I realize we have looked pretty bad in this year's preseason, but besides the 2008 preseason, I don't remember any preseason where we looked particularly sharp. In the 2011 preseason, our beat writers were tracking Eli's bad performances (after a shaky 2010) as if he was some rookie. On balance, I think our offense rarely looks good in the preseason. Will we be good this year? I really do no know, I do not have a feel for this team because I do not know how Wilson and Randle will be during a full season as vital parts. I do not know how JPP will come back from injury, etc. How will the OL shape out? Do not know. But, I do know that the terrible play in the preseason, given our history in the preseason under Coughlin, will not make me think this season will be a disaster.
The one thing I am getting from this particular preseason is that the D-Line looks much better and the LB position worries me.
The question/debate is whether playing badly throughout the pre-season(which the Giants starting unit most definitely has this) means anything during the regular season.
Can't say for sure, but I would expect a top team to at least look competent during the pre-season, understanding that the veterans are going to dial it back a little. But personally, I do get a bit concerned when our QB looking skittish and consistently mis-fires passes, and our WR's either can't get open or can't catch the ball, or when the same damn red zone problems show no sign of being improved.
This seems to be the cycle since Coughlin came here.
Third, and most important, Eli is usually at his best under pressure. We missing some key guys on the OL and WR (Murphy, Cruz) so I am not reading too much into it. Eli seemed to find his rhythm in the 2nd Quarter.
0-8 this preseason in converting TD's when the team is in the redzone. Almost no instance of the first team offense showing the ability to sustain a a drive. Not very reassuring performances.
Again and all that's important at this stage is what Toomer said a few weeks ago: "You don't know what you have until the regular season starts." He went on to say that there's a lot of experimenting, evaluation and not many practices(13?) to get on the same page, in, for example, a Gilbride system..
If you're worried now, then you'll really be apoplectic when the season starts as we most likely start out 0-2 before we straighten things out en route to the playoffs..
I never, ever worry about pre-season performances as there's so much to work on, so much to evaluate..If we suck it's most likely going to be because we were hit really hard in KEY areas injury-wise and not because of anything we do in pre-season..
Coming out of the past two seasons, my general comments about the following seasons were...
1. We need to run the ball much better. Forget looking at our stats. We simply cannot run between the tackles, be consistent or pickup a yard when we absolutely need it. (a perfect example of this was last game. David Wilson's stats would be misleading. One nice run. Then, the O-line failed to deliver). Drive killers.
2. We need to stop the run. We are getting run over. Washington is running on us at will. We are soft. (I do see improvement in this area so far).
Final note... If I can call 50% of the third down plays from row 2, then I am sure the opposing D coordinators can as well.
Lets wait and see
1. Nicks looks slow - I hope he will flip the switch and go nuts. It's entirely possible he's dogging it to stay healthy. I just grow more and more concerned each time I see what looks to me be a 3/4 speed Nicks.
2. Health/inconsistency on the starting OL - The concern here is that the OL has been declining for a few years now. While it's easy to brush off a bad performance from guys you know can get it done, it becomes much more worrisome when it's a group that you're not sure can and plays that way.
3. Defense - similar to the OL, the things that worry me are things that this D has been dealing with for 3 years + some injury concerns starting to pop up.
You'll see much closer to 95-100% in Dallas.
In other words, it's not just that he looks like he's jogging at half speed. His movements to me look like a guy not all the way back.
We'll see.