Patriots @ Giants
Final Score: Patriots 22, Giants 20
Writer: Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)
The New England Patriots came to the Meadowlands to face an old Superbowl rival in their traditional final preseason game. This game was missing Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Jonnu Smith, and Hunter Henry. It was also the last showcase of Mac Jones before Bill Belichick’s inevitable decision on his QB for 2021. Jones put up another strong showing and outperformed incumbent Cam Newton. On the other side, we got to see Daniel Jones go through an up and down night while behind a highly suspect offensive line. The final score was New England Patriots 22, New York Giants 20.
New England Patriots
| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |
Quarterback
Mac Jones: 10/14, 156 yards, TD
Brian Hoyer: 9/10, 73 yards, TD | 3 carries, -3 yards
Cam Newton: 2/5, 10 yards, INT
Cam Newton didn’t get to practice this week due to a misunderstanding with his COVID status. Regardless of this, he didn’t look comfortable in there today. One wonders if he was told to not run in this last preseason game. Newton was throwing behind his receivers and not planting on that back foot, so a lot of his throws had zero zip on them. I will say that his lone INT was not his fault it was just a hell of a swiped ball by linebacker Blake Martinez.
Great throw by Cam Newton, nearly a great catch by Jakobi Meyers, but Blake Martinez makes an outstanding play to intercept this pass pic.twitter.com/4yx84NLQ4E
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
Overall Newton will probably be the starter because that’s what Bill wants. I’m willing to bet he’ll be out by week four if not sooner.
Mac Jones looks the part of a starting quarterback, comfortably throwing the ball in the face of pressure. Jones came in and got things started with a 21-yard pass Kristian Wilkerson and then hit Devin Asiasi for a 19-yard catch and run, finishing his first drive with a field goal.
Devin Asiasi hurdles a defender on his first catch and run of the game pic.twitter.com/h11Pc5blDZ
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
Jones hit Wilkerson on a dig route that turned into a 27 yard gain. Jones ended the drive by hooking up with Isaiah Zuber for a 17 yard TD, Jones’ first as a professional.
Mac Jones looks the safety off and fires a bullet to Isaiah Zuber for the TD pic.twitter.com/5ABTc9LTbj
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
The rookie QB would continue to show his deep ball presence by connecting with Devin Asiasi for 30 yards leading the Pats to another TD.
Mac Jones throwing people open like a vet. 😳 pic.twitter.com/L6pB0ER7qs
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) August 29, 2021
This was yet another good showing for Jones and he has put together quite a resume this preseason, showing that he should be considered a serious threat to Cam’s job.
Brian Hoyer came in to finish the game and threw a couple of nice throws to Wilkerson for 19 yards and Isaiah Zuber for 21 yards. Other than those two throws, he dinked and dunked his way downfield to set up the Pats for two fields goal attempts. That’s pretty much it for Hoyer, and he should be on the team this year but has no value as a starting option.
Brian Hoyer makes the quick throw to Isaiah Zuber, who makes a smart football play to go down inbounds and force the Giants to use their final time out pic.twitter.com/UzpZyHaobJ
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 30, 2021
Running Back
J.J. Taylor: 9 carries, 76 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards
Damien Harris: 4 carries, 29 yards
Rhamondre Stevenson: 5 carry, 23 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards
Damien Harris looks fresh and ready for the regular season, breaking off a nice 18 yard run up the middle.
Damien Harris is a fantasy RB1 pic.twitter.com/odnoRZLewA
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
Bill didn’t need to see much out Harris and he was done after two drives. From there on it was Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor. We saw a lot of Taylor early on. Right before the half, Taylor broke off a 21 yard run up the middle, he then broke two outside runs of 19 and 18 yards. Taylor has the potential to be a good change of pace back, as he’s got the pass-catching ability of James White with some shiftiness and burst. I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes on a role in this offense, and the worst-case scenario is he’ll be a punt returner.
Stevenson showed a new layer to his game, catching two receptions for 17 yards, while still bulldozing his way to a nine-yard TD. The rookie back looks great and he’s scored five times this preseason, showing his versatility as someone who can break off runs from anywhere for a TD. He should see a role in this offense in the upcoming season, especially after the Sony Michel trade.
Rhamondre Stevenson will not be denied. He’s now got 5 rushing touchdowns this preseason. 🔥(Via @BenBrownPL) pic.twitter.com/8NYPZXirK0
— Pats Buzz (@PatsBuzz) August 29, 2021
Rhamondre Stevenson catches a screen and makes a defender miss with a nice move pic.twitter.com/2DDhWtEuVs
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Kristian Wilkerson: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 72 yards
Devin Asiasi: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 64 yards
Isiah Zuber: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 50 yards, TD
Tre Nixon: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 11 yards,
Jakobi Meyers: 3 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards
Nelson Agholor: 2 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards
Jakob Johnson 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards
Kristian Wilkerson might see an expanded role this upcoming season, especially considering how thin the Patriots’ depth is at receiver. In today’s game, he caught passes of 19, 21, and 27 yards from Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer. He was getting open quite a bit in this game and I expect we’ll see a lot of him as a possible slot option behind Kendrick Bourne. Isaiah Zuber had a strong day as well, catching a 17-yard pass from Jones while just missing on a second the very next drive. I don’t know if Zuber has a spot on this team, but he established a good connection with Jones and could be a good depth piece.
