Sanchez looks good; Giants' receivers have issues
Photo credit: AP Photo/Bill Kostroun | New York Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka (94) sacks New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, right, during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
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Photos: Jets vs. Giants preseason action
Two Southern Cal products are trying to make a big impression on the East Coast, but last night, only one came through.
Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, the Jets' freshly minted starter, played well in his first game with that title, completing 13 of 20 passes for 149 yards and a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey that included a veteran slide to his right to avoid the Giants' pass rush.
Second-year receiver Steve Smith, meanwhile, is trying to become the Giants' ace target and prove he can be a deep threat, not just a slot guy. But when Eli Manning hit him down the middle on a post that went about 60 yards in the air on the first play of the second series, he dropped the ball. Right through his hands.
Somewhere, Pete Carroll probably doesn't know how to feel. But Smith does. "I'm sick right now," he said after the Jets' 27-25 win. "You have to make the clutch plays. You have to make the ones that count."
Manning offered a silver lining, saying it was good that Smith was so open on the route. But Smith wasn't taking any of that credit. "That makes it look even worse," he said.
In all, there were four blatantly dropped passes, one each from Smith, Domenik Hixon, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks. "We had some dropped balls that hurt us," Tom Coughlin said. "We had some big plays and then we dropped some big plays."
Ultimately, the Jets won the game. And it was the Jets who "won" the big-picture objective of this third preseason game: the one in which you find out how close your question marks are to becoming exclamation points.
The Giants opened the game with a no-huddle touchdown drive, taking advantage of two Jets penalties in the red zone and finishing with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs.
The next series began with the Smith drop and ended when Manning was intercepted by David Harris on a pass that went off the hands of Hixon, another Giants receiver trying to prove he can be "the man." Hixon was hit by Bart Scott on the play but should have caught the pass. That turnover gave the Jets a short field, and on fourth-and-goal from the 1, Thomas Jones jumped over the pile and stretched the ball across to tie it.
A pair of Lawrence Tynes field goals gave the Giants a 13-7 lead, but Sanchez took that away with a shifty throw. Flushed to his right and under pressure from the Giants' three most feared sackers - Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka - Sanchez threw to a wide-open Stuckey on the right sideline. He had come all the way across the field and caught the ball at the 10 before avoiding tackle attempts by C.C. Brown, Corey Webster and Kevin Dockery to wiggle into the end zone.
Sanchez, his shoulder pad flapping outside his jersey after Umenyiora's hit, sprinted down the field to hug Stuckey. Said Tuck, "I was impressed with the rookie, I really am. We had some pressure on him all game, and he was able to make some plays. He seemed to run the offense really well, and I was impressed.''
Jay Feely kicked a 42-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the half to give the Jets a 17-13 lead. The Giants had a chance to score after that when Manning threw a deep pass to Hixon on third-and-8. He beat Darrelle Revis but had the pass go off his fingertips. Feely's 25-yarder capped the scoring with the starters at 20-13 midway through the third.
The Giants' receivers weren't all no-shows. Nicks, who saw time with Manning in the first half, caught a 16-yard comebacker and then caught 22- and 71-yard touchdown passes from David Carr in the fourth quarter. Kevin Boss made an acrobatic 18-yard reception. Manning completed 9 of 21 passes for 91 yards.
But Hixon had five passes thrown to him and caught one for 10 yards. Smith had two thrown his way and caught one for 12. Manningham was Manning's intended receiver seven times and caught two for 22 yards. And Sinorice Moss did not run a route with the starters.
Those are the top four receivers on the Giants' depth chart. And the top four issues for a team that opens the regular season two weeks from today.
