The Giants have quickly flipped the page from Saturday's victory over the Jets as the focus now turns towards the Patriots.
New England will come to MetLife Stadium for the preseason finale this Thursday, with both teams entering the matchup having won their first two games.
Giants coordinators Mike Kafka, Shane Bowen and Michael Ghobrial spoke to reporters prior to Monday's walkthrough practice, while offensive linemen Jermaine Eluemunor and Marcus Mbow, along with inside linebacker Micah McFadden, spoke after.
Here is what we learned.
Kafka: Everything starts up front
There has been a lot of talk about the offense over the last 10 days, and rightfully so. Over the first two preseason games, the offense has produced 30+ points each outing (65 points total) while racking up 874 total yards of offense. The offense has produced with all four quarterbacks under center, and a big reason for that success has been the performance of the guys up front.
The offensive line has stood out over the first two weeks of the preseason. During that span, the Giants' quarterbacks have attempted 89 total passes and have only been sacked a total of two times. The offensive linemen were credited with a total of 8 pressures allowed in each game, according to Pro Football Focus, a strong mark that the Giants would be very happy with in the regular season. More so than that, the line is giving the quarterbacks a tremendous amount of time to operate in the pocket. Look no further than Russell Wilson's moon ball pass to Beaux Collins. The Giants don't get that 80-yard gain if the offensive line doesn't provide Wilson with a tremendous pocket to step up into.
While it's only the preseason, the early results for the guys up front are an encouraging sign with the season just a few short weeks away.
"Well everything certainly starts up front, in the run, the pass game, the screen game, everything," assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka told reporters Monday. "(Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo) Carm and (assistant offensive line coach) James (Ferentz) have done really good job of getting that group together, getting everyone on the same page and working it's way inside-out from the center, to the guards, to the tackles, to the tight ends being an extension of that run game and the pass game, the running backs, the receivers.
"We talk about it a lot, being an 11-man operation but it starts with the guys up front, the coaches are an extension of that and then all the skill groups, making sure we're all on the same page. That's just part of – really what we honed down this offseason was just making sure the language that we're using in the huddle, the language that we're using at the line of scrimmage, it all means something so what is that telling the players and how to operate, how to execute their position and role. It's been really good and I think you're seeing it, the players are buying into it and they're' doing well."
The Giants' starting offensive line from the beginning of last year has all returned for 2025. Left tackle Andrew Thomas remains on the physically unable to perform list, but the other four presumed starters have been out there in the first two preseason games, including Jermaine Eluemunor. The veteran right tackle has been on the field for 18 pass-block snaps in the first two preseason games and is yet to allow a pressure. The veteran is happy with the early results for the whole line, but knows there is still a long way to go.
"For me personally, I don't really put too much stock in the preseason," Eluemunor told the media Monday. "I think it doesn't really count for much. Obviously, it looks good but you can't really base things off preseason. I think everyone individually is doing what they're meant to be doing and we practice hard going against a really good defensive line so that helps too but I wouldn't put too much stock in the preseason because you don't win any Super Bowls in the preseason.
"Sometimes, technically you're not going against their best players, so for me personally and the standard I have and I'm sure the standard we have in the o-line room, we're not really looking at it too much. Obviously, it's probably cool for the fans to see the o-line perform like that but as an o-line, we have such a high standard and where we want to be that we're just going out there and doing our jobs."