Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/9 | Turning the Page to Cincinnati

Madelyn Burke and Howard Cross wrap up the win over the Seahawks, take a look at the Bengals passing attack, and take calls from fans.

:00 - Wrapping up Seahawks

14:00 - Calls

27:00 - Bengals preview

48:00 - News from practice

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for a Big Blue kickoff line. Nobody can
ever tell you that you couldn't do it because you're
on Giants dot Com. You know what I saw you
York Giant Crime and the Giants Mobile app seventeen.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
One Tuck down, we all, We're all tamp.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
The well Happen part of the Giants podcast network. Let's
go on, bunch of craze.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Dogs has a fun welcome into a Wednesday edition a
Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac, the official luxury
vehicle of the New York Football Giants. Thanks for being
with us, Madelenburg here along with the Super Bowl champ
Howard cross phone number here's two A one nine three
nine four five one three, or you can find us
on Twitter at hashtag Giants Chat. As a reminder, you

(00:46):
can find the entire archive of this show and our
entire podcast network on the Giants Mobile app or on
podcast platforms everywhere, plus at Giants dot Com slash podcast.
Howard I Gotta, I Gotta start the show. Given out
some flowers here because Giants, first of all, not only
coming off a win on the road in Seattle, Okay,

(01:08):
but a win in which special teams came up with
a huge play, BRAI so much so, I mean congre
you know. Flowers to Michael Gobriel for drawing up the
play and for coming up with the concept and for
waiting for the right time to use it. But also
flowers to Isaiah Simmons, who has been named Special Teams
Player of the Week, really nice NFL Specialty or NFC

(01:29):
Special Teams Player of the Week after pulling the cam
chancellor in Seattle, hurtling the line and making the block
on the field goal and.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Very big play. You know, the Dexter Lawrence had a
little bit to do with that as well, pull pulling
the guard down so you can give them a little room.
He made a nice jump which was excellent and blocks
the wall. We can't have any more than that. Actually
we can the run back for the touchdown.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (01:55):
I thought he was going to slide and like not
go in and then like you know, kill the clock
that he goes, Yeah, not a chance, I'm coming all
the way. Listen.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
We saw this a couple of weeks ago. Devin Singletary
pull that move. He ran it all the way down
to the one slid because he knew presence of mind
let's just get down and run the clock and win
the game. Bryce Ford Wheaton, this is his first NFL touchdown.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
He's getting get.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
That pay dirt, man. I respect it. I think he
has earned it. Bryce Ford Wheaton has had such a journey.
Of course, an undrafted rookie who missed his entire first
season with an ACL injury, comes back as a training
camp favorite, makes the fifty three man roster, and then
makes a play in Week five in Seattle. So we
love this storyline for Bryce Ford Wheaton.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think it's great. I think it's fun for him
to run down. I was like, is he going to slot? No, No,
he's picking up speed.

Speaker 5 (02:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Him and Nick McCleod running down the field like ya,
this is so much fun. And realistically, yes, you could
have slid milk the clock, but scoring the touchdown wasn't detrimental.
It was a nine point game at that point and
they say held on to the win. Other news to
start our show today, of course, head coach Brian Dable
is at the podium currently speaking to the media. One

(03:04):
of the points that he brought up is cave On
Thibodeau week to week with a wrist injury, saying that
Tibbs had surgery this morning on his wrist. Dable's saying,
I'm encouraged with what I've heard about this, So yeah,
cave on Thibodeau risk surgery this morning. Safe to say
he's a scratch this week on Sunday Night football against

(03:25):
the Bengals. A zizo Julari, of course, will be important
with that absence.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, I mean, you know, depending on what the surgery
is and the way they the way they brace it
up now, manly, he could even play Sunday Night. Believe
it or not. It's crazy. I don't expect him to,
but you definitely could.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, that's true. That's true, depending on the severity. Plus
the league neighbors still in concussion protocol. He'll be outside though.
We'll be working on the side today. So trending in
the right direction, of course. Neighbors did not travel to
Seattle for the Week five matchup with the Seahawks.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
And that gave the team a little chance to you know,
showcase some other offensive weapons. And they did a good job. Uh,
you know, Slayton did a great job. Robson always we
had THEO got in there and caught a few balls.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
Howard loves a good tight end moment.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
You know, I had him on a missing persons report,
So he off, he's off, He's off the milk carton.
Now he's in the game.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
I love it the milk car and love to see it.
Uh And then of course Devin Singletary uh limited today,
but is trending in the right direction. Singletary of course
missed the game in Seattle with the groin injury and
UH so limited today training the right direction. We'll see
about his availability on Sunday Night Football. But of course,

(04:35):
you know, Tyrone Tracy gave a lot of optimism to
the depth of that room.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
Yeah, you know, Tracy did a great job. You can
see him as as a game kind of war on
and he kept getting more reps. He started to like, huh,
I could have bounced that outside. Next time he gets
up he bounces it outside. I'm like, okay, I see him.
And gave very good control, uh, I would say ball
control of the game. He was like, you're switching the
ball to the outside hand and keep you know, keep
it from getting knocked away from guys trying swipe at it.

(05:00):
So it was really good to see him run show
some great speed. When he made those moves on the outside,
it becomes a food race. I like. I like him
in the food race almost every time. So he he really,
you know, made the offensive line's job look even better.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Absolutely absolutely, And then of course some other things to
monitor today in terms of the injuries on the list,
We've got a couple more. Who is it, John Runyon.
It looks like is uh Ill and Greg Van Roten
is getting a vet day today, so it means he's
a vet and he's getting a day. You know, it

(05:36):
doesn't have to practice. It's like, okay, listen, you've paid
your dues. Okay, I don't know, so you know, I
guess there's some it's a load management, but you know,
so it's you know, you got it's a long season.
It's week six. You want to monitor the health of
especially some of the older guys on the roster, and
that's what you know, Brian Able and this coaching staff
is doing.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
They doing a good job of it though as long
as they keep playing the way they played today, Okay.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
What they do during the week absolutely absolutely, And of
course you know we talked quite a bit I'm sure
on this program throughout the week with you know, the
other hosts on the show and on Our Giants hangout
about just how incredible that Seahawks win is. Yeah, the
momentum of it getting a win in that building. I mean,
the last time the Giants won there was twenty twenty

(06:20):
where there was no fans, and prior to that it
had been a long time before.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
It has been a very long time.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's a hard place to win, so and not just
getting the win in that building, but also one thing
that I think is a testament to the coaching is
the discipline of this team. The Giants had just two penalties.
They didn't have any pre snap penalties, which in an
environment like that where it's that loud, in that raucus
and you're trying to work the silent count and trying
to stay on the same page, that's the situation where

