EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ When looking for positives from the Giants starting offense this preseason, sometimes you have to dig pretty deep.
Take a first-quarter incompletion from Ryan Nassib to Larry Donnell on Thursday night against the Patriots. A go-nowhere play from the 37 on a possession that ended with a punt. A forgettable line on the stat sheet. But inside that snap may be the biggest glimmer the Giants take away from their 16-9 win against the Patriots at MetLife Stadium.
Victor Cruz was able to get off the line of scrimmage against press coverage by Pro Bowl cornerback Malcolm Butler and was open down the sideline. So open, in fact, that he raised his hand calling for the ball. It's the kind of flash separation the "old Victor Cruz" gave the Giants, and what they have been hoping to see from him this summer.
Cruz may not have caught a pass in his final preseason game of the season _ he was targeted once _ but when the coaches watch film of the game he's bound to catch their eye on that route. That's apparently what they wanted since Cruz was the only offensive player with starpower who played in the game. Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashad Jennings sat and watched, as did starting center Weston Richburg. Cruz needed to prove himself a little more before next Sunday's opener in Dallas. That seemed to happen.
"He looks like he's feeling good, he's ready for the season," Beckham said of Cruz's performance during the television broadcast of the game. "I know we're all excited."
Not everyone looked ready. The offensive line continued its woeful trend, unable to open holes for the running game and endangering Nassib. On one play the backup quarterback was hit from behind _ on a one-step drop! _ when linebacker Barkevious Mingo shot past center Brett Jones on a blitz. The result was a backward pass that rolled out of bounds for a loss of 10 yards. Left tackle Ereck Flowers was pushed backward for a sack. Rookie running back Paul Perkins fumbled for the second time this preseason and also dropped a pass in the first half. Nassib threw a pass to the New England 1 that was intercepted with 7 seconds left in the half.
"We want to play better in the preseason, we didn't play as well as we wanted to," Manning said during an interview on the television broadcast. "But we have had a good work week this week and we will have a great work week next week and we will get ready for Dallas."
The bright side continued to be the defensive side for the Giants, even though most of the starters sat as well. Trevin Wade, who had been marginalized since the addition of veteran cornerback Leon Hall early in camp, intercepted Tom Brady and made two nice tackles at the line of scrimmage on short passes. Rookie safety Andrew Adams forced a fumble that was recovered by Montori Hughes. Eli Apple was able to cover Julian Edelman deep. Kerry Wynn forced a fumble that was recovered by Mark Herzlich and Romeo Okwara had a sack.
Of course all of that was against Brady. The real test will be doing it against Dak Prescott on Sept. 11.
