picked up 23 yards on one such play after making one man miss.

Amani Toomer (4 catches for 45 yards) made two excellent catches, including one of the best I’ve ever seen a Giants’ wide receiver make. He was well-covered on Manning’s 21-yard strike, but Toomer made a leaping, diving grab. Later in the half, Toomer made another nice catch on a 6-yard pass that was thrown slightly behind him by Manning. Toomer also got a good block on Hilliard’s 23-yard screen play.

As for the reserves, the most active receiver was Willie Ponder (5 catches for 31 yards). Ponder is really helping his cause this preseason, especially when you consider he is the primary kick returner.

Ataveus Cash (1 catch for 12 yards) worked hard to sustain his block on Kurt Warner’s key 4-yard scramble on 3rd-and-3. Ponder had a good block on one of Ron Dayne’s goal line efforts. Jamaar Taylor did not run a crisp route on the play where Warner’s pass was returned for a touchdown. Avion Black helped his cause to make the roster with 2 catches for 31 yards, including a 20-yard reception on 4th-and-10. Chris Davis caught a pass for 8 yards from Palmer on 4th-and-6, but he also dropped two passes later on the drive.

Running Backs: The stats don’t show it, but Tiki Barber (7 carries for 19 yards, 1 catch for 20 yards) looked good. He cut back well (such as on his 11-yard run to the weakside), flashed some speed, and fought hard for extra yardage. There were a couple of runs where had he been given one more solid block, he really would have done some damage. Barber was very elusive on his 20-yard screen pass reception.

Ron Dayne (12 carries for 63 yards, 1 touchdown; 1 catch for 9 yards) had some solid runs, but he did not have a good game. The 3rd-and-1 short-yardage failure was not his fault; a linebacker came free and hit him in the hole before he got to the line. There was also congestion on the play when Jim Finn was called upon to block a defensive lineman (dumb, but not Dayne’s fault). But Dayne was beat pretty soundly on an attempted blitz pick-up and gave up a sack. On the first drive in the 3rd quarter, a positive drive by him (runs of 4, 11, 4, 15, and 3 yards) was spoiled by two back-to-back fumbles on the goal line. Dayne fumbled on the goal line two years ago against Dallas and hopefully this is not another short-yardage problem for him. Also, while Dayne made some nifty moves in traffic on one run, I wasn’t real impressed with his vision on a couple of other efforts (one run, one screen pass) where I think he had a chance for a bigger run had his vision been better.

I thought the fullbacks played better this week. Jim Finn was pretty aggressive. He had a nice cut block on Dayne’s 15-yard toss play on 3rd-and-1. He also made a real nice block on Dayne’s touchdown run. Charles Stackhouse had a good block on one Chris Douglas (7 carries for 16 yards, 1 touchdown) run.

Tight Ends: A solid overall game by Visanthe Shiancoe (no catches) in the blocking department. Shiancoe does have the ability to make the key block at the end of the line on running plays. For example, he got a good block on Dayne’s 1-yard touchdown block at the point-of-attack.

Marcellus Rivers (2 catches for 23 yards) was involved in the passing game, but he just doesn’t have the strength or temperament that Shiancoe has when blocking. He missed a block on a Barber run that lost a yard on the Giants’ first drive of the game. He also got beat pretty badly by DE Julius Peppers on a Barber run for 2-yards at the end of the 1st quarter. I felt Rivers should have gotten a more aggressive chip on LB Mark Fields on the latter’s first sack of the game when Rivers went out on his pass pattern. On the plus side, he demonstrated some real nice run-after-catch ability on his 12-yard catch from Manning.

Joe Dean Davenport (1 catch for 13 yards) just doesn’t do enough to get me excited. He is not as athletic as the other tight ends in the passing game (plus he dropped a pass). In addition, his blocking is inconsistent. He gave up two pass pressures.

Offensive Line: The first group (minus Barry Stokes – Wayne Lucier filled in for him at left guard) played a pretty good game against an excellent defensive team that blitzed a lot. Indeed, until the end of the first half, most people were singing their praises. There wasn’t a lot of running room generated, but that is not to be expected against that defense at this point in time in the line’s development (only their second game together). Cohesion in the run blocking department takes time. All the parts (tackles, guards, center, fullback, tight ends, wide receivers) need to come together. My overall impression is that Chris Snee is already the best run blocker on this team. Luke Petitgout can be a good run blocker, but he’s been a bit inconsistent this preseason. David Diehl needs to play with more leverage, especially in short-yardage situations.

The Giants usually had Manning get rid of the ball quickly so the pass rush wouldn’t be a factor. But there were some longer, down-the-field pass plays where the offensive line afforded Eli solid protection. A couple of plays that looked like jail breaks happened on screen passes where the offensive line is supposed to let the defensive line penetrate.