(06:48):
you get those everyone but the center flag.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
Well, you know, it was really funny because you're thinking
about that no penalties for illegal procedure, and it was
so loud, especially early in the game, that you couldn't
couldn't hear anything. I couldn't hear I couldn't hear the
show through my through my headphones, and they still weren't
jumping out sides, and I think that it's more impressive
that they weren't jumping out sides and they had motions
and shifts and doing everything and they just ran the

(07:13):
offense like it like it didn't matter.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
Yeah, absolutely they were. And to their credit too, the
fact that the Giants were able to execute offensively and
kind of take the crowd out of it at moments,
not significantly, not the entire time, of course, that the
twelves are always going to show up loud, but there
were moments in which you know, that crowd was a
little bit okay, I see.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
You know what, when they're running the ball like that
and they're and they're keeping it squeezing all the air
out of it, it does They could drain the crowd
pretty much. They're like, oh, we got to get the
ball back eventually here. And it also puts a lot
of pressure on it put a lot of pressure on
the Seahawks offense because as they're sitting down their high
powered offense, they can score at any moment, and they're
on the sidelines watching, they're like, come on, guys, you

(07:55):
can get them slow.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
Them down, right, Yeah, It's like, okay, you're almost to
warm up again after that kind of an effort you mentioned.
Had powered offense. I mean, Geno Smith leads the league
in passing yards, passing attempts. You know, they air the
ball out well.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
And he's got a lot of guys.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
He's got a lot of guys and the Giants Steepe's
did a really great job in coverage. Tay Banks I
thought had an incredible game. You know, he took the
coaching from Jerome Henderson this week and said, all right, listen,
I'm gonna level up and and really had a tough
matchup being against DK Metcalf a few times, force that fumble, yep,
and held Dk to kind of a bit of a

(08:32):
stifled stat line.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
He did stifle a little bit. He got got up in,
got up in as grill as you would say. You know,
he stayed really tight to him. Even a flot got
on big Metcalf one time and knocks the ball down.
It looked so funny to see his little body reaching
across and knock the vault out. Was like this, this
is incredible.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
I don't think Cornell flat wants to be referred to
as his little body.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
He's a little dude, he's slight.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I okay, he's yeah, he's he's a slim. Build the
hell you want to do. I would yeah, I would
call him a slim beuld slight.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
All right, he'll hit you though.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yeah, exactly exactly, he'll bring it.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Good cover guy too, great skills.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
Yeah yeah. And then of course you know that that
pressure starts up front too. The Giants had seven sacks
on the day, three of them Dexter Lawrence. And I
really like the way that Shane Bowen, you know, disguised
a lot of these pressures. You know, it would look
like you're sending like seventy eight guys and then several
guys drop back into coverage. And you know, Bowen's defense
really heavily reliant on that front four to bring the pressure,

(09:33):
and they were able to execute that and do that well,
you know what.

Speaker 4 (09:37):
The defensive line played so well, led it by Dexter.
Dex is like a wrecking ball. And I tell I
say this all the time. He's like a pop warning
game where the kid's really really big and he's like
you had to get his birth certificate and how much
do you actually weigh? Are you really that old? Like
playing with little kids, and so what he looks like
sometimes when he's out there, and it's pretty cool. I
thought Trayvon did a good job. Thibodeau, he was awesome

(09:59):
off the edge Burns.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Burns had a sack, had a sack, you know, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
They try to run a little trick play and he
went back and sacked the quarterback instantly. I think some
of the young guys and also got in there and
got some half sacks and some pressure. So I think
the Lion as a whole was really impressive.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
I think also it's interesting because, I mean we've heard
that the frustrations or concerns with Giants fans were like, hey,
you know, Brian Burns, I thought he was supposed to
be this game wrecker, and it's taken him a little
bit to get involved in the statuet and into the outcome.
I mean we saw the same thing with Bobby o'cuerake
last year. Right when you're coming new to a team,
new to an environment, it takes a little while to
get your sea legs and then you kind of hit

(10:36):
your stride. I mean we're just you know, five games
into the season.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
Well, also, you know they're chipping him a little bit
to try to keep him out of the place. When
you see him running really fast body he blew boy
a tackle one time so fast that he was behind,
you know, before he could slow down. So he's like
learning kind of like the angles and stuff, and there's
nobody more frustrated with it than him. You know, I'm
watching as guys going in at halftime, He's still looking
at the screen going like, what, how in the world

(11:02):
did I miss that? I'm like, okay. So he's a
very intense young man. He really wants to get it done.
And when you see guys working at that hard and
really grinding, you know, it means a lot to.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Him, right, And so this will be another test for
this defense because Sunday night you got the Bengals coming
to town. And yes, you look at their record, Bengals
one in four. Oh, that's not too shabby. But I
mean Joe Burrow is coming off an overtime loss to
the Ravens in which Burrow threw five touchdown passes. He's
thrown twelve touchdown passes on the season. That's leading the

(11:34):
National Football League. He's second in the NFL with a
seventy two point three percent completion percentage. I mean, this
guy can move the ball. This offense is putting up points.
It's just like when your fantasy team is having the
best outing you've ever had and then you just happen
to be going up against the person who scores more
than you that week. I feel like that's what the
Bengals have been going through that compared to the fact

(11:56):
that are combined with the fact that their defense has
been allowing the opponents to give up quite a few points.
So for the Giants, you know, scoring points, controlling the
time of possession and really limiting Burrow's time with the ball.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Yeah, it's gould be excuse me this, It's gonna be
all about, you know, ball control. They're gonna squeeze all
the air of the ball. It's more important this week.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Than not literally because Tom Brady did that once somewhere.
It turns out not allowed.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
But you but you got you got to hold onto
the ball. Possession. It's got to be really really high
for the Giants because they're not doing that, and you're
looking at at looking across the field. I'm telling you
Burrow will light it up. He has no problem getting
it down the field. You got Jamar Chase out there,
who is who has a man on a mission because
he didn't get his money.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
He really really is like trying to show like, hey, look,
I'm going to be the highest paid guy next year.
If this is the way you want to do it,
I'm gonna make you pay for it. So he's really
going after him. Uh. I mean literally, I don't think
there's a flaw in their in their their skill position. Guys.
They are They're excellent all around.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
The board, absolutely, and the Giants are going to have
to continue to bring the pressure to Did you know
that the Giants are leading the NFL in sacks this
season twenty two sacks. I believe the only other team
with twenty or more sacks is the undefeated five and
zero Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
Wow, the fact that's impressive.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
It is impressive. And you think about because, especially coming
into this season, the narrative around oh Shane Bowen's defense,
Wink would send the blitz, Wink would try to get
this out, get to the quarterback. Is that pressure still
going to be there? Clearly?

