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Film Review: Successful preseason for QBs

The Giants played their fourth and final preseason game in Foxborough on Thursday night. Here's what I saw watching the film Friday morning:

*Daniel Jones played nine snaps, all on the first drive. He completed all four of his passes for 47 yards. His best throw was a 23-yard strike to Golden Tate down the left sideline just before Jones was hit in the pocket. Tate ran a great route, giving Jones enough room to put the ball to his outside shoulder and away from the cornerback without going out of bounds. Jones' preseason was a success and something to build on whenever he gets his first regular season action.

*With his four game suspension looming, Golden Tate played eight snaps and caught a slant in addition to the deep sideline pass from Jones. The next time we see Tate will be October 6 against the Vikings.

*Alex Tanney's best throw was his 35-yard touchdown pass to Alonzo Russell. He trusted Russell to win on the route, and put the ball perfectly in front of him. On the next play from scrimmage, Tanney tried to hit Russell again for what would have been a touchdown down the left sideline, but he overthrew him. The Giants challenged the play for defensive pass interference and it looked rather clear that Keion Crossen grabbed and pulled Russell's jersey, but apparently the officials did not think the contact clearly and obviously hindered the receiver's ability to make the catch. I do not think we are going to see many changes on pass interference challenges this season unless the call on the field is egregiously wrong.

*Otherwise, Tanney struggled with his accuracy, completing only 4-12 passes. With 13:00 remaining in the second quarter, he had Russell running free past Crossen for what should have been a big play, but he underthrew his pass, which allowed Crossen to recover and deflect it. Tanney's first interception came on a high pass that flew over the head of Reggie White Jr. His second deflected off tight end C.J. Conrad, who had to go to the ground on a low throw. The ball ricocheted off his hands right to Duke Dawson for the interception.

*Paul Perkins' 24-yard run was a thing of beauty. He received the handoff from Kyle Lauletta out of shotgun and was immediately met by Patriots linebacker and former teammate Calvin Munson, who had a clear run at him. Perkins put his foot in the ground and made him miss before carrying Crossen an additional eight yards at the end of the run. Perkins got the start and had a solid day, with 11 rushes for 54 yards. He has elusiveness and can make people miss in space.

*Wayne Gallman played well, showing his one-cut style along with a burst. He improvised a few of his runs from the play design but managed to make the most of some plays where there wasn't a lot of room.

*Lauletta had an up and down first drive. He took the team 66 yards on 12 plays, which should have ended in a touchdown if Reggie White Jr. caught a pass that bounced off his chest in the end zone. He let the ball get into his body instead of catching it with his hands. Previously on the drive, however, two Lauletta passes to Russell and Scott Simonson could have been intercepted but Patriots defenders couldn't hold onto the football.

*Lauletta's best pass was his third down touchdown to Scott Simonson, who beat safety Malik Gant deep down the seasm. Lauletta placed the ball perfectly in front of him to allow Simonson to catch it in stride for the touchdown. Gant tackled Simonson while the ball was in the air, injuring Simonson's ankle, but somehow no defensive pass interference was called on the play.

*TJ Jones had a drop, but he caught three passes for 42 yards. He also had a punt return of 28 yards. The severity of the ankle injury he suffered late in the game might impact whether he finds himself on the final 53-man roster.

*Lauletta handled his two-minute drill well, eventually hitting Alonzo Russell with a back shoulder pass in front of six-foot wide receiver Gunner Olszewski, who played 29 snaps at cornerback. It was a mismatch and Lauletta put the ball in a place where Russell could go and make a play. Lauletta did catch a break earlier in the drive when a pass for White down the right sideline should have been intercepted by JoeJuan Williams, but he collided with teammate Ken Webster, who knocked the ball loose. The drive went 70 yards on 15 plays and took 2:16.

*It is never a good thing when a receiver has only five catches on fifteen targets, which was the case for Russell, but those numbers don't indicate how well he played. He did have a drop on a slant, but on other plays, he found ways to get open, but his quarterbacks couldn't get him the ball where they needed to in order to complete the pass. He did show how his 6-4 frame could help on contested catches, such as the game-winner in the end zone.

*The Giants had three sacks, with a fourth by Jake Carlock nullified on a defensive holding penalty. Carlock's and Jake Ceresna's were both the product of mistakes by the Patriots offensive line that resulted in free runs to the quarterback. Ceresna had a quarterback hit earlier in the game after beating the left guard that led to Sean Chandler's interception. John Jenkins sacked Jarrett Stidham on the Patriots final play from scrimmage after winning on a bull rush.

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*B.J. Goodson had the other sack, blitzing up the middle and taking down Stidham. He is a good tackler and powerful player going downhill at the line of scrimmage.

*Julian Love got some on the job training trying to cover Julian Edelman early in the game. Edelman used his quickness to beat Love across the field for a long catch and run. Later in the game, Love got caught watching the quarterback scramble out of the pocket while covering Demaryius Thomas in the slot. Thomas took advantage by getting loose for the touchdown. Love played 55 snaps, the third most for anyone on defense, with most of those coming as the nickel cornerback.

*RJ McIntosh flashed the ability to disrupt in the backfield. He won with power on a couple of pass rush moves on the Patriots' first possession and had a good tackle in the run game after some penetration later on in the game.

*Watching it live, I understood the defensive pass interference call on Henr'e Tolliver, but the replay showed that if he did grab Josh Gordon's arm, it was only for a moment and well before the ball arrived. There was far more contact on the non-call of defensive pass interference against Alonzo Russell.

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