The most important thing about a preseason game is how well the starters did. Eli Manning was terrible during his time on the field so a 27-26 New York Giants win over the Indianapolis Colts loses all meaning, as opposed to Andrew Luck who looked sharp, confident and accurate during his the series he took part of.

Manning finished with 1-of-7 for six yards, sacked once and had one intercepted pass ticked off thanks to a penalty. The Colts led 26-0 way into the fourth quarter before Curtis Painter and Ryan Nassib turned things around with 27 unanswered points in just over 10 minutes. Each of the backups threw a touchdown pass, although it was Nassib, throwing for 158 yards, that did most of the effective work.

Luck had a solid performance, completing 12-of-18 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown throw to Griff Whalen, finishing with five receptions and 32 yards. Reggie Wayne didn’t play, T.Y. Hilton not involved. Hakeem Nicks, playing against his former team, was the most solid and reliable target for the Giants, catching five passes for 53 yards, but the Colts’ running game with Trent Richardson getting nine carries struggled getting off the ground.

Matt Hasselbeck came on to finish the first half for Andrew Luck and threw a touchdown pass as well, completing 50% of his passes. The rest of the way was with Chandler Harnish, who struggled generating offense in the second half. The Giants had a first half to forget, with 48 yards in total, as the running game only picked up in the second half thanks to Michael Cox who also scored a touchdown, carrying the ball seven times for 32 yards.

Ryan Nassib completed 11-of-15 and Painter, after a rough third quarter, finally got things going with a touchdown pass. The Giants also got a touchdown off a fumble return from Spencer Adkins. The Giants fumbled the ball once as well, and it didn’t seem like Tom Coughlin was too happy with the win, although it was a nice proving point for their backup quarterback, showing that he’s not giving up on the win no matter the situation.

Hard to determine just how good and who will be good in the NFC East this season, although the Philadelphia Eagles are probably the favorites. After two consecutive seasons of not making the playoffs, the Giants can’t afford to have Eli Manning enter the 2014 NFL Season in such poor form and looking so out of sync with his receivers and generally not looking all that comfortable.

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