PRESEASON
Giants 17
Chiefs 0
Without any tangible signs of progress from one week to the next, a team can start doubting itself. That won’t be a problem for the Giants, who last night put together one of those solid and impressive preseason games that make training camp more palatable for all concerned.
Unlike last week’s 17-16 victory in Baltimore, both the Giants’ starting units came out in crisp, efficient fashion, easily outplaying and beating the Chiefs 17-0 at Giants Stadium.
This time, there was no talk from Tom Coughlin about the Giants playing “soft,” which was his assessment the first time around.
“I think we made some improvement . . . we were more physical,” Coughlin said. “We were definitely more aggressive.”
Nose tackle Fred Robbins dropped running back Larry Johnson for a 4-yard loss on the second play, a good sign for Robbins, whose starting job is not secure. On offense, the Giants opened up with a 20-yard end-around to Tim Carter, a play they’re sure to unveil during the season. That jump-started a nine-play, 60-yard drive finished off by Eli Manning’s 5-yard scoring pass to Amani Toomer.
“I thought it was a great start for our first team,” Manning said.
Manning (11 of 14, 80 yards) calmly took what the defense gave him, never looking downfield, spreading the ball around to seven different receivers. Tiki Barber (5 carries, 22 yards) made his preseason debut and looked sharp. The only downside for the offense was that the Giants lost two starting offensive linemen early in the second quarter. Center Shaun O’Hara left with a sprained left knee and left tackle Luke Petitgout was removed from the game because of a recurrence of his back spasms back spasms.
O’Hara was able to walk off the field and Coughlin said it’s probably a sprained medial collateral ligament. An examination today will reveal the extent of the damage. O’Hara had his entire left leg tightly wrapped and there’s no doubt he’ll miss some time, likely weeks rather than days.
Otherwise, it was clear sailing for the Giants.
“I am impressed and even more encouraged that we made big progressions from week one to week two and had all our guys playing,” Barber said. “We just have to keep building.”
Jeremy Shockey, playing his first game since suffering a concussion in practice, caught one pass for 10 yards and took a solid hit on the head from linebacker Kawika Mitchell without any damaging result.
Holding penalties on Shockey and Carter ruined the second possession, but on the third a drive culminated when Brandon Jacobs scored on a 1-yard run – plowing through defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson on the goal line – to make it 14-0 with 9:23 left in the second quarter, signaling the end of Manning’s night. Jacobs celebrated by chest-bumping the blue padding on the goal-post support.
The Giants on defense had little trouble stopping Johnson, appearing in a cameo role. The Chiefs starters managed just two first downs. LaVar Arrington made his debut and on one play he faked coming on a blitz, a maneuver that spooked guard Chris Bober into a jumping into a false start penalty.
Rob Johnson, who has not played an NFL game since Dec. 22, 2003, replaced Manning with 6:17 left in the second quarter. Working with backup offensive linemen, Johnson (7 of 14, 62 yards) led the Giants on a third-quarter drive that resulted in Jay Feely’s 31-yard field goal.