Speaker 4 (13:27):
It is, you know what, and it's the d linemen
mostly aren't getting all the sacks D line are getting
most of the sex, not necessarily safety.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
Of Jason Pinnock. He's got three on the season. That's
a career high for him there, and it's only we're
only a few games in.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
Yeah. Well, like I said, they when they Drew Phillips,
when they Yeah, when they blitzed, they don't expect them
to be blitzing. They don't expect to see them coming
in the backfield, and all of a sudden you got them.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Like plot twist.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
It's a big plot twist because he's not known for
blitzing at all.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
Exactly exactly, but you know, not getting creative with it,
throwing some different looks at it as well. UH fans,
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(14:15):
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deal two A one nine three nine four five one
three is the phone number? Or I just want to
shout out John Schmelk forgetting the phone lines fixed. I
know we were having some technical difficulties last week, but
Schmelck said, no, no, no, we want to hear from you.

(14:37):
We want the callers. Uh so let's go to the phones.
We've got Big Ed in Maryland online one Big Ed.
You're on Big Blue Kickoff Live with Howard and Madeline.
How's it going?

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Hi? How are you guys doing well? Well?

Speaker 4 (14:51):
Come on.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Away man, hey Howard? Hey, look, seas have started right, yep,
we're supposed to be ten and oh right, supposed to be.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
It's all right, though we would have been close with
a couple of plays here and there. It would have
been probably five and one or four would have been
pretty close.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Nah, I see five and no. That offense is working
like it was Sunday. We'd be five and no. Now,
oh my.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
Goodness, soon right? You know you got.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
This is the big part though. See, we got to
show this consistency this week. We got to somehow win
this game without getting too hurt because you just, guys,
you guys just mentioned like a couple of people that's hurt.
It's like, oh no, all right, So we still got
to play aggressive. We still just don't let them do

(15:52):
We can't let them throw that D ball because they will.
Oh my gosh, that boy will. And I feel like
if we pray this, this is what I saw from
the game. Okay, let me say this. So we practiced
well last week. We practiced so well it showed up
in the game. And once we keep playing in that level,

(16:14):
we should be winning most of those games.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
The only way you lose it is because somebody didn't
do something when we needed it done, you know, because
it's like game is four quarters. You can make mistakes
in the first three, but that fourth quarter everything got
to get tightened up because you're getting it in. You
know how to go out then and look and then

(16:38):
the best part I liked to one great part I
heard was the fact that we took a tight end
down the middle of the field. I preached for you, Howard,
I said it last week. I said, Man, we gotta
go to our tight ends to win this game because
they are a big force in the passing games. Get
them past the linebackers. Man, you gotta big target. It's

(17:01):
not hard to do something with something like that. Yeah,
and then Big South.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
I stood a Runday game and man, everybody, man.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well yeah, and it showed. It wasn't like, it didn't
show inconsistency, it didn't show anything off. Everybody understood. Total focus.
Gotta do the same thing this Sunday night with this
primetime game. Get this thing whatever it is off of him.
Off man. He got to come out and just show

(17:33):
greatness and it will be there.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
All right.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
And that's what I'm gonna leave with right now. So
I'll call I'll try to get back with you guys
on Friday.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
All right, Thanks so much for calling that.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
I think that's pretty funny. He said we're gonna be
like ten and about the fourteen, I think he said
what we should have been by this, I'm like, wow,
so we're gonna write that down, but we're that's a
big call. Uh, He's right there. I think the offense
is playing a lot better. I think Daniel Jones is
with with time is looking better and better every game,
which is exciting to see into here. I think also,

(18:04):
you know, Tracy is if not a surprise. I knew
he was going to run like that, because watching him
a little bit in Purdue, I was like, if he
gets him gets his you know, get the motor going
a little bit, he will be pretty fantastic. So you know,
the running back room looks really good right now. I think,
you know, the receivers kind of picked it up. Theo
getting a chance to catch the ball some I thought.
I thought that was a big part of the game.

(18:24):
But remember neighbors, cause all of that before, because when
you have somebody that great, you're trying to give him
the ball all the time. So all these other guys
kind of kind of wilted a little bit. Now that
he's not in the game, they're picking it up. It's
not like he wants them not to pick it up.
Peop wants to be played better and better every week too.
But you know, you see it, you see it in
You saw it in San Francisco. You see it in

(18:45):
San Francisco a little bit. You saw it a little
bit in Kansas City. And I had big time receivers
out there that came in. It's like these guys are
coming in and like there they're big, their threats down
the field, like the quarterbacks are looking for him.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
I don't know that like the other skill position players,
is necessarily wilted. It's just more of the fact there's
one ball, you know, and they haven't had it in
their hands. And I mean we saw this week even
with Jalen Hyatt, you know, a lot of people expected
Neighbors is out Hyatt's going to be the guy. Hyatt,
you know, had some pretty great route concepts, He drew
some coverage away, you know, he had a nice block
exactly good coffiers and he had a nice block in

(19:20):
there as well. So just because he's not getting the
ball in his hand, doesn't mean he's not making an
impact on the play. And so I think some of
these other receivers too, or skill position players, which of
course you get, but I'm saying to the listeners, like
some of these other skill position players, just because they're
not having the ball in their hand or not being
the target of the past, but doesn't mean they're not
affecting the play. And when you've got a guy like

(19:41):
Neighbors out there, that's the number one.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
Look when we're talking about wilting, we're talking about the
numbers they're not getting in that like you're not like
oh Man I'm going to get this man. You're like, Okay,
well you know he's getting all the plays right, and
you're like, I gotta do something else. But you're wilting
your numbers. You're like, you want your numbers when especially
when you're a guy that's getting.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
Paid exactly that makes sense too, and you want to
have those numbers, especially when the contract negotiation comes up.
But in terms of the win loss, I mean, you know,
like shoot, like with with Dexter Lawrence out there, that
that special Teams play doesn't happen without Dexter Lawrence definitely not.
But the casual NFL fan watching it doesn't even notice
Dexter Lawrence. Well, you know, I hope howe they notice,

(20:20):
but I mean doesn't notice. You know, the casual fan
is like saying, oh, wow, Isaiah made that great leap
and Rice Ford Wheaton had the scoop and whatever, because
you watching the ball.

Speaker 4 (20:29):
We're not talking about that. I don't know how that's
going to be later that play might disappear, you know what.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
It's you know, we're we're playing by the rules.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
And uh, it's a way right there. If it's within
the rules, you still do it.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Not No, I mean, hey, if the tush push is
still legal, don't have no in your heart?

Speaker 4 (20:48):
Right, I can't.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
The brotherly shove? Is that better?

