New York Giants Studs and Duds From Week 2 Win vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Eli Manning: Dud

Aug 22, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) watches the game from the sidelines during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

The one thing the Giants are counting on this season is Eli Manning running the offense. But, if he is going to lead it the way that he did against the Jaguars, things are going to be ugly this season for the Giants.

Manning played a total of three series, getting in 19 plays. Saying those 19 plays were ugly would be an understatement. The Giants came in with a gameplan to work on the vertical passing game, and it was not pretty. Manning wasn’t overly pressured by the Jaguars defense, but he looked shaky in the pocket.

He was constantly missing throws, suffering from severe accuracy issues. He was overthrowing receivers and coming up short on others as he just couldn’t get into a rhythm. The plan going into the game was to try getting the first-team offense going, and it just didn’t happen.

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Manning wasn’t helped out very much by his receivers though, so it wasn’t all his fault. Both Odell Beckham Jr. and Preston Parker dropped passes that Manning placed well, which would have made his final stat line look much better. All in all, Manning finished the game 4-for-14 for 46 yards and no turnovers.

Manning and the Giants will look to get things going when they have their regular season rehearsal next weekend against their fellow MetLife Stadium tenants, the New York Jets.

Odell Beckham Jr.: Dud

Aug 22, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) walks off the field after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 22-12 at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants second year phenom wide receiver has been the exact opposite of that thus far in the preseason. For a second consecutive game, he was unable to get on the board going catchless. It wasn’t for a lack of trying in this one, as Eli Manning peppered Beckham Jr. with five targets out of his 14 pass attempts, but he was unable to reel in any of them.

Part of the reason was because of the issues Manning had with his accuracy, but Beckham Jr. cannot get away without blame. On multiple occasions, Beckham Jr. had alligator arms on a ball thrown his way. Now, no one wants to see the Giants star player get injured going over the middle in a preseason game by a safety, showing a little more effort on some of the throws would have been nice to see.

We also saw Beckham Jr. not able to control his emotions at time against the Jaguars. Earlier this summer when he was asked how opposing teams could stop him, Beckham Jr. said, “Try to make me mad, I guess?” Well, that is exactly what the Jaguars did, as they got under his skin early and it visibly was affecting his play.

On a route he ran up the right sideline, Jaguars’ cornerback Devon House looked to hold him down. There was no flag on the play, as the Giants first-team offense had yet another disappointing showing. But, Beckham let his emotions get the most of him a little bit, as he pushed safety Sergio Brown while the two were slowing down after the play. This got the Jaguars defenders riled up, as they talked trash and taunted Beckham Jr. as he went back to the Giants’ sideline.

This is something Beckham Jr. will have to avoid in the future, as teams will be cueing in on stopping him. He will have to keep his emotions in check, because if opposing teams find things that will bother him on the field you better expect them to exploit it. Hopefully Beckham Jr. can also get off the schnide next week against the Jets and end his catchless preseason.

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