Isaiah Zuber drops a touchdown pass on a nice throw from Mac Jones pic.twitter.com/xfTqV6ax8z
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
The recent tight end injuries to the Patriots should lead to Devin Asiasi having a roster spot this upcoming season. Asiasi put on a good showing, with a 19 yard catch and run and then catching a 30 yard deep ball that helped set up a Stevenson TD run. Asiasi will most likely see time this year with Hunter Henry injured and Jonnu Smith needing a running mate for two tight end sets.
Between THREE defenders. @MacJones_10 rips a TD to Isaiah Zuber! @Patriots
📺: #NEvsNYG on @NFLNetwork (or check local listings)
📱: https://t.co/4omupVck3h pic.twitter.com/etahITGbfz— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2021
New York Giants
| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |
Quarterback
Daniel Jones: 17/22, 135 yards, TD, INT | 1 carry, 4 yards
Mike Glennon: 9/17, 147 yards, 2 TD
Daniel Jones is the same old same old player that we all can’t trust with the football. Jones was able to connect with Sterling Shepard for a 22-yard catch and run before he threw the stupidest INT in the endzone.
Daniel Jones… WTF are you doing?
Bad decision, awful decision, embarrassing decision.
Throw this ball away every time if nobody is open. Really discouraging right there. pic.twitter.com/sQccsdIdCe
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) August 29, 2021
Jones redeemed himself before the half by connecting with Kaden Smith for a 23 yard TD.
Danny Dimes throws a dime for the score before the half pic.twitter.com/wGcQf0UdDR
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 29, 2021
Mike Glennon took over and started to look good around his second drive, hitting Alex Bachman for 21 yards, which led to a missed field goal attempt. Glennon led two TD drives, one was a 12 yarder to Alex Bachman and the other was a last-minute hail mary to Damion Willis that fueled a comeback that was cut short on a failed 2 point conversion. Something tells me the Giants will be looking for a QB next season.
Damion Willis catches a long touchdown pass to put the Giants within two.
Thanks @Low_rax https://t.co/p6Zg2vrGSd pic.twitter.com/6r4ot3lJ7r
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 30, 2021
Running Back
Elijhaa Penny: 4 carries, 35 yards
Corey Clement: 4 carries, 24 yards
Devontae Booker: 7 carries, 14 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
Gary Brightwell: 4 carries, 10 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 20 yards
Devontae Booker was the starter today and up against the stout Patriots defense he did absolutely nothing. Most of the running back core wasn’t very good today. Corey Clement had a nice 14-yard run which was followed up by Elijhaa Penny hitting two nice inside runs for 15 and 14 yards in the fourth quarter. This was the best series for running backs on the Giants and produced a Glennon passing TD. None of these guys were Saquon Barkley and the starting offensive line did not look good enough to run block against a good defense. This could be a long year for Giants fans.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Damion Willis: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 70 yards, TD
Sterling Shepard: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 42 yards
Alex Bachman: 6 targets, 2 receptions, 33 yards, TD
Nakia Griffin-Stewart: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 30 yards
Evan Engram: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards
David Sills V: 4 targets, 1 reception, 14 yards
CJ Board: 1 target, 1 reception, 8 yards
Dante Pettis: 3 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards
Darrius Slayton: 2 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards
Kaden Smith: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 26 yards, TD
Sterling Shepard was the most consistent receiver on the team, and he did the most damage on the Giants’ third drive where he caught two passes for 28 yards. Evan Engram had a nice 13-yard catch and reeled in three of his four targets. Tight end Kaden Smith caught a 23-yard dart from Jones for the first Giants TD. Alex Bachman caught a 21-yard pass and 12 yard TD from Mike Glennon. The most exciting play of the game was Damion Willis’ 43-yard hail mary catch, he got open in the endzone after what looked like a shove to the defender. While that would most likely be called in the regular season, it was still a pretty nice way to end the preseason.
What an unbelievable catch by Damion Willis pic.twitter.com/OqTvDJPnb7
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 30, 2021
Damion Willis just caught a last-second heave into the end-zone from Glennon — definitely a push off but hey, if the ref don't see it, it counts! pic.twitter.com/gX0LKQTeIH
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) August 30, 2021
— Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)