With the first half coming to a close, the score is 13 – 0 Giants, which should be 14 – 0 but Giants kicker Josh Huston doinked an extra point. The Patriots ended the first half with a horrible-looking turnover. With about 20 seconds left, Gutierrez called a fade pattern at the line and threw a nice lob, but WR Chad Jackson fell down, leaving CB R.W. McQuarters waiting for an easy interception. There’s not much to pull for positives, but I’ll give it my best shot.
Positives
- Chris Hanson’s punts have been things of beauty, and are stark contrasts to last week’s dismal special teams performance. So far, Hanson has punted 5 times for an average of 46.4 yards, and a long of 56 yards.
- John Lynch hasn’t seemed to have lost his hitting ability, as he layed some pretty good licks on the Giants’ offensive players.
- RB Lamont Jordan has shown his ability to run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield. Granted, his long runs came when the Giants were looking for the pass, but he still showed good explosion and decisiveness. He is currently at 6 runs for 27 yards (4.5 avg.) and a long run of 11 yards, and caught 1 pass for 23 yards, setting up what could have been a touchdown.
Negatives
- The first team defense again gave up points on the opponent’s opening drive, and they looked slow, sloppy, and had no aggression at all. They simply didn’t seem to attack the ball carrier, be it a RB or a WR. Even David Carr looked like he was Pro Bowl QB, finishing the half 11/14 for 113 yards and 2 TD’s. The second string defense didn’t fair much better, allowing a touchdown near the end of the half.
- Aside from a couple of drops by receivers, the quarterbacks again have looked shaky. Gutierrez finished the half 4/7 for 63 yards, with all four completions coming on the last drive of the half, and the aforementioned INT that wasn’t his fault.
- Offensive line play has again been substandard, with the Giants’ defense