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (20:54):
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nine four five one three is the phone numbers. We

(21:15):
head back to the phone lines. Vinnie in Florida. Vinnie,
you're on Big Blue Kickoff Live with Howard and Madeline.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
How's it going, hey, Vinnie? First off, hopefully stay safe
down there.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
Bro, Yeah, how are you? Hopefully you're not in the
danger zone in Florida.

Speaker 6 (21:27):
I'm in a high risk area. I'm at a high
risk area and saying August, team, we just got to
keep our fingers crossed and hope for the beat.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Okay. Well, if they tell you to evacuate, get out
of there immediately. If not sooner, I'm far enough.

Speaker 6 (21:39):
Away from the Beats that we won't have that. But yeah, okay, Hey, hey,
but I appreciate you, you guys asking for it. Before
I get into the football stuff, Madeline, I want to
challenge you. I want a number of wins that you're
gonna say, set it high, not out of this world
for the tattoo.

Speaker 5 (22:02):
First of all, Vinnys somewhere on all.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Right, listen, I told you last year. I told you
last year that it was a super Bowl. So if
there is a Super Bowl, win is what I would
ask for for the tattoo.

Speaker 6 (22:26):
Wow, come on, let's negotiate. Can we go with twelve wins?

Speaker 3 (22:33):
Twelve wins? I mean that's pretty much like undefeated the
rest of the season, right, don't do it?

Speaker 4 (22:40):
Man, we.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Come on twelve and five with an NFC championship appearance.
I'll consider it, Vinny, Wow, considerate, considerate? But really, the
Super Bowl was the Super Bowl? Was the vibe goodness?

Speaker 4 (23:01):
All right? Then a real football question.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
I mean, honestly, I appreciate the callback because this was
the last season thing that I said, and Vinnie, you know,
hold me to my word and I respect it.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
I remember it. Yeah, what I wanted to say, how
many people in the beginning of this year, we're thinking
Malik Theo and trading as our stunds, running back, tight
ends and wide receiver were we are all hype and
maliks what if this year progresses? And I'm an excited fan.

(23:36):
That's just looking at the positives and that's the negative.
But this year progressive. We got the opportunity to go
into you next year and I'm hoping this is going
to be a solid year with real good weapons at
all three of those positions. THEO had this coming out
party and I heard you mentioned it earlier in the show,

(23:56):
Howard and one was down the field, was you know,
in a place where you say, hey, if you can
start running tir and play that that opens up this
offense in a whole different way than we've shown it
in the first four games, and even with the fifth
game with relief not having it, and you know, I'm
excited about it. I haven't. I can't remember when I've

(24:17):
been this excited about a Giant's team. They've made improvement
every week. The second thing is these fans have to
stop crushing Daniel Jones. I know there's a piece out there.
Every time I go to a bar and where a
Giants aret, someone asked me, what about Daniel Jones, and
I said, I've been saying this for years. I can't

(24:39):
evaluate him until he has a line to protect him.
And he does this year, and you know, he's getting better.
And last week with the two de balls got me
even more excited because I thought that this is going
to be the time that he corrects everything because he
thinks going overthrowing then underthrowing, so on that. And then

(25:01):
the last thing I wanted to say is I see
last week now it and I they did the Giants
were gonna win. I don't have a fieldingness for Cincinnati.
Is is probably the best one and fourteen I've seen
in a long time. But I think we're going to
stand up to them. I think, you know, when when
you rush for guys and you get pressure, you can

(25:23):
you can uh cover a little for you know, a
lack of a deep, deep secondary and they're holding their own.
They're holding their own. This is something that surprising policies
for yesterday and that and that block field goal was
was out of out of a movie. I can't even
think of a movie or any movie, but that thing

(25:44):
was a fairy tale just happened, and I can't believe
the guy schemed it up and it worked. That's sure
when all the coaches, I think are a lot more
safer because this needs to be built the way they're
building it right now.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
Yes, well, let's the first things first. I think that
the three rookies on the offense were drafted at every
position that when they were getting their pick, they were
the highest rated player when they were getting picked when
they were picking them, which is which is pretty cool
that Joe Shane was able to do that to get
the right guy at the right moment, which was exciting.
And they are actually producing. And he did the same

(26:19):
thing with the with the defense as well. The two
corners corners in the safety, uh, they are playing excellent football.
And the linebacker, the young linebacker also from U C.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
L A.

Speaker 4 (26:30):
I believe, is playing very well and contributing very well.
I think that's that's pretty awesome. As far as like said,
we've been talking about it kind of all day, is
that you got to kind of squeeze the ball when
you play against Cincinnati. You got to keep Joe Burrow
off the field like he's a dangerous guy. His receivers
are great, his running backs, greatest tight ends pretty good,

(26:50):
you know, but their their defense is struggling, so we
want to make sure that we take advantage of their
defense the best way we can. And I would love
to see Daniel, you know, throw for three hundred yards
and you know, get five or six touchdowns. But that
would mean that Joe was throwing for three hundred yards
and getting five six touchdowns. I'd rather be more like,
throw for one hundred and eighty yards, two hundred yards
and run the ball, just keep him off the field.

(27:13):
That would be the best win for us.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
Yeah, yeah, if.

Speaker 6 (27:16):
You think about that. I'll just say this last before,
if you think about the draft class this year, they're
not only started, but they're going into undrafted free agents.
Chapman is an undrafted they're six rounds deep. Now they
roll againting good. That's just like a fairy tale draft.
This year. They got starters already started. Now the other guys.

(27:37):
It's exciting.

Speaker 4 (27:38):
It's very exciting. Well, thank you again for your call.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Thanks to the call of then you appreciate it. I
mean that's a good point too. And you've got guys
like Elijah Chapman, you know, people across the league. You know,
one of the reasons that he wasn't undrafted guy is
people across the league will look at him and say, well,
you know, he's got the skill, he's got the strength,
but he's a little small. He's a slight to use
your But then you know, in that Houston game, you just,
you know, put on the burners and shows that his

(28:02):
speed and athleticism and he makes the roster. And the
fact that you know, the Giants and the front office
and the scouting staff is able to say, I'm gonna
look at this player and at these players and not
just at the obvious height, weight, size, whatever, but also
the skill set that they have and even if okay,

(28:22):
maybe this doesn't look like what I'd imagine a player
at this position would look like, how do they play
the position? And being able to separate that and find
a gem of a player in Elijah Chapman, who is
such a darling in this lock.

Speaker 4 (28:36):
He's a pretty awesome kid. He's they're tall, but he
runs great, he has great leverage, he moves well, he
has great he plays with great hands, and he's got
the speed that gives an offensive lineman fits because if
you just miss him a little, he's by you and
you're trying to hold him to stop him from getting there.
You just got to find a way to get your
hands on him, try to slow him down.

