The Giants played keepaway from the Patriots and that’s the reason they won this football game.  David Carr played most of this game for the Giants as he completed 20 of 29 passes for 192 yards with 2 TD passes.  TE Darcy Johnson caught a 26-yard TD from Carr and WR Sinorice Moss caught a 9-yarder.  Danny Ware led the Giants in rushing in this game as he rushed for 49 yards on 13 carries (3.8 ypc).  Reuben Droughns was also busy with 34 yards rushing on 8 carries (4.3 ypc).  Brandon Jacobs was very effective in his limited time on the field as he carried the ball 3 times for 32 yards (10.7 ypc).  Ahmad Bradshaw pitched in with 30 yards rushing on 12 carries (2.5 ypc) in this game.  Rookie WR Mario Manningham led the way for the Giants in the passing game with 41 yards on 5 catches (8.2 avg). WR Brandon London also had a solid game with 4 grabs for 40 yards (10.0 avg).  The Giants finished up with 159 yards rushing on 43 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 29 passes for 180 yards.  The Giants had possession of the football for an amazing 39:50 of this football game!

The Giants’ defense was led by safety Michael Johnson and linebacker Chase Blackburn and Gerris Wilkerson who each had 5 tackles apiece.  The Giants held the Patriots to 80 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 19 passes for 117 yards.  The Giants finished up the preseason with a 2-2 record.

The Giants have lost starting DE Osi Umenyiora for the season due to knee surgery.  This is a huge blow to the Giants defense as Umenyiora played in all 16 games for the Giants last season and he made 52 tackles, had 13 sacks and he forced 5 fumbles as he was a huge playmaker for the Super Bowl Champs.  The Giants are probably moving Mathias Kiwanuka to DE to replace Umenyiora there but he had adjusted well to linebacker last season.  Last year Kiwanuka played in 10 games for the Giants and he made 46 tackles, defensed 4 passes and had 4.5 sacks.  The smarter move for the Giants might be to leave Kiwanuka at linebacker and let veteran Renaldo Wynn start at end.  Wynn played in 12 games for the Saints last season and he made 13 tackles and had 3.5 sacks.  Losing Umenyiora is the latest blow to a Giants’ defense that won’t likely be anywhere near as good as last year’s crew.

The Giants played pretty solid defense on Saturday Night but they couldn’t get anything going on offense and it cost them this football game.  Eli Manning started for the Giants and he completed 10 of 17 passes for 113 yards without a TD pass or an interception.  David Carr made a brief appearance completing both of his pass attempts for 18 yards.  Rookie QB Andre’ Woodson finished up the game and he didn’t look good completing 3 of 8 passes for 41 yards with a pickoff.  Derrick Ward led the Giants’ in rushing against the Jets with 36 yards on only 4 carries (9.0 ypc).  2nd year running back Ahmad Bradshaw also had a solid game with 7 carries for 28 yards (4.0 ypc) with a 1-yard TD run.  Brandon Jacobs was also busy with 26 yards rushing on only 6 carries (4.3 ypc).  Dominek Hixon led the Giants again with 51 yards receiving on 3 catches (17.0 avg).  Rookie Mario Manningham also had a decent game with 3 catches for 41 yards (13.7 avg).  Steve Smith pitched in with 4 grabs for 37 yards (9.3 avg).  The Giants finished up with 107 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.1 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 27 passes for 115 yards.

Linebacker Gerris Wilkerson led a solid effort by the Giants’ run defense with 9 tackles last Saturday Night.  Safety Sammy Knight pitched in with 5 tackles.  The Jets finished up with only 58 yards rushing on 26 carries (2.2 ypc) in this game but they completed 20 of 28 passes for 214 yards.  The Giants’ defense just couldn’t get off of the football field in this game as the Jets had possession of the football for 34:24.

The final score does not indicate how well the Giants played in this football game as they were up 30-3 1 minute into the 2nd quarter.  Eli Manning was very sharp as he completed 4 of 7 passes for 52 yards with 2 TD passes (11 and 24 yarders to Domenik Hixon).  Anthony Wright followed Manning and he was very ineffective as he completed 4 of 8 passes for 34 yards with 1 interception.  David Carr followed Wright and he was so-so completing 7 of 14 passes for 53 yards.  Rookie Andre’ Woodson finished up and he threw only one pass and he didn’t complete it.  Danny Ware was awesome in leading the Giants in rushing with 97 yards on 10 carries (9.7 ypc).  2nd year RB Ahmad Bradshaw was very busy also with 8 carries for 28 yards (3.5 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 4 passes for 24 yards (6.0 avg).  Derrick Ward pitched in with 25 yards rushing on 5 carries (5.0 ypc) and Brandon Jacobs carried the ball 7 times for 24 yards (3.4 ypc).  WR/KR Domenik Hixon was the MVP of this football game for the Giants as he caught 4 passes for 63 yards (15.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also returned a kickoff 82 yards for a TD against the Browns.  The Giants rushed for 201 yards on 36 carries (5.6 ypc) last night against the Browns and they also completed 15 of 30 passes for 129 yards.

