Giants vs. Colts, Preseason Game 2: 'Kudos & Wet Willies' Review

There is good, bad and ugly in every game. With that in mind, let's get to the 'Kudos & Wet Willies' review of Sunday's 20-12 preseason loss by the New York Giants to the Indianapolis Colts.

Considering the final score and the fact that the Giants were not able to produce a touchdown there are a surprising number of 'Kudos' on the list.

Kudos to ...

Michael Cox -- Cox returned a kickoff 36 yards and caught passes from Ryan Nassib for 28 and 20 yards. He did pick up a 15-yard penalty for running out of bounds and failing to come back in quickly enough while serving as a punt gunner. Cox has clearly established himself as the leader for the third running back job.

Larry Donnell -- The young tight end only made a cameo appearance for a couple of plays, but it is amazing that he played at all after being carted off the practice field Friday with what some thought was a bad knee injury.

Dan Connor -- Connor started at middle linebacker and played well, making three solo tackles while playing most of the first half and holding up well as the Giants' run defense looked better than it did against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Shaun Rogers -- Three tackles, including two solid run stops at or near the line of scrimmage. The mammoth 350-pound 34-year-old showed he still has value as a run stopper.

Hakeem Nicks -- Two catches for 40 yards in his first action of the preseason.

Justin Pugh -- The first-round pick made his professional debut, entering at left tackle late in the second quarter. He played exclusively at left tackle and held up well, showing some aggression and appearing to do a good job in pass protection.

Justin Tuck -- The veteran defensive end was active in his preseason debut. He had only one tackle, but pressured Andrew Luck a couple of times and batted down a third-down pass to force a field goal. Unfortunately, near the end of the game it was announced that Tuck had sustained a hamstring injury.

Josh Brown -- The veteran placekicker went 4-for-4 on field goals, including kicks of 47 and 45 yards.

Wet Willies to ...

David Diehl -- The veteran right tackle looked like a statue, and not in a good way, Sunday night. He was beaten badly twice in pass protection while playing most of the first half, giving up a sack on one of those plays. He also whiffed on a block that caused Andre Brown to lose 3 yards on a running play.

Aaron Ross --The Colts picked on the veteran a little bit. Ross suffered the embarrassment of surrendering a 28-yard touchdown on a ball he should have intercepted. He had the pick, bobbled it, knocked it up in the air and watched helplessly as the ball dropped into the hands of Reggie Wayne for 28-yard Indianapolis touchdown.

Giants' Red Zone Offense -- The Giants'got inside the Indianapolis 20-yard line four times, three of those with the first-team offense. They came away with three field goals and a turnover on downs when they failed to convert a fourth-and-one. Getting only 9 points out of a potential 28 is a recipe for losing football games.

Marvin Austin -- Played almost the entire second half and wound up with only one assist. He did generate a little pressure on the quarterback on a couple of occasions, but clearly whiffed on a tackle at the line of scrimmage and did nothing against the run. The impressive play of Rogers likely puts Austin in a tough spot when it comes to making the 53-man roster.