EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Jets and Giants share the same stadium, the same region, the same “New York” in their names and an overlapping stench of the last three seasons. No playoffs.
The Jets-Giants ‘Snoopy Bowl’ reveals teams on divergent paths
The Jets and Giants have more in common these days than a shared stadium and long playoff droughts. However, one team appears to be closer to turning things around this season.
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants were 9-7, 7-9 and 6-10 last year. The Jets were 6-10, 8-8 and 4-12 last year. A Jets housecleaning followed.
So when they met on Saturday night at MetLife Stadium, it was not as much for bragging rights as it was a hello, a goodbye and see you on Dec. 6 when we tangle in the regular season. Both hope they will be fighting for playoff spots and genuine bragging rights. Currently, there is no room for neither to boast.
Both teams looked a tad helter-skelter and skittish with bigger games and bigger moments arriving soon.
The New England Patriots just won another Super Bowl and still reside in the Jets’ division (AFC East), where Miami is improved and Buffalo now employs the combustible ex-Jets coach, Rex Ryan. The Giants know that Philadelphia plays a fast brand of football and Dallas returns building momentum -- a team that won the division (NFC East) last year and will be better this year.
Thus, the Jets and Giants in their 47th consecutive preseason matchup recognized that they are under intense pressure to change losing cycles. Bad habits. Broken plans. The Jets’ new head coach (Todd Bowles) and (after a broken-jaw-Geno Smith-fiasco in their locker room) new quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick) beat the Giants, 28-18.
Here is what is clear about the Jets and the Giants as they shoot toward their season openers on Sept. 13, the Jets hosting Cleveland and the Giants traveling to Dallas:
The quarterbacks
Early in the second quarter, Fitzpatrick handed the ball off and became a lead blocker downfield around the left end, throwing himself into the secondary and making a perfect block.
“He’s a great guy, a real fighter, and I think that play shows just how much he is willing to do anything to help us win,” Jets tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson said.
Fitzpatrick was 9-of-14 passing for 127 passing yards against the Giants with two touchdown tosses. He started slowly but kept creating momentum. He exhibited command of offensive coordinator Chan Gailey’s system. His timing and accuracy on in-cut passes to his receivers was particularly impressive.
Fitzpatrick’s blocks are nice too.
But the Jets need him to pass the ball like this in real games, big games. To orchestrate the offense by complementing the running game with effective play-fake passes, which he did against the Giants.
Fitzpatrick was promising. Eli Manning was puzzling.
Manning threw for 91 yards and was picked off by Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie for a 59-yard return and score with only six seconds left before halftime.
Manning was off with his receivers for much of the night. It was clear that he didn’t have consistent work with all of his weapons due to their injuries (Victor Cruz did not play). But the receivers who did play -- including Rookie of the Year Odell Beckham Jr. -- kept struggling to keep in sync with Manning.
“I think we’re on the right path,” Beckham said. “There’s just a lot of corrections that need to be made. And they’re small things.”
But small things get you beat.
The wide receivers
One stood out prominently for each team, each for similar reasons.
For the Jets, Eric Decker was running free for much of the night as teammate Brandon Marshall drew plenty of attention. For the Giants, Rueben Randle was open and moving freely, benefiting from the Jets focusing on Beckham and others.
Decker and Randle can have breakout seasons this year because both will enjoy less scrutiny. That means more man-to-man coverage for both. That means more open looks for both.
Both are big targets with long strides. The offenses for both teams will be designed to take full advantage of these two receiving weapons.
The line play
The Jets are impressively strong along both their offensive and defensive lines.
The Giants have potential but too many questions. They miss injured defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whose absence is glaring. They are hoping rookie offensive tackle Ereck Flowers can blossom and mature quickly.
Line play is the core, the crux of the Giants season. If they get it in high caliber, they can avoid these type of post-game diatribes from their head coach, Tom Coughlin:
“Not real complicated,” he said after the loss to the Jets. “We had six penalties in the first half. We kind of broke our play up, I thought. ... We were backed up and punted from the 1 after a sack. We couldn’t run the ball with any consistency. I thought they ran the ball well ...”
He is talking about line play here. He is concerned about it publicly and privately.
Intangibles
- The Giants should move starting running back Rashad Jennings out and start Shane Vereen, who is ridiculously listed as No. 3 on their depth chart. Vereen has more wiggle, more speed, more quickness and creates more big plays. He would jolt the running game and the screen game. At the least, he has to get on the field more and get the ball in his hands.
- Noteworthy that Cromartie is competing and excelling for the Jets at cornerback. He is not expecting Darrelle Revis to make every play and produce every big moment for this defense. Here is what Bowles said about Cromartie’s interception: “He read it. He’s been playing a long time. I think there was a little hesitation there on Eli’s part. He went to the receiver a little late and Cro broke on it. He studies a lot of film.”
- One of the most important players on the Giants roster is kick returner Dwayne Harris, in from the Cowboys. The Giants have been whipped on field position in recent years, and Harris can flip that. He has the ability and the will to do so on returns. He had a couple of close ones that nearly broke against the Jets. It is clear that he is still learning to read his blockers and they, in turn, are learning to read him. But if Harris and the Giants can figure that out, he will be a game-changer. And a season-changer for the Giants.
The Jets and Giants are equipped to make a playoff push and statement. But only one of them is on track for a prime kickoff.
The Jets will open by beating the Browns by at least two touchdowns.
The Giants will not be ready to match the Cowboys’ speed or power and will lose that game by at least two touchdowns.
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