Despite their starting offense struggling again, the New York Giants evened their preseason record, defeating the Jags 22-12 Saturday night.
By Jeff Weisinger
The New York Giants picked up a big win to even their preseason record on Saturday night, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 22-12 at MetLife Stadium. However, a preseason win is far from the story of the game.
For the second preseason game in a row the Giants first-string offense struggled to get anything going.
Quarterback Eli Manning was a mere 4-for-14 for just 46 yards, leading the Giants to just one field goal in his three series played, starting off his night with just one completion in his opening drive – a 13 yard pass to tight end Larry Donnell that was originally ruled incomplete, but was reversed to a completion after a challenge by Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
5 standout players from #JAXvsNYG. VIEW: http://t.co/d6J2HbQaqC via @Giants #NFL pic.twitter.com/TmhCzxSus4
— Dan Salomone (@NYGsalomone) August 23, 2015
Manning was 1-for-5 in the opening drive and missed his next five passes after Donnell’s catch.
Reigning NFL Rookie of the Year wideout Odell Beckham Jr. has yet to record a reception during the preseason after coming off of a year where he set Giants franchise rookie records for catches (91), receiving yards (1,305) and touchdowns (12).
He achieved all that while missing the first four games of the regular season with a hamstring injury. Beckham’s struggles continued in the second week of the preseason as the Jaguars secondary paid close attention to where he was throughout the first half.
Wideouts Corey Washington and Preston Parker also had poor nights, recording just three combined catches for 31 yards between the both of them. There was one moment where Beckham thought he had his first catch of the preseason on a deep ball by Manning in the fist quarter, however the replay after the play determined that he didn’t maintain possession after the catch as he went to the ground.
WATCH: Eli Manning gives his take on the performance of the #Giants offense vs. Jaguars http://t.co/J6GYKyQuCI
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 23, 2015
Parker, starting in place of Victor Cruz, dropped what would’ve been a perfect back-shoulder fade as Manning tried to take advantage of the one-on-one coverage. The drop force the Giants to settle for a 51-yard field goal by Josh Brown. Overall the Giants were held to just five first downs during their night.
The field-goal by Brown was the first set of points scored by the first-team offense this preseason.
While the Giants first-string struggled, the backups got the job done offensively on the night.
Second-year backup quarterback Ryan Nassib went 19-for-35 for 217 yards with a touchdown to Dwayne Harris on an eight-yard slant in the red zone with 13:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Halfway through the preseason, the Giants 1-1 record is defined by the inability of Ben McAdoo’s offense to get anything done in his second year as the offensive coordinator. If the Giants are expecting a major improvement offensively, the starters are going to have to step up big-time when they take on the Jets next Saturday the beloved Snoopy Bowl.
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