Gamegirl seemed to be taking this loss pretty well.
"Come on guys, it's preseason, and you're talking about losing to Bill Parcells. To me, that's like losing a family card game to your favorite uncle. Uncle Bill takes it all very seriously and likes to go home with the family money jingling in his pockets.
Seeing him on the sidelines pacing around, brings back too many good memories of when he used to live in our house and guide our Giants team. He's just a big lovable teddy bear!

You think the players see it that way?
No, not at all. It's different for the players and the fans. In fact, the Giants Defense was so wired on that first series, they played right into Uncle Bill's hands. They saw this untested QB (Ray Lucas) on the other side of the ball and came with everything they had. Meanwhile the Jets play calling was perfect and took advantage of them for every play on that whole drive, and it resulted in a TD for the Jets.
No, the players on both sides were taking this preseason game seriously, and you had only to wait until the Jets second possession when Testaverde and Armstead got into it!"

That resulted in a 15 yard penalty for the Giants.
"Yes, but it showed that the Giants weren't going to get pushed around like they had been so far, and the stadium went wild. Suddenly there was a bit of Wrestlemania thrown in, and some of the fans around me were wearing mixed Jets and Giants outfits, and cheering for both sides. It was really something, and a great game to be at.

The Giants stopped that drive.
"Right, the Jets took it all the way to the 2 yard line, but couldn't punch it in on three straight runs, and that's what Uncle Bill was looking for to really set the tone for the rest of the game, but the Giants defense wouldn't allow it!
In fact, they shut the Jets down for the rest of the game except for the 80 yard break-away run by Curtis Martin, but like I said, it's still just preseason. The Giants are weak at the corner with Sehorn and Hamilton out and that's a concern getting closer to opening day.

You certainly sound like you had a great time.
"The game was intense, and for some Giants fans who are closet Jets fans as well, it was exciting to see some of their players in action, like Keyshawn Johnson, Wayne Chrebet, Vinny Testaverde, Curtis Martin, Bryan Cox, and the whole thing with Ray Lucas, a local Rutgers boy playing QB and special teams, it was great!

We noticed that they left Bryan Cox in for the whole game.
I know what you're trying to say, that the Jets stayed with their starters even though it's a preseason game just to get the win over the Giants.
You're trying to get me mad at Uncle Bill, but if you remember what Mikefan said in his preview report on the game, Bryan Cox hadn't done well the first two games, and he was putting it all together last night, so why not leave him in for that last quarter?"

Anything else Gamegirl?
"Yes, say hello to Uncle Bill for me and remind him that we'll be looking forward to seeing him again in December."

Gamegirl pretty much covered the Giants on Defense.
"Yes she did, and she was right about the way the overeager Giants Defense played into the Jets hands in that opening drive.
Then the Giants Offense had a tough act to follow for the crowd after what the Jets did, and would have been three and out like in the old days, but now we have a passing game and players like Pete Mitchell.
Their first drive didn't produce any points, but at least the Giants Defense had some time to regroup.
One other thing Gamegirl could have mentioned was the gameplay of Phillippi Sparks. Jason Sehorn doesn't play, and gets all the press, meanwhile Sparks is out there hustling. He killed a Jets drive, and forced them to try a 48 yard field goal which they missed, and there was that play where he almost got to Curtis Martin, but Wayne Chrebet put a low block on him. Sparks went at Chrebet for that."

Kent Graham had a tough night.
"I will say that I was a bit disappointed in the pass protection for Kent Graham. He was under pressure all night, and was sacked three times. The receivers took a long time to get open. Kent had to do a lot on his own, but as usual, he showed that he was up to it, and it's nice to know that when things aren't working, Kent Graham can still somehow keep drives going and put points up on the board."

The Giants offense did not look sharp at all.
"Yes, and still, Graham refused to go three and out. He really impressed me on that one big drive. Kent ran for a first down on third and 17. Then he scrambled and hung in there, checking off every receiver and finally hit Charles Way for a 27 yarder. Then he found Joe Jurevicius for a 12 yard pass that made the score closer at 9 - 7.
Kent ended up 13 - 22 for 125 yards, one TD and one Int."

The Giants running game wasn't that good either.
"OK, but wait a minute. Gary Brown was in his first preseason game.
I have no doubt that Sean Bennett would have been more effective for the Giants at the RB position last night, but lest we forget, up to now the star of the Jets running game, Curtis Martin, was just 17 for 43 in his last two preseason games.
Gary Brown is the real starter for the Giants, and he needs his reps too. He got some this game, will get some against the Ravens next week, and be ready for opening day against the Bucs.

On the plus side, Tiki Barber caught two passes for 19 yards and carried the ball once for 10 yards, and made a crucial first down. He also stopped Mickens on the 10 yard line after the interception and did some great blocking for Charles Way.

Anything else Mikefan?
"Yes, there was an interesting stat that Gamegirl didn't get to see at the game, because it was on TV. It basically said that when Parcells coaches the Giants or Jets, he wins against the other team.
He's 7 - 1 against the Jets, and now 3 - 0 against the Giants.
So let's all watch out for 'lovable teddy bear Uncle Bill' around here!"

Notes:
Center Brian Williams injured his left knee in the second quarter and will undergo an MRI. The Giants say that there was no major damage and are hopeful the injury is not season-threatening.

If anyone is interested in that 75th Anniversary Giants Football that Harry Carson was hawking on TV, the phone number they put up was:
888 230-9379x1055, and the yearbook was 888 777-4759.

Next Week
Giants are at Baltimore on Friday at 12PM and rebroadcast at 7 PM.
Jets will play at home against the Vikings on Friday at 7:30 PM

Preseason Game 3 Review