Speaker 3 (28:57):
Remember that Houston preseason game, he like blew off, blew
offs track down that running back, Like, look at this
dude first, and not only that, he's got the locker
right next to Malik neighbors. So he understands and he's like, listen,
you know what, I'm gonna step back. I'm gonna be
He's not, you know, a diva about it. He's like,

(29:18):
all right, you know what, I'm gonna let Malik have
his moment to talk to the media and then I'm
gonna come back around later. And he's just he's just
such a team first guy.

Speaker 4 (29:26):
That's good. You know, there's a lot of players out
there that that you know, you think of the guys
like the Aaron Donald's of the world, that they weren't
that big, that that that position now is becoming that
kind of size and speed kind of guy. You get
Dexter over here, you got chat ming down here, and
it's a very interesting look.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Well, and a guy like Dexter too. Like Dexter, you
don't look at him and think that guy is gonna
be quick fast. But he's fast too. He'll run down
the I mean he'll run down the quarterback.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
But I think the dance move alone. Just let you
know how athletic he.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
First of all, we got that sexy see tutorial.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
Oh my goodness, you know hit it.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
We want to see it. I mean, this man hit
a summersault. Yes, yeah, he's summer sulted off the field last.

Speaker 4 (30:13):
That was pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
I was like, how and what? But you know what,
I respect it. He's like a giant kid having so
much fun, having.

Speaker 4 (30:21):
The most fun ever. I love seeing those guys have
a good time. And again, like I was, I was
saying that, just seeing the office go out and meet
them and congratulate them. When everyone are having a good
series and the defense goes out and meets the office
and having a good series. You know, watching Daniel go
up and down, hitting all his linemen and going to
the defense the school guys, I'm like, wow, these guys
are fired up. I was excited for it the whole time.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
They're fired up. It was. It was endearing. And even
you know, Good Morning Football did a segment when when
the Giants won or when you know, the block field
goal happened, and they realized, wow, this we got this game.
Daniel Jones on the sideline. It's just like I don't
I don't know, I don't know what to do with
my hands, like what I don't know, And it's endearing.
It's like that's all of us. It's like, oh my gosh,

(31:01):
this is actually very exciting, is very it's great. And
you know, you mentioned it too, and Vinnie mentioned it
as well. You know the fact that the Giants are
gonna have to put up points to get a win
on Sunday. You want to see them throw for three
hundred yards. But if they do, that means Joe Burrow's
doing it. I mean the Bengals they're averaging twenty eight
points a game this season despite being one and four.
They're the fifth team to average five or more or

(31:23):
to average twenty eight or more points per game despite
starting one or four one and four or worse in
the team's first five games Like this doesn't happen. Teams
that put up that many points do not have this
kind of record on average. So you look at the
struggles of the Bengals, this team is not their record,
and I think that's something that needs to be reminded
because it's easy to look at it and be like, oh,

(31:44):
well they're well.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
Here's what they've lost all these games, but they've they've
been fighting through the games. Also, It's it's not like
they're going in and he's throwing up junk points at
the end of the game just to come back there.
And games knows and knows every game, and that's what's
really weird about it. You would think they would find
a way to, you know, stop somebody once or twice,
but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many times

(32:06):
he scores. So I think the other team comes back
down and scores again. So it's one of those things
where you don't want it to come down to like
whoever has a ball last wins, and you don't Joe
having a ball. That's the only thing you don't want.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
Right exactly. Giants Fans. The Giants official connected TV streaming app,
Giants TV brings original video content and game highlights on
demand and direct to Big Blue fans. Giants TV is
free on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV, and
on the Giants mobile app. To a one nine three
nine four five one three is the phone number. Again

(32:41):
had tip to John Schmel getting the phone lines fixed.
It's a little bit different system. We can just take
one call at a time right now, but appreciate your patience.
If you're trying to get through, keep trying. But right
now we're going to the phone lines because RJ in
Georgia is on Big Blue Kickoff Live with Madeline and Howard.

Speaker 6 (32:56):
RJ.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
How's it going, He's.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
Going, Rgie, Hey, what's going on? What how you guys
doing good?

Speaker 2 (33:03):
Good?

Speaker 7 (33:03):
Hey, listen, I'm just calling because I'm just a proud fan.
You know, we're all been waiting for the emergence of
our offense. You know, we've been we've been down for
a while, and just to see them control the ball,
control the clock, and they've been doing this now for
at least three or four times where they have had
the ball for nine to ten minutes. To see that transformation,

(33:26):
that's only going to pay to me big dividends, you know,
as the season progresses. And Daniel Jones, I have never
seen him that animated on the sideline in his career,
So I don't know what got into that, dude, but
you know what, whatever it is, keep it up because
I'm proud of that dude, I just wanted to say
that to you. I'm just a proud fan. I think

(33:47):
the sky's the limit. We If there's any team that
needs to win at home, it's the New York Football
Giants because we've been really bad at home and it's
time for those fans to see a good product underfield.
Take it off the here, you guys, enjoy your day.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
Thanks so much for the call, RJ. And for the positivity.
We love a positive moment because I think so often,
you know, especially with the struggles that Giants have had,
we've heard a lot of you know, airing of grievances
every day is festivus on this show. But you know what,
I really respect the moment of saying, you know what,
I want to call in and just express some gratitude
and positivity. RJ. Love to hear it, definitely love to hear.

Speaker 4 (34:24):
Love to hear the Giants fans being excited about wins
and stuff, you know. And also I agree with him,
I'd like to see a win at home absolutely, you know,
and get the monkey off the back for the for
the primetime games. That would be also awesome and the
only way to do it. They gotta squeeze the ball.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
Because oftentimes to you get caught up in the narrative
of a team, and primetime games really feed into that.
I mean, you look at what's going on with Kirk
Cousins right now. Kirk Cousins in Atlanta is having himself
a season and he's finally got those primetime wins happening.
But for so long, anywhere Kirk Cousins would play, if

(35:00):
it was after seven pm, it was like, you know,
the sun was down, and so was kirk cousins productivity,
and the narrative around him became such Daniel Jones and
the Giants, you know, have struggled in primetime games. And
so yes, the real ones know that the Giants fans
who watch weekend and week out know what kind of
quarterback with the possibilities are with this offense. But a

(35:22):
national audience and the national narrative around the team is
a little bit affected still. And I personally, for Daniel
Jones and for this team, would love to see the
national audience kind of take notice of like, Okay, this
guy isn't a punching bag, and this team isn't a joke.
This is an actual NFL team that has been that

(35:42):
has an incredible looking offense and possibilities here, and it
would be lovely to see that on that stage.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
I'd love to see him win, like twenty one twenty
or twenty four twenty, whatever it is, just win. But
I don't. I just don't need a lot of passes.
I want in this particular game, keep the clock running,
keep keep them on the shop wants.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
To bring it back to old school NFC. Three yards
and a cloud of dust.

