Giants Daily Blitz Blog

Giants vs. Panthers Live Blog: 1st QTR

0:00 — GIANTS 10, PANTHERS 0 (key stat: Giants offense has gained 158 yards to Panthers’ 56)

2:00 — Rookie CB Jayron Hosley flushes Cam Newton out of the pocket and forces an incomplete pass on third down.

3:50 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Lawrence Tynes makes a 47-yarder. NEW YORK 10, CAROLINA 0 (drive: 9 plays, 51 yards in 4:44)

*Tynes is a perfect 6/6 on the season.

4:36 — Manning showing his precision and begins 9 for 10 passing, including rookie Rueben Randle’s first catch of his career (a 4-yard gain).

8:30 — FB Henry Hynoski clears the way for Brown, who powers for another 16 yards on the ground.

9:13 — Jason Pierre-Paul takes down Cam Newton on third down as the quarterback was trying to get to the left edge, forcing the Panthers to punt.

11:42 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. TE Martellus Bennett catches a 14-yard pass in the end zone from Manning. XP is GOOD. NEW YORK 7, CAROLINA 0 (drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 3:22)

13:21 — RB Brown, starting in place of Ahmad Bradshaw breaks an arm tackle and breaks down the sideline for 31 yards. First-time starters on offense are making the most of it so far.

14:26 — With the receiving corps banged up, WR Ramses Barden hauls in an early catch for an eight-yard gain.

15:00 — Game Day Captains: CB Corey Webster and G Kevin Boothe in addition to season captains QB Eli Manning, DE Justin Tuck and LS Zak DeOssie. Giants win coin toss, elect to receive. Panthers elect to defend the west goal.

This week’s game will be the seventh regular season meeting between the two teams, with the series tied, 3-3. In the last meeting, the Giants defeated the Panthers, 31-18, in Week 1 of the 2010 season in the first regular season game in MetLife Stadium.

Kickoff: 8:20 P.M. ET

Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

TV: NFL Network/WPIX 11

Weather: Scattered clouds. Warm. 77 °F, Wind: 3.45 mph/N

Giants vs. Bucs Live Blog: 2nd QTR

0:00 — BUCCANEERS 24, GIANTS 13 (key stat: Giants -3 in turnover ratio)

0:23 — TOUCHDOWN BUCCANEERS on a 60-yard interception return. XP is GOOD. TAMPA BAY 24, NEW YORK 13

1:08 — Giants defense forces a quick three-and-out. Rueben Randle has a 45-yard punt return brought back on a holding penalty.

*On that drive, Eli Manning went 5 of 5 for 45 yards.

1:59 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. Nicks hauls in a 23-yard touchdown from Manning. XP is GOOD. TAMPA BAY 17, GIANTS 13 (drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:25)

2:36 — Cruz continues to handle a physical Tampa defense and racks up his seventh catch of the half. He has 70 yards on the day.

6:19 — With Bradshaw sidelined, RB Andre Brown breaks a 23-yard run. Before this game, Brown’s career totals included two attempts for -1 yard since 2009.

6:30 — TOUCHDOWN BUCCANEERS. XP is GOOD. TAMPA BAY 17, GIANTS 6 (drive: 2 plays, 13 yards in 0:47)

9:09 — Cruz makes another grab in traffic. So far, he has four catches for 59 yards.

10:32 — Jason Pierre-Paul sacks Freeman for a loss of 8. Stressing pressure this week, JPP gets the first sack of the season by a Giants defensive end.

12:01 — Nicks spun around and makes a nice jumping catch for 5 yards. However, the Giants come up short on third down and forced to punt.

13:48 — TOUCHDOWN BUCCANEERS. XP is Good. BUCCANEERS 10, GIANTS 6 (drive: 3 plays, 28 yards in 0:56)

14:53 – Eli Manning throws his first interception since the Jan. 15 playoff game in Green Bay.

15:00 — Buccaneers will begin with the ball on 4th-and-11 from the 50.

Daily Blitz: Return game takes shape

Each new season brings a certain level of turnover to every position, but none more so than special teams.

While the core of the kicking game stayed in place (long snapper, kicker, punter, and holder), coordinator Tom Quinn spent the preseason working and re-working his coverage and return outfits. In Week 1, he led off with rookie David Wilson on kickoff return and Domenik Hixon on punts.

The latter was a move in favor of having a veteran handling Dallas’ southpaw punter Chris Jones, especially on a primetime stage for the first game of the season.

“Experience, left-footed punter played an issue in that,” Quinn explained yesterday about choosing Hixon, the last Giant to return a kick (2007) or a punt (2009) for a touchdown. “Because the ball does spin a little bit differently for those guys. Those were the two factors.”

However, the Giants face a traditional righty this week with Tampa’s Michael Koenen, and that could mean time for Rueben Randle or Jayron Hosley, whom Quinn pointed out.

“We’ve got three guys we feel good with right now,” Quinn said. “How much they’re being used on offense and defense all plays into it.”

QUICK HITS

» Giants vs. Buccaneers: Scouting Report

» LeGrand asked to participate in Bucs-Giants coin toss [Mike Garafolo, USA Today]

Giants vs. Patriots Live Blog: 2nd QTR

0:00 — PATRIOTS 3, GIANTS 0 (key stat: Weatherford punted six times in the half with a long of 64 yards and an average of 55.3)

1:11 — Rueben Randle back to return punts for the first time tonight, signals fair catch.

2:00 — Broha puts a good hit on Mallett for a sack. He has 1.5 on the night.

8:17 — Backup QB David Carr takes over for Manning, who finishes 4/8 for 29 yards.

*Heading into Friday’s roster cuts to 53, this final preseason game is a last chance for fringe players to leave an impression. On defense, players like Matt Broha (3 tackles 0.5 sacks), Dwayne Hendricks (4 tackles), Adewale Ojomo (1 tackle), Craig Marshall (3 tackles, 0.5 sacks), and Markus Kuhn (1 tackle) doing a good job of that so far.

8:27 — FIELD GOAL: PATRIOTS. Patriots 3, Giants 0 (drive 12 plays, 51 yards in 4:58)

15:00 – Matt Broha and Craig Marshall (starting in place of Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck, respectively) combine for a sack of Patriots QB Ryan Mallett.

Giants vs. Jets Live Blog: 3rd QTR

0:00 — Giants 16, Jets 3 (key stat: David Carr is 4/6 for 86 yards in a quarter of work)

1:52 – WR Jerrel Jernigan gets into the mix with a 19-yard catch-and run. It was his second reception of the night.

3:28 – Jets kicker Nick Folk clanks in a 30-yard field goal, bringing the score to 16-3 in favor of the Giants.

11:55 — FIELD GOAL. Lawrence Tynes makes a 40-yard kick, his third of the night (35, 30, 40). Giants 16, Jets 0 (drive: 7 plays, 58 yds, 3:08).

14:25 – Rookie WR Rueben Randle makes an impressive leaping catch down the middle of the field for a 49-yard gain from Carr.

15:00 – Backup quarterback David Carr subs in for Eli Manning.

Tweet of the Day: Rueben Randle’s gift

My gift to @teamvic this morning instagr.am/p/N6X447ABI6/—
Rueben Randle (@RuebenRandle) August 04, 2012