New York Giants center Weston Richburg calls out the play of the offensive line following a rough outing from quarterback Ryan Nassib.
It wasn’t the start to the season anybody had hoped to see from backup quarterback Ryan Nassib in the New York Giants first preseason matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Nassib completed 46.7% of his passes for 75 yards, two interceptions, and no touchdowns in the game.
He also rushed three times for 12 yards, but fumbled three times – one of them lost.
The poor performance was actually a fairly big anomaly for the former Syracuse signal caller.
Throughout Nassib’s previous 12 career preseason games he had gone 105 of 196 (53.5%) for 1,313 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
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He had also fumbled just once, despite rushing 18 times for 43 yards during that stretch.
Even in regular season contests, Nassib has rarely stumbled.
In the five games regular season games he’s played in, Nassib has gone 9-for-10 (90%) for 128 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
Nassib’s three turnovers against the Dolphins lead to 17 points for the opposing team.
The fourth year veteran threw his first two career NFL interceptions, not at all looking like the player many thought he was.
However, Giants’ center Weston Richburg doesn’t believe all the blame should rest on Nassib’s shoulders.
“I think we didn’t really help him out that much and I think he was under pressure a little bit. We kind of made it rough on him,” Richburg said via the Big Blue View.
Richburg was referring to Miami’s four sacks on Nassib during the game.
In his 17 previous regular and preseason games, he had been sacked only 12 times, never more than twice in one game.
The Dolphins put him under constant diress and forced him into some poor throws.
“I think there were probably three or four or five different combinations of offensive lines out there,” Richburg said. “I think maybe some guys are not familiar with other guys but that is how preseason goes.”
Bottom line is: the pressure got to Nassib’s head.
He missed on throws he needs to make. Receivers were getting open, but Nassib couldn’t get them the football.
Most notably, Sterling Shepard did a great job getting open, once for a sure touchdown on a goal-line play and another on a deep route he may have been able to run in to the end zone.
Nassib under threw both balls, getting picked off on the long throw.
Throwing while under pressure from the opposing defense is never an easy thing to do for a quarterback.
Even some of the game’s current best – like Tom Brady and Cam Newton – have notable difficulty when under fire.
It’s an aspect of his game he will need to greatly improve upon if he ever hopes to become a starter in the NFL.