Speaker 4 (36:07):
I'll take eight yards and cloud of dust, but three
three three works. It's three and a half.

Speaker 3 (36:11):
Speaking of eight yards and cloud dust again, Tyrone Tracy
averaging seven point two yards per carry on eighteen carries seven.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
Yards and cloud of dust seven seven point two yards
in cloud but.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
Still usually like four four and a half. That he
was respectable.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
He had two or three runs over twenty yards. That's
that helps the average tremendously. And when, like I said,
you could see him. He started first he was going
inside and just like, okay, I'm like this a simple math.
If it's one guy out there, beat the one guy.
Don't try to cut back inside. There are ten guys
coming towards you. And finally he dipped in and went out.

(36:46):
When he went out, the guy had to turn and
chase him, and I'm like, there.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
You go hit him with that euro step.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
You know, we give him the old dead leg and hey,
there is So it looks good and like and now
guys are going to be you know, they're going to
play contain a lot more. It's going to bring the
corners down on the outside a little bit more. And
they can't do that if the receivers are still, you know,
getting deep and if the heighth end just kind of
jogs by, You're like, where's it going? He's running a

(37:11):
route to throw it to him. Like, it's going to
be interesting to see how they how they start to
containing it, Like Tracy is especial in that aspect.

Speaker 3 (37:18):
Well. And when you have and people always say, you know,
you've got to get the run game going to get
open up the passing game because you have to actually
have that threat of a run game, and the Giants
have established that. But also the Giants have attempted to
establish in weeks past the threat of the long ball
and hadn't been able to connect, hadn't been able to connect. Finally,
in Week five, not once, but twice on a single drive.
They hit Daniel Jones hystereous Slaton for a forty one

(37:40):
yarder and then a thirty yarder.

Speaker 4 (37:41):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
So now you have to respect it. I mean prior
even if they're they're attempting it and not connecting, it's like, okay,
we have to respect it still. Now that they're connecting
on that pass and that play and they've they've found
that that chemistry there, you know, dvs are going to
have to respect it.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Yeah, but think about this, and this is like something
people don't really see. Like when he hits Slag on
the forty one yard that's a catch and tackle right.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
There, right right. That's the ball traveled that far in
the air, So that's.

Speaker 4 (38:08):
What But that's the idea. You want to throw it
forty yards exactly. You want to hit the you wanna
hit the receiver right at the forty yard market. So
being able to time it up where you're throwing it
and he's getting to that market at the same time
is where they've been missing it just a little bit.
The time has been off more so than he's got
to work on his deep throws, and now the time
is just off. When they get the timing right and
he releases it's going to hit right word supposed to

(38:28):
that did. He did a great job of The one
across the field was a was an even more impressive throw.
He has to lead him as he's going to the
end zone and he's going across the field on a
deep cross and.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
I'm pretty sure Davill said that wasn't like the first
option on that play.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
Too, you know, so factly not the first option.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
You see DJ going through his progressions a little bit
more and kind of finding Slayton.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
On a thirty yards and think about because he was
kind of flushed from the parkt pocket. He was rolling
over to his right side, so he's everything on the
rights where he's supposed to be looking. He looks up
and like, oh man, Slayton is he looks like he's
gonna outrun go kid like that.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
That's what it was already, y our touchdown pass across the
body exactly. And this is the type of things that
you're like, Okay, see.

Speaker 4 (39:04):
This is this is too early to call it. Danny
Dimes maybe.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
Returning, maybe Daniel Dimes, Daniel Dan Dimes.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
He's a little older now.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
Also, Also, he never remember when that nickname. He's never
like he's the kind of guy who's like, nobody ever
calls me Danny. I don't nobody call I'm not a Danny.
And I was like, well, too bad that the toothpaste
is out of the tube, friend, and Danny is happening returning.
But you know what, maybe it's just dumb Daniel back
at it again with the white Vans. I like it

(39:37):
either way. You know, the fans will come up with
something clever if he continues to ball out like he does.
But a lot of it do comes from just the
confidence that he has in the protection that he's getting,
and he's got time, he's got a pocket. He's no
longer immediately looking for the pass rush while also trying
to find his receivers, and that has helped his game

(40:00):
really kind of level up a bit because he's now saying, okay,
I can I can focus where I need to focus
instead of having to look right in front of me,
not trusting the protection I'm getting.

Speaker 4 (40:09):
That's true. And then because of the player that he
is too, he gets a lot of those zone coverages
because you saw what happens was people play man and
the man. The quarterback breacks the pocket like, there's nobody
looking at him. He can just run for days, and
nobody wants Dwannel running down the field, Claire, like, we
don't want to see that, because he could. He could
probably outrun some of the dvs in that case. So
even even coming off to the knee surgery, can he

(40:30):
can still motor down the field pretty good?

Speaker 3 (40:32):
Absolutely. Two of one, nine, three, nine, four five one
three is the phone numbers. We head back to the
phone lines. Cliff in New York. You're on Big Blue
Kickoff Live with Howard and Madeline. Cliff, how's it going? Hey?

Speaker 8 (40:43):
Great, great time to be a Giant fan.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
There there you go.

Speaker 8 (40:47):
Actually, it's been a great time all along if you're
if you're into progress and you can see progress, which
there was no shortage of absolutely. Just something came up
in the post game. By the way, way, I learned
something more about how to catch up with you guys. Uh.
I have the radio on during the telecast, so I

(41:07):
stick there for the postgame, and then I catch up
with your version the next day. And I learned that
if you guys haven't had a chance to post it
on the website yet, I can get it at a
MSG Giants.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
Postgame amazing, a lot of connectivity, love it. We got
MSG Giants Postgame Giants dot com and also on YouTube
and so if you haven't had a chance to if
it's not on the giants dot com website, they simulcast
stream it on YouTube and we'll archive it on on
the Giants YouTube page as well.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
Yep.

Speaker 8 (41:41):
So a call comes in and and this guy starts
complaining and smell, you're not going to complain today, are you?

Speaker 2 (41:48):
You know?

Speaker 8 (41:49):
And but but he was just asking about the and
this relates to the O line, I think, uh he was.
He was asking about I think it was the last
time we had the ball before the gen drove down
for the field goal, and we just needed to be
able to run out the clock. And I think we
had a three and out and I think they were
all three pass plays, and that that was his complaint.

(42:10):
He said, well, if it was parcels, we would have
run the ball. So I was thinking, maybe as great
as the on line has been and we're all thrilled
with how not only more of an improvement and not
only that they seem to be more than functional, maybe
they're not at the point where they can run it
whenever they want, even if the other guys know it's coming.