Chris Snee did a superb job of getting down field and sustaining his block against a defensive back on Hilliard’s 23-yard screen pass (he also showed some nastiness at the end of that play). Shaun O’Hara is also very good at finding and engaging linebackers and defensive backs down the field, such as on Tiki’s screen pass for 20 yards. However, at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, there was one Barber run where O’Hara should have sustained his block better. Before and after this play, Snee gave up two pass pressures. On the very next drive, Snee gave up another pass pressure to DT Brentson Buckner. So Snee had some problems in pass protection.

Luke Petitgout played OK, but I expect more from him. He had a false start. Later he missed a block on DE Mike Rucker on a play where Barber lost 3 yards. On the next drive, Petitgout gave up a sack to Rucker. He was fine except for these miscues, and Rucker is a very good player, but Petitgout needs to elevate his game.

I think Lucier did a nice job at left guard. He didn’t really stand out, but I didn’t see any negative plays on him either.

I think David Diehl is having more mental breakdowns than physical ones at this point at right tackle. On the play where I felt Rivers should have chipped Mark Fields harder, Diehl looked a tad confused on whether he should have picked up Fields on this play. This delay hurt him as Fields rushed by to sack Manning. On the play where Dayne gave up the sack, Diehl did get beat to the inside too.

When the second half started, the offensive line was Ian Allen at left tackle, Wayne Lucier at left guard, Omar Smith at center, Chris Snee at right guard, and David Diehl at right tackle. Smith and Lucier made good blocks on Dayne’s 11-yard run up the gut, as did Marcellus Rivers engaging a linebacker at the second level. Two plays later, Snee, Diehl, and Lucier got good blocks on a Dayne 4-yard run. Snee also got a good block on Dayne’s 1-yard touchdown run (along with Finn and Shiancoe). However, Diehl got clobbered on this play.

Later in the half, the Giants inserted Drew Strojny at right tackle (Allen was still at left tackle) and Greg Walker at right guard. Up until this point, Allen had been playing well, but then he started another meltdown again. He gave up two pass pressures, a sack, and a false start during the rest of the game. Strojny was up and down (mostly down). He got flagged with an obvious holding penalty and then had problems on a stunt. In the 4th quarter, he combined with Walker to get good blocks on a 7-yard run by Chris Douglas. But then he was late to help out the tight end in pass protection and a pressure on Palmer was the result. On the last drive, he gave up another pass pressure and should have done a better job of delaying his man before going out to block a screen pass.

Omar Smith doesn’t do it for me. While not terrible, he is just not that good. He has trouble engaging linebackers at the second level and he got bull-rushed on one play. Travis Scott looks like camp fodder to me. He had a false start and a bad pass pressure. Scott just doesn’t look the part (he’s not very big or strong). Dion Meredith saw some late time at right tackle and gave up one pressure.

One guy who continues to interest me is Greg Walker. Unlike Scott, he is a big guy who can muscle and maul. He gave up a pass pressure, but he also did a fairly decent job of keeping his man at bay.

Defensive Line: Osi Umenyiora started for the injured Keith Washington at right defensive end. The Panthers came out throwing and Umenyiora didn’t get any real strong pass pressures, but he got up the field well enough. The problem for him came later in the first half when the Panthers decided to run the ball right at him. Twice in the 2nd quarter, Umenyiora (and Reggie Torbor) got wired to blocks on the weakside on runs of 7 and 8 yards. (Worse on one of these plays, Osi was handled by the tight end while Torbor was blocked by a wide receiver). Umenyiora also got fooled on a misdirection toss play that picked up 13 yards on 3rd-and-2. Osi did tackle the back for no gain late in the 2nd quarter, but he was unblocked on the play.

DE Michael Strahan picked up a sack on an inside move and had another pressure. Teams are still not running in his direction.

Fred Robbins played well in the first half. He had two strong pass pressures and did a great job of hustling down the line of scrimmage to limit a screen pass to minimal yardage. Norman Hand was flagged for being offsides, but both he and Robbins did gum up the middle again. (I really love having those two big guys in there). Hand stuffed a 2nd-and-2 run down on the goal line for a 1-yard loss.

Of the reserves, the most impressive guy was DE Radell Lockhart, who picked up two sacks. He appears to have moved ahead of Khaleed Vaughn (or Vaughn was hurt because I didn’t see him on the field). Regardless, Lockhart sacked QB Chris Weinke at the end of the second quarter. At the start of the 3rd quarter, he forced what should have been ruled a fumble. Later, he had another good pass rush that forced an incomplete pass and sacked Weinke again on a stunt.

DT Mario Monds also continues to do well. He played off the block well on one run and made the tackle. He then sacked Weinke on a stunt. DT Martin Chase made a couple of plays. He got a good pass rush on one play and stuffed a run for a 1-yard loss on another.

