In a rematch of Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, the New York Giants once again came out victorious. This one had a little bit less at stake, though.
In the end, the New York Giants eked out a 23-21 win over the New England Patriots to kick off the preseason.
Editor’s note: All grades in this article are subject to review. All PFF player grades will be finalized by 12 pm ET tomorrow.
NEW YORK GIANTS
QUARTERBACK: Daniel Jones
| Passing depth | PFF Grade | Comp/Att | Yards |
| Short (0-9 yards) | 61.6 | 5/7 | 52 |
| Intermediate (10-19 yards) | 70.7 | 1/1 | 17 |
| Deep (20+ plus yards) | 42.6 | 0/2 | 0 |
• Jones got two drives on the day and led the Giants to a field goal on one of them.
• Tyrod Taylor looked comfortable on his extended run. He looks like Jones' clear-cut backup.
RUNNING BACK
| Player | Attempts | Rushing yards | Yards after contact per attempt | Missed tackles forced |
| Antonio Williams | 9 | 61 | 4.6 | 3 |
| Gary Brightwell | 7 | 40 | 3.1 | 2 |
| Saquon Barkley | 4 | 12 | 2.0 | 1 |
• Antonio Williams couldn't have done too much more on his nine carries. In fact, he gained more yards than all the Patriots backs combined.
RECEIVERS
| Player | Rec./tgts. | Yards | YPRR | Passer rating generated |
| Collin Johnson | 7/8 | 83 | 3.07 | 109.9 |
| Richie James Jr. | 3/4 | 44 | 2.2 | 150.0 |
| Kenny Golladay | 1/3 | 6 | .6 | 42.4 |
• We barely got to see the Giants' listed starters. Kenny Golladay (16), Wan’Dale Robinson (13) and Kadarius Toney (0) played a total of 29 snaps.
OFFENSIVE LINE
| Player | Pass-blocking snaps | Sacks allowed | Total pressures allowed |
| Ben Bredeson | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| Joshua Ezeudu | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Evan Neal | 12 | 0 | 1 |
• Andrew Thomas picked up where he left off last season and didn’t allow a pressure on seven pass-blocking snaps.
DEFENSIVE LINE
| Player | pass-rush snaps | Total pressures | Pressure rate |
| Quincy Roche | 15 | 2 | 13.3% |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| Elerson Smith | 11 | 1 | 9.1% |
• There wasn't much in the way of splash plays to speak of from top-10 pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was blanked on his 12 snaps.
LINEBACKER
| Player | Run-defense
snaps |
Run stops | Run stop rate |
| Austin Calitro | 11 | 1 | 9.1% |
| Micah McFadden | 10 | 1 | 10% |
| Darrian Beavers | 7 | 0 | 0% |
• The Giants could use one of their two late-round picks to step up and challenge their incumbent starters, but we didn’t see much of that Thursday night.
SECONDARY
| Player | Rec./tgts. | Yards allowed |
Touchdowns allowed |
| Cordale Flott | 1/3 | 2 | 0 |
| Darnay Holmes | 1/2 | 4 | 0 |
| Aaron Robinson | 3/5 | 44 | 1 |
• Still only 20 years old, Cordale Flott looked the part in his welcome to the NFL.
• With a healthy amount of competition at corner, Aaron Robinson is going to have to step it up in the coming weeks.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
QUARTERBACK: Bailey Zappe
| Passing depth | PFF Grade | Comp/Att | Yards |
| Short (0-9 yards) | 47.1 | 10/15 | 73 |
| Intermediate (10-19 yards) | 79.6 | 3/4 | 38 |
| Deep (20+ plus yards) | 51.1 | 3/8 | 88 |
• They didn’t give Zappe too much help schematically or in the run game. He was asked to drop back and pass without the advent of play action for much of the game.
RUNNING BACK
| Player | Attempts | Rushing yards | Yards after contact per attempt | Missed tackles forced |
| Kevin Harris | 6 | 9 | 1.8 | 0 |
| Pierre Strong Jr. | 6 | 25 | 2.0 | 0 |
| J.J. Taylor | 5 | 16 | 2.8 | 1 |
• The Patriots split carries in the preseason just as well as they do in the regular season. We didn’t get to see enough of anyone to get a good idea.
RECEIVERS
| Player | Rec./tgts. | Yards | YPRR | Passer rating generated |
| Kristian Wilkerson | 8/12 | 99 | 3.09 | 92.0 |
| Lil’Jordan Humphrey | 6/8 | 62 | 2.0 | 136.5 |
| Tre Nixon | 4/8 | 81 | 2.31 | 85.9 |
• DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor all had the night off.
OFFENSIVE LINE
| Player | Pass-blocking snaps | Sacks allowed | Total pressures allowed |
| Justin Herron | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| Yodny Cajuste | 25 | 0 | 1 |
| Cole Strange | 8 | 0 | 0 |
• While he may not have allowed a pressure, Cole Strange was far from perfect in pass protection. He still had two losses on the day that didn’t result in a pressure.
DEFENSIVE LINE
| Player | pass-rush snaps | Total pressures | Pressure rate |
| Sam Roberts | 35 | 3 | 8.6% |
| Anfernee Jennings | 21 | 3 | 14.3% |
| Josh Uche | 17 | 3 | 17.6% |
• After a promising rookie year in 2020, Josh Uche looked back like that player rushing the passer Thursday night.
LINEBACKER
| Player | Rec./tgts. allowed | Yards allowed |
Touchdowns allowed |
| Cameron McGrone | 4/4 | 33 | 0 |
| Harvey Langi | 2/2 | 19 | 0 |
| Mack Wilson | 4/4 | 41 | 0 |
• The Patriots desperately need someone to step up at the linebacker position. Cameron McGrone was hoped to be that guy, but he was a non-factor on his 58 snaps.
SECONDARY
| Player | Rec./tgts. | Yards allowed |
Touchdowns allowed |
| Jalen Elliott | 4/6 | 32 | 0 |
| Jack Jones | 1/3 | 6 | 0 |
| Shaun Wade | 3/8 | 30 | 0 |
• Jack Jones had a nice NFL debut. The fourth-rounder got a ton of run, with 63 snaps on the day. His six yards allowed came on 39 coverage snaps.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.