The Giants defeated the Bengals on Sunday night in their second preseason outing. Here are some of the things we learned from the game and the advanced statistics:
* Daniel Jones had a strong preseason outing, completing 14 of 16 passes for 116 yards and an interception. For the second straight week he led the Giants on a scoring drive, leading an 11-play, 84-yard march for a touchdown. Jones had an interception, but it came on a pass that hit Daniel Bellinger on the hands over the middle. Jones' longest completion came on a throw to Collin Johnson for 23 yards that deflected off the hands of Bengals defensive back Delonte Hood before Johnson stabbed it out of the air. Jones' other big throw was a well-placed toss into tight coverage to David Sills, who turned and jumped to make the 20-yard catch.
* Despite having a makeshift offensive line due to a lot of injuries, the protection and run blocking was good enough for the first-team offense to avoid any three-and-outs on their three possessions. The coaches utilized a lot of play-action, RPO's and quick passing to protect the offensive line from potential pressure. The Giants' longest third-down attempt with the first-team offense was 5 yards.
* Andrew Thomas played 14 snaps in the game and didn't allow a pressure, according to Pro Football Focus. Veteran right guard Mark Glowinski allowed two hurries in 25 pass blocking snaps. Evan Neal allowed one hurry in his 25 pass blocking snaps. Devery Hamilton, who has played tackle most of training camp, allowed only one hurry in 32 pass blocking snaps at left guard. Sixth-string center and veteran guard Max Garcia handled the quarterback-center exchange well and only allowed two hurries.
* In all, the Giants makeshift offensive line allowed only one sack and one quarterback hit the entire evening. Chris Owens had only been a Giants for a couple of days before allowing just one hurry in 36 pass blocking snaps. Rookie Roy Mbaeteka got his longest stretch of play of his young career, and allowed one quarterback hit and three hurries in 29 pass blocking snaps. Veteran tackle Will Holden played center with the third team for the first time in his career, and allowed the lone sack of the game, according to PFF.
* The numbers for Alex Bachman and Davis Webb speak for themselves. Bachman led the team with 14 targets, 11 catches, and 122 receiving yards. It was clear the two were able to carry over the chemistry they built working together in practice. Bachman settled into open areas of zone coverage and Webb found him on time. Bachman's two scores came on yards gained after the catch. The first score came after outrunning Bengals defenders to the sideline and the second after a broken tackle. Bachman also had a special teams tackle.
* David Sills is another receiver fighting for a spot on the final roster. He had the toughest catch of the day, a leaping back-shoulder style catch on the left sideline despite tough coverage. He is another bigger receiver with reliable hands like Collin Johnson, who also had a productive day with three catches for 41 yards.
* Giants running backs were also a big part of the passing game. Antonio Williams caught all seven of his targets for 46 yards. Jashaun Corbin caught all four of his targets for 15 yards and Sandro Platzgummer had one catch for three yards.
* Adoree' Jackson only played 13 snaps but was a very willing tackler and did not shy away from being physical with ball carriers.
* According to PFF, the Giants blitz rate (44%) and man-to-man coverage (less than 50%) were down slightly this week. NIckel Khalil Dorsey had the Giants' lone sack on a blitz.
* On the Bengals' fourth-down conversion in the first quarter, Trent Taylor was able to get some separation on a well-designed rub route.
* The Giants lost rookie linebacker Darrian Beavers for the season with an ACL injury, but fellow rookie Micah McFadden was very active. He led the team with five tackles in only 16 snaps and got some pressure on the opposing quarterback on an interior blitz.
* Let's look at the defense the Giants played on the Bengals' final play from scrimmage. They placed Tomon Fox and Quincy Roche, their two edge rushers against the sideline on either side of the field. With no timeouts and only nine seconds remaining, the Giants knew the Bengals had to get the ball out of bounds after a completion, so they positioned those two players to make it impossible to do on a quick pass to the outside. It didn't even seem like the Bengals knew Fox was out there before he drilled wide receiver Trenton Irwin in the chest with his shoulder, forcing a fumble and ending the game.
