Five Things We Want to See From Giants in Preseason Finale

The New York Giants "visit" the Jets with a few more objectives they need to accomplish in their final preseason tuneup.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Aug 27, 2022 12:04 PM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

The New York Giants are 2-0, even though it doesn’t technically count. The offense has been moving the ball down the field well, the defense is getting more accustomed to defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s aggressive scheme, and the team has mounted two fourth-quarter comebacks orchestrated by Davis Webb.

All that is great, but there are still many things the Giants need to accomplish in this final preseason game against the New York Jets. Here are five things we want to see from the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

Special Teams Improvement

The Giants special teams units have not exactly been solid this summer. While that's likely due to the constant rotation of personnel being tried by special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, at some point, the team will need to find who they can count on to beef up the coverages, the biggest issue this summer.

In Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Giants allowed a 77-yard kick return by Chris Evans. While he did not score on the play, it led to Graham Gano diving to try and make a tackle, resulting in the veteran kicker being placed in the concussion protocol.

C.J. Board, who was listed as the team’s primary kick and punt returner on the team’s first official depth chart, had a nice kick return that was negated by a penalty by Oshane Ximines. On his next return attempt in the second quarter, Board fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Bengals, a play in which Board is believed to have injured his ribs.

Special teams is one-third of the game, and it's a big one considering it sets the starting field position. Guys can make rosters based on special teams play alone, so it will be interesting to see who steps up for the Giants on Sunday.

Continued Improvement on Offense

Each week, the Giants offense has been showing some things that it hasn't shown in past years, namely being able to move the ball, sustain drives, and get into the end zone.

Head coach Brian Daboll is keeping his decision regarding how much, if any, playtime his starters will get in the preseason finale. Regardless, the Giants, who will face the Jets starters for at least a half, will probably want to show they can continue to move the ball on offense.

The Giants are second in total yards per game with 420.5 passing yards per game with 303.0 this preseason, behind the league-leading Buffalo Bills.

While it must be acknowledged that most of the yards accumulated happened when backups face other backups, for a Giants offense that has been anemic the last few years--preseason and regular season--this surge is an encouraging sign for what's to come.

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No More Injuries

This is why Brian Daboll and the rest of the coaching staff are wary of playing their starters against the Jets. During the Bengals matchup, the Giants lost Kayvon Thibodeaux to a sprained MCL, and he’ll miss 3-4 weeks.

The big injury was promising rookie linebacker Darrian Beavers tearing his ACL, ending his rookie season. Beavers is the second Giants 2022 draft pick to lose their rookie season to an ACL tear, joining fifth-round offensive lineman Marcus McKethan.

The Giants had some good injury news this week with Sterling Shepard coming off the PUP list, but his return will likely be for Week 1, and he won’t play against the Jets. Azeez Ojulari recently activated off the NFI list, came up limp after straining his calf during sprints at joint practice with the Jets. Ojulari appears to have avoided a serious injury but is not expected to do much of anything for the next couple of weeks.

Fans and the organization will be pleased if the Giants can come out of the preseason finale with no major injuries.

More Pressure Along the Edge

Martindale has a reputation for being a very aggressive signal caller. It even showed up in the first preseason game against New England, where Martindale blitzed 21 times, to the point where Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick, wasn’t too pleased about it.

The result of Martindale’s blitzes this preseason has flustered the backup quarterbacks they’ve faced thus far. This is not a statistic to be worried about when the regular season comes around, but the Giants only two sacks have come on defensive back blitzes. One by safety Trenton Thompson and the other by cornerback Khalil Dorsey.

With Thibodeaux and Ojulari out due to injury, some of the depth edge players will have to make a push, literally and figuratively, to get pressure on the Jets quarterbacks. Since the Jets starting offensive line will be on the field to start the game, it’ll be valuable reps for guys like Quincy Roche to try and disrupt their game plan and consistently find themselves in the backfield.

Win the Game

No, the game's result doesn't count, but how great would it be to start the Brian Daboll era with a winning attitude ahead of a difficult Week 1 meeting against the Titans?

While teams who go undefeated in the preseason aren't assured of replicating that success in the regular season, for a team that's looking to establish a winning culture, even the preseason wins that don't count can mean something.