NFL News & Analysis

Refocused: New York Giants 32, New York Jets 31

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 26: Orleans Darkwa #26 of the New York Giants celebrates his touchdown with teammate Justin Pugh #67 in the first quarter against the New York Jets during a preseason game on August 26, 2017 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The QB-duo of Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg combined for six passes that resulted in touchdowns on Saturday, as Petty tossed three of them in the second half alone to make the game interesting. However it was a safety and two Hackenberg interceptions returned for touchdowns by a strong first half Giants defense that ultimately led to a 32-31 Giants victory.

Eli Manning threw for 121 yards and an interception and arguably the most dynamic moment came when rookie WR Travis Rudolph made a great leaping catch and run for the Giants. With that. we give you our PFF exclusive takeaways from the contest for each team.

Top 5 Grades:

S Landon Collins, 90.1 overall grade

ED Jason Pierre-Paul, 87.2 overall grade

DI Damon Harrison, 84.8 overall grade

T Bobby Hart, 82.8 overall grade

CB DaShaun Amos, 81.9 overall grade

Performances of Note:

WR Travis Rudolph, 79.4 overall grade

Rudolph showed his big-play ability by turning desperate throws into big gains. He caughts all three of his catchable targets producing a 95.8 passer rating when targeted.

T Bobby Hart, 82.8 overall grade

Bobby Hard did a great job of protecting his passer, not allowing a single pressure on 19 pass block snaps (100.0 pass blocking effiency) and producing a strong grade in the running attack (85.8).

S Landon Collins, 90.1 overall grade

Collins is an intimidating force in the giants secondary. The safety made his presence felt early with a pick-6 off of QB Christian Hackenberg by undercutting the quarterback's throw and taking it to the house. The third-year safety continues to make big time plays for this defense both in the run and pass, and saw just a 9.8 passer rating into his coverage.

DI Damon Harrison, 84.8 overall grade

Harrison is a load in the middle and created headaches for the Jets interior offensive line throughtout the first half. He possesses great quickness for a man his size which allows him to be effective agiainst the run as well as push rush situations. Harrison looks to have another standout year for the giants defense. His 37.5 run stop percentage ranks him third among defensive tackles this week of the preseason.

Top 5 Grades:

DI Sheldon Richardson, 84.4 overall grade

T Brent Qvale, 82.0 overall grade

DI Lawrence Thomas, 81.0 overall grade

LB Demario Davis, 80.0 overall grade

LB Julian Stanford, 79.5 overall grade

Performances of Note:

QB Christian Hackenberg, 43.3 overall grade

It was a rough night for the New York Jets second-year quarterback who did not do himself any favors in the battle for the teams starting quarterback position. While he did lead the Jets back to within one point in the final two minutes, Hackenberg struggled for the majority of his time under center. Hackenberg was picked off twice in the first half, both of which were returned for touchdowns by the giants defense as he finished with a 68.4 adjusted completion percentage, 31st so far this week of preseason.

RB Bilal Powell, 75.5 overall grade

Powell had a big game through the air for the Jets totaling 110 yards on four receptions including an 85-yard touchdown. Powell also added 32 yards on the ground and was steady in pass protection. While Matt Forte saw limited snaps, Powell proved that if asked he can make plays for this offense. He tops all running backs in preseason Week 3 with his 7.33 yards per route run.

DI Sheldon Richardson, 84.4 overall grade

Richardson dominated the line of scrimmage with two stops against the run (11.8 run stop percentage) and four total pressures (12.0 pass-rush productivity).

DI Devon Still, 77.4 overall grade

Like Richardson, Still managed to do just as much damage in the passing game. His three pressures in limited snaps led to him earning a pass-rush productivity of 30.6, ranking highest after the early games in Week 3 of the preseason.

 

PFF Game Ball: Landon Collins, S

*Grades subject to change pending review

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