Linebackers: Not pretty. Perhaps it is the general inexperience combined with the new system, but these guys just looked slow and were unable to get off blocks. They did too much reacting and not enough attacking. I’m talking about Quincy Monk, Kevin Lewis, and Reggie Torbor. Torbor at least has a good excuse…he’s a defensive end transition project. But Torbor, while flashing aggressiveness, doesn’t look particularly instinctive against the run. He just got tied up too much. Interestingly, the Giants had Torbor play defensive end quite a bit in the second half. He was right there on one of Lockhart’s sacks.

Same story with Monk and Lewis. They made no plays that made one sit up and take notice. There were also some breakdowns down the middle of the field where TE Keith Mangum was left wide open.

None of the other linebackers made any noise either other than T.J. Hollowell’s tackle in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

Defensive Backs: Some of the problems are mental. For example, there was one big pass play for 38 yards in the 1st quarter on 1-and-20 where WR Steve Smith was left wide open over the middle. I have no idea who was at fault there, but someone screwed up. To their credit, the Giants’ secondary was not fooled on the flea flicker run by the Panthers (a bush league play in a preseason game – shame on John Fox).

I hope Will Allen’s problems have to do with rust and having to still get his body in good working order after a serious career-threatening injury. He had his problems again. On Carolina’s second offensive play, he was beat for 23-yards. To be fair, this was a perfect pass and Allen had very good coverage on the play. But Allen got beat by WR Steve Smith on the next drive for 12 yards (the play got called back on a penalty away from the play). A few plays later, Allen was beat by WR Muhsin Muhammad for a 7-yard touchdown. In the second quarter, Allen missed two tackles on short throws on back-to-back plays.

CB Will Peterson did not play poorly, contrary to what the announcers said. His biggest problem was that he was playing way too far off his man on some plays. Indeed, he gave up a 10-12 yard cushion on some easy completions right in front of him. Was Peterson told to give that kind of cushion or did he do it on his own? One thing where Peterson needs to get better is playing off blocks from wide receivers. He gets hung up too easily on running plays.

SS Shaun Williams had some ups and downs. He was very aggressive in run defense and made some real solid hits and tackles. But Williams also missed a tackle on a Steve Smith catch-and-run that picked up 18 yards. On the next drive, Williams made two positive plays. He had a big hit on HB DeShaun Foster, and then knocked away (and almost intercepted) a pass over the middle to Steve Smith. However, in the 2nd quarter, he was late getting over to cover HB Stephen Davis on his 4-yard reception on 3rd-and-3 down on the goal line. In the 4th quarter (yes, he was playing in the 4th quarter), Williams got beat over the middle in man-to-man coverage by rookie WR Keary Colbert.

Before he left the game with a fractured hand, Omar Stoutmire didn’t do badly. He supplied good deep coverage on a pass to Muhammad against CB Terry Cousin that was overthrown.

FS Brent Alexander was invisible except for his whiff on Steve Smith on the 38-yard pass play where the latter was left wide open down the middle of the field.

CB Terry Cousin wasn’t picked on so that is a good sign. Muhammad did have a step on him on a deep pass that was overthrown. He also lost his man on one 17 yard pass in his zone in the 3rd quarter. Frank Walker was very aggressive in attacking a running play that went for a loss.

S Jack Brewer did a good job of knocking away a 3rd-and-14 pass in the 4th quarter. Early in the game, he made a strong, physical tackle against DeShaun Foster.

CB Curtis Deloatch was so-so. There was one play where the receiver should have picked up the first down against him, but the receiver dropped the ball.

Special Teams: The highlight of special teams was PK Todd France, who perfectly nailed two field goals (from 51 and 42 yards out) with room to spare. Right down the middle! His kick-offs had decent height but only modest distance (fielded at the 10, 10, 1, and 7 yard lines). Biggest negative? His onsides kick was ugly.

Kickoff coverage was good. Returns went for 22 (Stackhouse and Stoutmire making the tackle), 19 (Frank Walker – really nice tackle), 21 (Stackhouse and Chris Douglas), and 17 (Jack Brewer).

The punting of Jeff Feagles was once again very good (45 yard average on six punts). Punt coverage was excellent – returns: fair catch, 2 yards (T.J. Hollowell), touchback (Jack Brewer should have downed this inside the 5), 3 yards (Wes Mallard), 3 yards (Reggie Torbor), and fair catch.

Kick returns were not as good as last week. Worse, Ponder fumbled on one return. Still, Ponder looks far better than HB Curtis Keaton. Ponders returns went for 22 (not much blocking), 29, 16 (and a fumble), and 20. Keaton’s returns went for 25 and 14.

Punt returns were hampered by great punting from the Panthers and some poor blocking. Will Peterson was particularly bad at blocking the opposing gunner. He got flagged with one obvious block-in-the-back (a dumb-ass penalty). Then he did a really poor job of blocking his man (as did Shaun Williams, who got chewed out by Coughlin on the sidelines). Avion Blacks returns went for: 4, 0, and 16. Curtis Deloatch hurt his chances with another muff.

(Box Score – New York Giants at Carolina Panthers, August 19, 2004)