There is plenty of angst surrounding the performance of the Giants’ first-team offense during Saturday night’s preseason game against the Colts in Indianapolis.
The Giants emerged with a 27-26 win thanks to the second- and third-stringers, who rallied from a 26-0 fourth-quarter deficit to improve the team’s preseason record to 3-0. But as one Giants insider put it, “That and a quarter won’t get you a cup of coffee.”
The offense looked anemic as Eli Manning completed just one pass and the Giants never reached Colts territory, having to punt on all six of its first-half possessions. But at least the offense has the excuse of having to learn a new system being installed by offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
That’s why perhaps the most troubling aspect of Saturday’s game was the performance of the first-team defense. If the offense is going to take time to jell, it’s the defense that must stand firm and keep the Giants in close games. They can’t expect the second- and third-stringers to bail them out once the regular season begins.
Before the game, Giants defenders said playing the Colts would be a good test of their progress. Grade them a D. Three of the Colts’ first five drives lasted nine plays or longer, fueled by 14 first downs.
After going three-and-out on their first possession, the Colts sandwiched touchdowns around two field goals on their next four drives. A fumble by Quintin Demps on a kickoff return positioned the Colts for one of the field goals. Otherwise quarterback Andrew Luck and the Colts put together drives of nine plays, 14 plays, and 10 plays en route to a 20-0 lead at halftime.
Luck was 12-of-18 for 89 yards and one touchdown before giving way to Matt Hasselbeck one series into the second quarter. Former Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks torched his old team for five receptions worth 53 yards as the Colts totaled 177 yards to just 48 for the Giants in the first half.
“We weren’t able to stop them in any consistent fashion at all,” Tom Coughlin said. “We had a play here or a play there. But by and large it wasn’t what we expected.”
Perhaps most troubling is the Giants defense couldn’t get off the field. The Colts converted 5-of-10 third-down situations and the Giants helped by committing six penalties for 45 yards.
While the offense can blame its inefficiency on the newness of McAdoo’s system, the defense has no such excuse. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is in his fifth season with the Giants and the majority of the players are familiar with the scheme. Yet there were few impact plays.
The only pressure Luck was under came when defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins grazed him on one play. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul looked as if he was going through the motions, failing to collect a sack or a tackle.
The secondary, thought to be the strength of the defense, wasn’t helped by the lack of a pass rush and couldn’t contain Nicks. The two most productive players on defense were linebackers Jacquian Williams and rookie Devon Kennard. Williams, in his fourth season, had a team-high nine tackles, while Kennard, a fifth-round pick from USC, had five tackles and a sack of Colts third-string quarterback Chandler Harnish late in the second quarter.
“There’s not enough plays being made by our starters on offense or [the] defensive side of the ball,” Coughlin said. “We didn’t get any turnovers with our 1s or our 2s, and that’s something you always count on.”
You expected some growing pains from the offense, but the defense needs be showing signs of strength if the Giants want to avoid a poor start to their season.