The New York Giants beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 22-12 to win their first preseason game of 2015. Here are some observations and takeaways from the game.

1. Both teams starting quarterbacks still need a lot of work.

The starting quarterbacks for both teams, Blake Bortles for the Jaguars and Eli Manning for the Giants, both have a lot of work to do in preparation for the start of the 2015 season. First let's start with Bortles. It wasn't the worst case scenario for Bortles, but it wasn't pretty. Bortles played in three drives, finishing with 98 yards on 8-16 passing, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Bortles looked much sharper in last week's win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moving onto Eli Manning, it was as bad as it gets. Manning, like Bortles, played three drives and finished an abysmal 4-14 for just 46 yards and no touchdowns and no picks. Manning is now just 8-22 in the preseason and has yet to throw a touchdown, but looking at positives he has not yet thrown an interception.

2. Giants linebacker J.T. Thomas has huge game - former team.

J.T. Thomas played for the Jaguars for two years and is now a member of the New York Giants. Thomas showed his ex-team what their missing, having a huge impact against them. In limited action, Thomas had 4.5 tackles, one forced fumble, a sack and a tackle for a loss. Thomas will potentially be a starting linebacker this year and his performance Saturday night helped him in a major way. 

3. Jaguars kicker battle begins to heat up.

Believe it or not, the Jaguars have a kicking battle. The long-time starter Josh Scobee is in a battle with undrafted rookie Jason Myers. Scobee has been the Jags kicker since 2004 and at 33 years old, his time with the Jaguars may be coming to an end. Scobee finished 1-1, connecting on a 52-yard field goal. Myers, who played in the Arena Football League last year, converted on both of his attempts going 3-3 with field goals of 38,49 and 55 yards.

4. Giants suffer more injuries; add to 14 players already out of game.

The biggest injury to all was to linebacker Jon Beason. Beason missed most of last season with a foot injury and now starts off the 2015 season with another injury. Beason's injury appeared to not be serious as he was later seen back on the sidelines talking with teammates. Linebacker Mark Herzlich also suffered an injury. He got a concussion very early in the game and was shortly later ruled out. The severity of the injury is unclear at the moment. Late in the fourth quarter, safety Bennett Jackson was injured as well. They originally brought out the cart, but he was able to walk off under his own power. The most severe injury was to safety Justin Currie. He fractured his ankle and will miss the majority of the season. This is a bad injury for an already depleted defense.

5. Giants defense steps up in a big way following poor game - Bengals in preseason opener.

The Giants D came back in a big way forcing five fumbles, even though they only came up with one. They also got three sacks, two from Damontre Moore. Also the Giants D got six tackles for losses. They also gave up just nine points a week after giving 23. Next week will be a good test against the revamped New York Jets.

Other game notes:

Giants new receivers have big games: Dwayne Harris caught his first TD as a member of the Giants. James Jones also had five catches for 83 yards. 

The Jags also have a battle for starting punter: The battle is between Bryan Anger and rookie Kasey Redfern. Anger had two punts with an average of 35 yards per attempt and Redfern had three punts with an average of 46 yards per punt.

Josh Brown appears in midseason form: Giants kicker Josh Brown finished the night going 5-5 on field goal attempts.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR BOTH TEAMS?

The Giants will stay in New Jersey to play in a battle of New York on August 29th at 7:00 PM ET against the New York Jets. As for the Jags, they will play host to the Detroit Lions on August 28th at 8:00 PM ET. That game will be nationally broadcast on CBS.