{"id":322421,"date":"2026-08-16T05:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T05:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322421\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T05:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T05:10:14","slug":"studs-and-duds-from-new-york-giants-preseason-week-1-loss-to-vikings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322421\/","title":{"rendered":"Studs and duds from New York Giants’ preseason Week 1 loss to Vikings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aug. 15, 2026, 4:50 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The New York Giants<\/a> opened the John Harbaugh era on a beautiful afternoon at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. The weather was about all that was pleasing for Giants<\/a> fans, however.<\/p>\n

Here’s a breakdown of the studs, duds, and in-betweens from the Giants’ 13-10 preseason Week 1 loss against the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Stud: WR Malachi Fields<\/p>\n

The Giants knew they were getting a walking mismatch when they traded up to draft Fields in April, and it didn’t take long for that to manifest itself on the field. The 6-foot-4 rookie jumped over the Vikings’ 5-foot-10 linebacker Ivan Pace to snatch a touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

He had three receptions totaling 34 yards. Each went for a first down. Fields also made a special-teams tackle, further showing off his versatility.<\/p>\n

Your fantasy edge starts here Sync your league for custom roster advice, projections, and tools to win your matchups every week.<\/a>Dud: DT Josh Tupou<\/p>\n

Can’t really blame the Giants’ backup defensive linemen for their poor play. Many of these guys were picked up in the fourth and fifth waves of free agency. Tupou, a 32-year-old journeyman, got pushed out of the way early and often in this game, greatly reducing his chances of making this team.<\/p>\n

Stud: RB Devin Singletary<\/p>\n

Motor always adds a spark, and he did that in this game, catching a pass from Jameis Winston for a 40-yard gain on 3rd-and-23 to set up the Giants’ first touchdown.<\/p>\n

Dud: QB Brandon Allen<\/p>\n

Allen came in the game in the second half and immediately threw an interception. He threw another two possessions later. Allen finished five-of-eight for 45 yards, but for a veteran who was playing with third-stringers all around him, he looked bad. No other way to say it. The Giants went three-and-out, or worse, on his first four possessions under center.<\/p>\n

Stud: LB Jack Kelly<\/p>\n

The rookie is energetic, and you can see the rookie loves to play football. He led the Giants with five total tackles (two solo) and looked very much like a seasoned pro out there on Saturday in his first NFL action.<\/p>\n

Dud: Giants secondary<\/p>\n

Yes, they are playing more aggressively, but they looked lost on some plays. Sure, it’s a new system and could take some time, but Art Green and Korie Black were a mixed bag in this game. They are two bubble players who can’t afford many slip-ups.<\/p>\n

Stud: Third-down defense<\/p>\n

The defense was truly in bend-but-don’t-break mode in this game. Allowing the Vikings to convert on just four of 12 third-down chances. At one point, the Vikings were 2-for-10.<\/p>\n

Stud: WR Odell Beckham Jr.<\/p>\n

He played in both halves and looked sharper than many had expected. He caught two passes for a total of seven yards. But he was open on most plays, and the Giants simply didn’t target him. He still has some game.<\/p>\n

Other studsDL Chauncey GolstonWR Dalen CambreK Ben SaulsLB Micah McFaddenLB Arvell ReeseLB Trace FordOther dudsWR Braxton BerriosWR Isaiah HodginsOL Bryan HudsonLS Ben MannCB Art GreenCB Korie BlackTE Thomas Fidone\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aug. 15, 2026, 4:50 p.m. ET The New York Giants opened the John Harbaugh era on a beautiful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[679,9,11,10,87161,1941,1942,948,77985,7491,16712,930,947,51039,691,1947,949,682],"class_list":["post-322421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-accessfree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-sourcegiants-wire","tag-sstssportsnflgiants","tag-sstsngiants","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagbrandon-allen","tag-tagchauncey-golston","tag-tagdevin-singletary","tag-tagnew-york-giants","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagodell-beckham-jr","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}