Time starts in preseason

four-yard gain.

Coach Ben McAdoo after the game called Collins “an animal” because he’s “always around the ball.”

Collins’ standout play Friday seemed similar to his performance in the Giants’ second preseason game against Buffalo last summer. He made tackles on all three downs of a goal-line stand, including a ferocious hit that forced a fumble recovered in the end zone by Damon Harrison.

That sequence, it turns out, was a harbinger of Collins’ explosive second NFL season that finished with him being one of four finalists for the league’s defensive player of the year award.

Collins told the Daily News recently that he believes he can take the next step in his career and win the award this season, and so Friday night’s brief but impressive performance was his first step toward that goal.

“If you get in five, six, seven, 15 plays in the preseason, make those count,” Collins said. “Every time I try to make them count as much as possible. I’m not just out there lollygagging because I’m about to come off the field.”

GETTING THEIR KICKS

Aldrick Rosas and Mike Nugent both kicked so well on Friday night that McAdoo was able to crack a joke about his offense’s inability to get in the end zone.

“I thought both kickers kicked real well,” the coach said. “I’ve never been so excited to kick a field goal.”

The kicking competition did get off to an encouraging start, with the undrafted rookie Rosas banging a 52-yard field goal and a 27-yarder, and the veteran Nugent hitting from 45 and 30. Combined, they went 4-for-4. Now, the next step for the Giants’ offense: scoring a touchdown.

PLAYERS WHO DID NOT

Josh Johnson Smith wasn’t great, but Johnson was worse. His most glaring mistake came inside the Steelers’ 5-yard line. Johnson had Darius Powe wide open in the end zone to his right, but never saw him, scrambling to his left in search of a receiver before being sacked for a six-yard loss. The offensive line If the Giants wanted to quell concerns about the o-line, they did not do it Friday night. After the team spent much of training camp talking about how much the line has improved after bringing back all five starters it was hard to buy into that after their first preseason game.

The starting unit allowed three sacks to Johnson and the Steelers finished with seven sacks total, but McAdoo did not think it was fair to blame the line.

“There was a mistake on the outside where the quarterback had to eat the ball on one occasion. Then there was an extended play, where we had to throw the ball away,” McAdoo said. “So, we can’t blame the offensive line.”