(42:30):
Is that Do you think that's what happened there?

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Well, Cliff, you also said it yourself. You got to
be a fan of progress right here.

Speaker 8 (42:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
Yeah, So basically, sometimes coaches, it's all coaches. They want
to get you know, get the ball down and feel
a little bit trying to score one more time. That
that becomes the thing and that gets more important than
if you're just trying to drum it out and run
it out. It might work, but when you got eleven
almost eleven guys at the line of scrimmings, you kind
of have to throw it almost because they're going to

(43:00):
you're in the backfield and call time out. Anyway, that
was the.

Speaker 8 (43:03):
First thing I thought. They must have had everybody in
the box.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah, they were pretty they were pretty tight because they
were like, we can't let this kid, Tracy, you know,
get another run or great, get another run, because he
was doing it. He was beating him down too, and
they were trying to watch it. You can hear him
screaming and watch the screen, watch the screen. So it
was it was a lot of people, a lot of
bodies up there.

Speaker 8 (43:21):
Well, at some point on the show the last couple
of months, looking forward to you know, where the O
line can get to. There was this notion of you
could you know you've really arrived when you can run
or even when they know you have to do it
and the whole stadium knows it's coming. Do you think

(43:41):
do you think that was a situation where where they
might have been able to do it or it just
never is a good idea when it's that tough.

Speaker 4 (43:49):
I think, you know, And again I'm just guessing. I'm
not because I don't know the play calls or anything
or why he did it, but I'm just guessing that
he was trying to get the ball further down the field.

Speaker 8 (43:59):
Okay, So yeah, well sure he sure had reason to
be confident in that.

Speaker 4 (44:04):
Yeah, he was filed, he was feeling they were feeling
pretty good about the receivers, the route they were running.
The tight end was doing a good job. So I
think he was just trying to get it down the
field little bit and you know, give them, make them
have to use their timeouts. As what he was trying,
I'm assuming what he's trying to do.

Speaker 8 (44:19):
Yeah, well, I feel like we've been getting a glimpse
of what if we didn't know already, I didn't what
kind of an offense this coach wants to wants to have,
and we Schmolke was saying earlier in the preseason, he
thinks Maybel really wants to pass the ball a lot,
and uh, it seems like maybe maybe we're seeing that.

(44:41):
But in any event, I was glad to hear that
that hy had got credit for some blocking.

Speaker 4 (44:48):
Yes he did, and he's built the.

Speaker 8 (44:52):
Same way as Flat. I was thinking maybe they didn't
want him to block.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
N You know, you're running down field, you kind of
get your mas excuse me, you mashed up with the
guys that are about the same size as you. So
it's not that bad of a deal. It's the problem
when you kind of catch a linebacker or something. That's
not very fun, not at all when you're receiver. I
think he just, you know, wants to be involved in
the game so much that blocking was just part of it.

(45:17):
He just wanted to hit somebody.

Speaker 8 (45:19):
Well, that's that was great. I don't mind Daniel run
the straight up the middle because he took somebody on too,
and I figured I didn't catch the guy's number. But
if he's a dB. That's not such a terrible thing
for Daniel to do a two twenty or two thirty whatever.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
He is, right, Yeah, it's not a terrible thing. But
you know, for me, I like for him the run
towards the edges, so when he run finishes, he kind
of coast out of bounds.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, Daniel's a type of quarterback that even even on
the design run plays, he's gonna run and he's gonna
take the contact instead of just being like, okay, ten yards,
let me get down right.

Speaker 4 (45:47):
And you know, and I don't know how good he
can get down with the knee, you know, for one
year off of surgery, not quite a year off surgery,
you know, folding a knee and sliding it's not probably
the greatest thing, thank you so much, not the greatest thing.
But in my mind maybe, yeah, outside get to the
sidelines and we.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
Can blame we can blame the if we want to.
But Daniel has never really been a slider, you know,
He's never.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
It's just never.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
That's just not please.

Speaker 4 (46:10):
He's the type of guy he knows how to slide.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
He knows how to slide, but he's a tough guy
and he likes to be like, no, let me just
let me just tough it up. Cliff, Thanks so much.
All right, thanks so much for the call. Cliff always
appreciate it. Yeah, it is. He's just one of those
guys we had. We got to get you some hydration
over there. I was choking over I'm like in the dock.

(46:34):
I'm like, all right, Mas, what do we gotta do
to get this man? No, no, we gotta It's that
time of year, you know.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
A little dust in the air, du little this.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
Little that, and maybe you just all choked up just
thinking about how proud you are of this Giants team
and the way.

Speaker 4 (46:50):
That they found.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
Found the tight end. You know, five catches in the game,
five for five, every every target he came up with.

Speaker 4 (47:00):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
He was a good kid coming out of Penn State.
I think, you know, he had a lot of He's
a big body dude, and he's somebody that I think
much like yourself in your career. People look at him like, Okay,
he's a good blocking tight end, but he can come up.

Speaker 4 (47:15):
With He was a receiver the whole time. He Yeah,
you know, in college, he really came up with a
lot of a lot of great plays that that was
a big thing about him. He has great speed and
he gets open runs great deep routes, and that's what
they were looking for. And like in early in the season,
had quite gotten into the rhythm of the game. And
I know that it just takes time for him. He's

(47:36):
going to get there. Yeah, And I think that John
and I spoke about it maybe a week or so ago,
and we were talking about how do we get more involved,
and like he's just gonna have to take a moment,
and I said, this was an opportunity this week, and
hopefully we get Neighbors back this week, you know, for
his own sake with the concussion and everything. But if not,
we know that there's gonna be other guys gonna step up.
You're gonna see some other faces starting to pop up

(47:58):
in some of these routes and stuff.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
And for those joining late Milik Neighbors again still in
the concussion protocol, but out on the field today working
on the side. So that is a good sign for
the guy who did not travel to Seattle because he's
dealing with that concussion. Devin Singletary participated in individual drills
today limited in practice today, coming back from that groin
injury guards Greg van Roten is out sick, and or

(48:24):
John Runyon sorry's out sick, and Greg Van Rotten is
dealing with a vet day, which Howard just learned today.
I'm kidding day. We didn't have those in my day.
Load management. Hey, I mean, the NBA season is just
around the corner and we are getting in the theme
of it with some load management for Greg van Roten. Listen,
it's a long season. Guys don't have a bye week

(48:44):
until week eleven. You want to make sure to stay healthy.
I mean some of these teams right now, you know,
you get the Chiefs and the Vikings heading into their
buys in week six, you got, you know, some of
these early buyes. I think it works out well to
have a buy later on in the season.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
I think the buye no offense. I think the buye
it comes kind of mid season, if you get to
the mid midpoint, I think it's the best time to
do it. That way, you can get a little recharge,
You get some guys that are banged up a little
bit better off, So I think it's better. The early buys.
They really put you in a bad position because now
you've had your buy, and you got a long season.
If somebody goes down, someone's nicked up, it's harder for

(49:20):
them to get back.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
And then if you do make a playoff run, yeah,
then longer.

