Posted on August 22, 2017, by Travis Pulver
Expectations are high this season (for some odd reason) for the New York Giants. The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand, have no expectations. A good day for them may just be one in which everyone gets to the stadium on time. But based off how the two teams looked Monday night, that may not be the case for long.
Yes, the New York Giants have a great defense, but they will need a little help from the offense if they are going to win any games. From the looks of it so far, they probably will not get much. Cleveland had some moments on offense, but not a ton of them. In defense of the Browns, it is only fair to point out they were playing against one of the toughest defenses in the NFL.
Via @iamEliManning
Of course, it is just the preseason. Maybe the Giants offense is looking so bad because head coach Brian McAdoo doesn’t want to show opponents anything more than the basics until the regular season starts. Maybe the Browns defense looked as good as it did because the Giants offense was not trying hard.
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Who knows. But even with the ‘it’s preseason’ qualifier in mind, there were some things worth noting in Monday night’s game.
- For those interested in the score, the Browns (yes, the Browns) won a low-scoring affair, 10-6.
- The Giants have yet to score a touchdown on offense during the preseason. Yes, it is only preseason, but whoever a team puts on the field on offense should be able to score at least once.
- New York still doesn’t have any semblance of a running game. The holes were not there (again), and when they were, Paul Perkins didn’t hit them (six carries, 10 yards). Shane Vereen made a couple of decent runs (two carries, 16 yards).
- Wayne Gallman, who played late in the game (and against scrubs) did the best with 22 yards on five carries (long of 11 yards). But his fumble late in the game will keep him from climbing the depth chart.
- The Giants running game was terrible last year, so what did the team do to improve it? Nothing! So, once again it sucks. The offensive line did a terrible job last year, and it is doing a terrible one so far, this year as well.
- The early word on Odell Beckham Jr. is that he suffered an ankle sprain after getting drilled by Browns defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun early in the second quarter. He was able to go back to the locker room on his own but was shown stopping and going to the ground before making it. It was eventually reported he had an ankle sprain and had been evaluated for a concussion (negative). He eventually returned to the sideline, but in street clothes.
- They ended up losing wide receiver Brandon Marshall as well. Late in the first quarter, he was popped pretty hard by Browns safety Jabrill Peppers. He was eventually taken back for x-rays, but the team did not share the results Monday night.
- If Eli Manning goes down, the Giants offense will go from terrible to so bad a new word will have to be created to accurately describe how bad it will be. Geno Smith is still the same guy Jets fans know and despise. He proved that with a late red zone interception. As for Josh Johnson, he didn’t play much. But when he did play, it was against scrubs—and he was still terrible.
Via @Sportsnet
- On one play, the Giants had Olivier Vernon, a defensive end, in pass coverage downfield—and it worked.
- Cleveland, as usual, has a quarterback problem. But it isn’t the standard problem. They are paying Brock Osweiler a ton of money, he has the most experience, but he can’t complete a pass downfield (6-8 for 25 yards and an interception). DeShone Kizer threw okay (8-13 for 74 yards) and even tacked on 35 yards in the running game, but he has a lot of work to do before he’s ready. Cody Kessler looked efficient (7-7 for 50 yards.
- So do you go with Osweiler because he’s more experienced? Kizer because he has more upside? Or Kessler because he’s good enough for now?
- Whoever plays will get some help from a decent defense. The unit did fine against the Saints last week and looked pretty solid against New York’s first-team offense Monday night.
- Myles Garrett=Beast
- When defense forces three turnovers, the offense should score more than 10-points. The touchdown did come after a turnover, but otherwise, the offense did little.
Next up for the Giants will be another tough defense in the New York Jets (Saturday at 7 PM ET). The Browns will try to remain undefeated when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also on Saturday (with kickoff at 7:30 PM ET.