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Giants-Colts Final Score: Ryan Nassib rallies Giants to 27-26 victory

The Giants defeated the Colts in a preseason game Saturday night. Here are some initial impressions.

Eli Manning is sacked by D'Qwell Jackson
Eli Manning is sacked by D'Qwell Jackson
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Corey Washington did it again. For the second straight week the undrafted free agent wide receiver caught a game-winning touchdown pass, this time a 4-yarder from Ryan Nassib with 59 seconds to play to give the New York Giants (3-0) a 27-26 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in a preseason game Saturday night.

The Giants trailed, 26-0, before the team's reserves brought them all the way back in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Nassib, bumped down to the third quarterback spot, led two long touchdown drives in the game's final eight minutes.

On the final drive, Nassib hit Adrien Robinson for 28 yards on fourth and 16. He then hit Robinson for 33 more yards. Washington then drew a pass interference at the 4-yard line before catching the game-winner from Nassib.

Nassib went 11-for-15 for 158 yards, the game-winning touchdown and a passer rating of 129.3.

Washington now has three touchdown catches in three preseason games.

Pat McAfee missed a 64-yard field goal attempt with 10 seconds left for Indianapolis, securing the victory for the Giants.

Victory or not, head coach Tom Coughlin wasn't happy with what he saw from his starters.

"We are realists. We are looking at what looked to be a very poor performance in the first half by the 1s," Coughlin said.

Let's look at some of the takeaways from Saturday's game.

Offensive Progress?

Well, that's what everyone was hoping for from the Giants' first unit. To be kind, that didn't materialize.

  • Eli Manning went 1-for-7 for six yards. He had a 51-yard completion to Victor Cruz, but Cruz fumbled and an Indianapolis penalty wiped out that mistake. Manning threw an interception, an awful decision to throw the ball to Cruz, that was also wiped out by a Colts penalty.
  • The Giants averaged 1.8 yards per play and gained just 48 yards.
  • Three of the Giants five first downs came thanks to Indianapolis penalties.
  • The Giants ran the ball 13 times for 41 yards, an average of 3.2 yards per carry.

Those are just the raw numbers. Discouragingly, the Giants could not block any of the Indianapolis blitzes or stunts in pass protection. They couldn't move the pile to create running lanes, either.

"I'm not frustrated. We're not frustrated. We're working out the kinks," Cruz told Beck during a sideline interview.

Cruz can say that, but it has to be alarming that no noticeable progress has been made offensively. The Giants, right now, don't block, pass or run very well. They have two preseason games left to find some answers.

Does anyone disagree with the assessment of Peter King at halftime of Saturday's game?

Then there was this.

After what we have seen in three preseason games those assessments are hard to argue with.

Special Teams

Let's see.

  • Quintin Demps fumbled a kickoff return.
  • The Giants gave up a 24-yard punt return, failing to pin an Indianapolis returner inside his own 5-yard line. Much like last year every punt return seemed one step from going back a long, long way.
  • Preston Parker tried to reverse field and lost two yards on a punt return. But, hey, he didn't fumble.

Defense

The Giants got some pressure on Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in the first half, but could not get home. Jacquian Williams had nine tackles and the impressive rookie Devon Kennard had five tackles and a sack.

Otherwise, not much to talk about.

Other Notes

  • So much for the perfect preseason of Curtis Painter. After going 10-for-10 in two preseason games and getting an opportunity to work with the second team instead of the third, Painter suddenly seemed to recall that this was the Giants offense he was playing for. Painter started slowly and finished 6-of-15 for 64 yards. He did throw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Davis and hit Preston Parker with a 30-yard completion.
  • Undrafted free agent defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles did not help his cause with three penalties, two 15-yarders. Quarles had a horse-collar tackle and negated a Damontre Moore sack with a piling on penalty. He also had an illegal hands to the face penalty.
  • Undrafted free agent linebacker Justin Anderson flashed with a big hit on running back Phillip Tanner that caused a fumble. Spencer Adkins recovered for a Giants' touchdown.
  • Second-year defensive end Damontre Moore was active with four tackles and a sack.
  • Rookie second-round pick Weston Richburg played center and both guard positions.