With the first round of cuts scheduled for today and the final round on Sunday, both the Giants and the Jets have their rosters mostly ready for their regular season openers. But Friday’s 15-14 Giants victory over the Jets revealed that both teams also have some problems that need to be resolved in the final week of the preseason.

The two Jets players who have garnered the most attention, quarterback Chad Pennington and cornerback Ty Law, had mixed results. Pennington’s surgically-repaired shoulder looks fine, but his decision-making seems questionable. Law’s problem is the opposite, with his ability to read opposing offenses as good as ever but his surgically-repaired foot keeping him from making some plays.

In his first action in a Jets uniform, Law appeared to be a different player than the all-pro who suited up for the Patriots for the last 10 years. Law looks like he’s ready to contribute to the Jets’ secondary, but he doesn’t have the same ability to change directions that once allowed him to be the league’s best shutdown corner. He knows he’s not fast enough to match a receiver like the Giants’ Plaxico Burress stride for stride downfield, which is why he played soft coverage early in the game and Burress beat him for two underneath completions.

But as the game wore on, Law helped in run support and engaged in the kind of physical-but-legal coverage that receivers hate, showing that he’s still a tough and smart player – one that can make an immediate and substantial contribution to Gang Green’s secondary.

On the other side of the ball, new coordinator Mike Heimerdinger’s offense revolves around the philosophy that the quarterback should take his time going through pre-snap reads to determine which receiver will get favorable coverage. On both of Chad Pennington’s interceptions against the Giants, he seemed to struggle to read the defense.

On the first, he appeared to lock in on Laveranues Coles even though the Giants’ Corey Webster was covering him well. On the second, Michael Strahan lined up as defensive end and then dropped back to take away the short pass, but Pennington misread the play and threw it right to the Giants’ all-pro end. Pennington’s shoulder issues, which dominated Jets headlines entering the preseason, seem to be improving with each week; he’s finally throwing with adequate velocity and confidence. But if the fourth-year signal caller can’t get on Heimerdinger’s page from the start, the slow-and-steady Jets could find themselves in an early hole in the AFC East standings.

The Jets’ defensive line got a scare when Dewayne Robertson broke his hand on an excellent play in which he looped to the outside, past Giants tackle (and former Jet) Kareem McKenzie, and knocked the ball out of Tim Hasselbeck’s hand. Luckily, a broken hand is more of a nuisance than a huge problem for a defensive lineman; the Detroit Lions’ James Hall played all of 2004 with a broken hand and finished with a career-high 11.5 sacks. Robertson will miss the final preseason game but should be ready for the regular season opener at Kansas City.

By then, he’ll be joined on the line by John Abraham, who finally signed his one-year, $6.67 million franchise tender after missing all of training camp. Abraham will have a physical today and begin practicing with the team immediately. He won’t play in the exhibition finale on Thursday, but is expected to see spot duty in the season opener against Kansas City.

The Giants also have questions after Friday’s game about a defensive player coming off an injury and about a quarterback who struggled making decisions. The team can be thankful, though, that it’s their backup quarterback, Hasselbeck, and not starter Eli Manning, who is expected back in time for the regular season opener.

Hasselbeck and Jesse Palmer, who is expected to beat out Jared Lorenzen to for the Giants’ third-string quarterback job, at times looked like they were playing from a different playbook than their teammates. Based on Friday’s performance, the Giants absolutely must have a healthy Manning when the season starts. The second-year “savior” might not be an all-pro caliber quarterback just yet, but Big Blue needs him on the field at all times so that his understanding of the game plan can develop along with his physical gifts.

Rookie running back Brandon Jacobs, who had two impressive performances in the first two preseason games, fizzled against the Jets with only 13 yards on seven carries. Jacobs didn’t touch the ball until the fourth quarter and looked tentative, never finding much of a hole behind the Giants’ second-string offensive line. Jacobs might have shown fans on Friday why they shouldn’t get too excited by a couple of preseason games.

So far this preseason, the fourth round pick out of Southern Illinois has 28 carries for 124 yards, and while he’s definitely shown impressive speed and power, he has a long way to go before he can show that he’s a reliable change of pace when Tiki Barber takes a breather.

Defensively, Michael Strahan, who missed the final eight games of the 2004 season with a torn pectoral muscle, is proving that he’s in excellent health and can lead the Giants’ defense again. In fact, based on his play in three preseason games, Strahan looks like one of the rare athletes who can continue to play well into his 30s. If you listen hard, you can hear the entire Giants organization breathing a big sigh of relief. Rookie defensive end Justin Tuck has played well and will probably get on the field enough this year to give Strahan more plays off than he’s had in years past.

Elsewhere, rookie cornerback Corey Webster’s interception on the Jets’ first drive was yet another indication that the Giants’ top three cornerbacks – Webster, Will Peterson, and Will Allen – can be ranked among the best units in the league. In the season opener, the Cardinals will use a lot of three-receiver formations and the Giants should match up very well in that situation.

With Strahan and his proteges looking strong and the secondary steadily improving, the preseason has been encouraging to say the least for the Big Blue defense.

The biggest decisions at the end of the preseason often revolve around special teams, and both teams still need to decide who will return punts. The top candidates for the Giants seem to be Michael Jennings and receiver Mark Jones, both of whom will have to show they can contribute on special teams if they’re going to make the roster. Jones has been sidelined with a sprained foot, and Jennings has not impressed with the chances he has had.

The Giants might end up picking up a punt returner off the waiver wire when other teams make their cuts. Similarly, no one has stepped up as a punt returner for the Jets, who will probably use rookie cornerback Justin Miller or receivers Justin McCaerins and Jerricho Cotchery.

The Giants’ last preseason game is Thursday at New England. The Jets’ last preseason game is Thursday at Philadelphia. Neither team is likely to play its starters for more than a handful of plays, with the rest of the game devoted to determining which players will be released in the final round of cuts this weekend.

Mr. Smith writes for the statistical Web site FootballOutsiders.com.