The first team defense played great for the Giants last night but the backups were awful almost letting the Browns come all the way back.  Linebacker Bryan Kehl led the way for the Giants on defense in this game with 5 tackles.  FS James Butler didn’t make any tackles but he scored on a 94-yard fumble return for a TD.  The Browns finished up with 74 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 33 passes for 279 yards.

The Giants have placed reserve offensive lineman Shane Oilvea on the Injured Reserve List due to a bad back.  It’s quite possible that the Giants will cut him as soon as he is healthy which means he would have never played for them.

Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat last season and all he did was win the Super Bowl getting fans and critics off of his back.  The Giants defeated the best three teams in football (Packers, Cowboys and Patriots) other than themselves on the way to glory.  Coughlin has now coached 4 years for the Giants and he has compiled a 35-29 record (54.7%) during the regular season and he is 4-2 with the Giants in the post season.  Coughlin is a taskmaster that often riles up his own team due to his stringent rules but the team responded to him when he really needed them to.  Coughlin has now coached in 12 seasons in the NFL and he has compiled a 103-89 (53.6%) record during the regular season and he’s 8-6 (57.1%) in his post season career.  Coughlin is a very underrated NFL head coach and his team will prove this season that the Giants weren’t a fluke last year.

The Giants have signed 27-year old safety Stuart Schweigert.  Schweigert had just recently been cut by the Redskins last week so he may have some secrets for Giants’ coaches.  Anyway, Schweigert played in 15 games with the Raiders last season and he made 68 tackles, defensed 4 passes and he picked off two passes.  Look for Schweigert to get a lot of playing time in dime and nickel packages plus he should help out on special teams.  He has now played in 63 games in his NFL career and he has made 316 tackles, has defensed 20 passes, has forced 2 fumbles and he has 4 interceptions.  This was a nice low risk signing for the Giants as Schweigert is a pretty decent safety.

The Giants didn’t look to interested in tonight’s preseason opener in Detroit.  Eli Manning made a quick exit after completing only 2 of 6 passes for 19 yards.  Anthony Wright followed Manning in the game and he was 9 of 13 passing for 116 yards.  David Carr led the Giants to the only TD they would score on the night hitting WR Craponso Thorpe with a 13-yard TD pass.  Carr was the most impressive QB of the night for the Giants as he completed 10 of 13 passes for 104 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.   Brandon Jacobs led the Giants in rushing with 27 yards on only 2 carries (13.5 ypc).  WR Sinorice Moss might have woken up tonight knowing that he has to fight for a roster spot as he caught 2 passes for 55 yards (27.5 avg).  The Giants rushed for 79 yards in tonight’s game on 24 carries (3.3 ypc) and that’s not too good.  They also completed 21 of 32 passes for 231 yards.  They have a few things to work on before the season starts in September.

The defense was led by rookie safety Kenny Phillips with 8 tackles.  Linebacker Chase Blackburn of the powerful University of Akron finished up with 7 tackles.  The run defense was pretty solid for the Giants tonight as they held the Lions to 84 yards rushing on 35 carries (2.4 ypc).  They did have some issues however defending the pass as the Lions completed 19 of 24 passes for 214 yards.

30-year old Lawrence Tynes will be the placekicker for the Giants again in 2008 and they need him to have another good season.  Tynes played in all 16 games for the Giants last season and he connected on 23 of 27 field goals (85.2%).  Tynes also made 40 of 42 extra points last year.  Tynes sometimes loses his concentration and misses some easy kicks so the Giants’ special teams coach must keep him focused on the job at hand.  Tynes has now played in 64 games in his NFL career and he has made 91 of 114 field goals (79.8%).  Tynes has also nailed 177 of 183 extra points (96.7%) in his career.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B-

With the way the Giants have loaded up at WR you have to think that the TE won’t get near as many passes thrown to them in 2008.  Still, 2nd year man Kevin Boss made some big plays for the Giants in the post season last year.  Boss is a big guy at 6’6″, 253 pounds and he has a solid set of hands.  He will likely catch whatever is thrown to him and he has a few moves to help him get down the field.  Boss played in 13 games for the Giants last season and he caught 9 passes for 118 yards (13.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs as a rookie.  He should have a good season in 2008 for the Giants.

6’4″, 270 pound Michael Matthews might play some fullback and some TE in 2008 for the Giants.  He is a good blocker but he doesn’t have the speed to get downfield in the passing game.  Matthews played in all 16 games for the Giants last season and he caught 6 passes for 28 yards (4.7 avg). 

The Giants like 25-year old Darcy Johnson but he hasn’t shown much in his NFL career to this point.  He has played in 1 game in his NFL career and he has yet to catch a pass.  Johnson does have upside so he could move up the depth chart this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-