Speaker 4 (49:24):
Yeah, you're longer, beat up.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
Second, Yeah, all the days of all the things. But
you know, we got a long time before we talk
about the Giants. Buy as we continue to talk about
the Giants Sunday night football game. Okay, this is something
that I have noticed, Howard. First of all, this year,
the Giants have two wins so far, two and three
on the season, both on the road. They haven't won
at home yet this season. It's been a little bit tough.

(49:49):
It's also Sunday, the Giants are going to be continuing
to celebrate the one hundredth season. Of course, it's one
hundred years of Giants Football established in nineteen twenty five.
This is the one hundredth season. There's a lot to celebrate.
They're going to be honoring the two thousand and seven
twenty eleven Super Bowl teams. They're going to be given
away Tom Coughlin bobbleheads at the gate. If you're the
first twenty five thousand fans in attendance, there's gonna be

(50:11):
a lot of pageantry around this game. Not to mention,
it's also Sunday night football, so there's a lot of lights.
There's a lot of celebs on the sidelines during warm ups.
There's just a lot going on in a game like this.
And you notice when these kind of games happen. The
Giants have had struggles in the past in games in
which there's been a jersey retirement or you know, an

(50:34):
honoring of some sort or some sort of pageantry. So
between that it could be coincidence, could you know, be
just a lot of noise between that and the Giants
struggles to win at home so far this and this
young season. Is there something to the difference between, you know,
winning a game on the road and winning at home.

Speaker 4 (50:54):
I think the night games specifically are the tougher games
to play because you sit around.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
All day, your.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
Routine, routine is off, and some guys adjust to it well,
some guys don't. I think winning games at home, you're
expected to win at home. But but remember that when
the team that you're playing, like when we play on
the road, you give that team. You're giving them your
best shot always, but you really are giving them your
best shot when you're in their place. You want to
quiet the crowd. You like the crowd to hear, like

(51:23):
it was so cool to be in at the at
Seattle and here people go, let's go Giants. I'm like really,
I'm like.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
That also just hot tip to the Giants fans and
made the trip. Giants fans travel so well. But you
love to see that.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
But that's what teams come here and they want them.
They want to do that to the Giants as well.
So like you got to really want to, you know,
keep it roll and keep it going. And I say,
like if Thibodeau and and and big decks in the
middle and Burns are on their game, you know, really
really getting pressure on the on Joe, it could be

(51:57):
one of those games where the crowds going really nuts.
The more plays they make, the louder the crowd gets.
You got to keep them and you keep them off
the field. And I expect to be really quiet when
the Giants have the ball, so we can hear what's
going on out there.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
But we want to hear a pin drop.

Speaker 4 (52:10):
We want to hear pin drop, you know, we want
we want to hear like what what's what? What did
he say, did you say, Omaha, you know, I just
wanted to make it just want to make sure that
we're doing it right. But it's one of those things
where it's really hard to play a team that's coming
in this This is a desperate team that's coming in right.
You know, we've been talking about them being one and four.
We're talking about they're scoring twenty eight points a game.

(52:32):
They've you know, every game they've played seems like it's
gone down to the last play.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
I mean, Joe Burrow says that this is not a
championship team of his own team. They're coming in one
in four trying to avoid a one in five start.

Speaker 4 (52:45):
Like you said, desperate team, desperate, they're trying to find
a way to get back, you know, get get themselves righted,
so to speak. And we don't want to be the
team that they that they get right with. We want
to be the team that takes them to the wire
and maybe pushes them over the edge because we got
them now.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
I will say too though, I mean, so I don't
travel with the Giants during the regular season because we
stay back here. Hosts the postgame show out of a
studio at at in New Jersey. But you know, I
travel during the preseason, and I have traveled for years
covering the NBA. And one thing that I notice about
a road game as opposed to a home game that's

(53:23):
different is it's it's a it's a business trip, right
you are. You are all First of all, you're all
together as a team, as a unit. You're traveling together,
on the flight, on the bus, in the hotel, you're
eating meals together, you're having a dinner together the night
before the game. There's that extra camaraderie, that extra this.
But you're also solely focused on the game. You're not

(53:46):
waking up in the morning and okay, let me do
the laundry, let me mow the lawn, let me clean
out the gutters. Let me focus on some of the
tasks at home. Yeah, you're not you know, you're not out,
you know, dropping the kids off at gymnastics or doing
any of that. You are solely focused on the game.
It's a business trip as opposed to a home game, especially,
like you said, a night game when you've got other

(54:07):
things going on. And again, these are professional athletes and
they're locked in and this is their job. And I'm
not making an excuse, but it is just a different
mental approach. And so like as a as a professional
athlete yourself, like how did you manage that? When you play?

Speaker 4 (54:19):
Oh, when it's easy, it's like us against the world, right,
that was the mentality. You go together. It's like you're
marching your army into you know, to enemy soil. You're
about to fight. Yeah, and you're all together.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
And your army shows up together in a bus as
opposed to everyone individually pulling up and let.

Speaker 4 (54:34):
The big guys get off. First. Look at these guys
getting off the bus. Oh man, these guys are tough. Okay,
it was it was an army, Like, that's what it was.
You're you're you're basically you're together. It's you against the world.
You know, the crowd's going to be crazy, you know.
Like I used to love going to like the old
Cleveland Stadium when they had the Dog Pound. I used
to love going to the old RFK Stadium listening to
their band play and then all of a sudden silence. Yeah,

(54:57):
it was just those were like great years and great places.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
It was.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
It was fun. And then when you go to someone
else's house and get those games and you get down
there and get those big wins exactly exactly.

Speaker 3 (55:07):
But you know what, a home game and a home
win just hits different as well, because you do it
in front of the people that you see every week.
You've got the season ticket holders, you got the fans
that you know, Like I know, when I walk around
this corner, I'm gonna see these certain guys that always
sit there, and I'm gonna say hello to those fans
over here, and the people are gonna say hi. There's
just something different, and it's a different experience of a
home game, and it's you know, the focus goes from Okay,

(55:31):
we're on a business trip or we're coming in as
the invading army, to okay, we're all showing up and
meeting at headquarters and defending this turf.

Speaker 4 (55:39):
Yeah. I think the big choking again, all right, all right,
excuse me.

Speaker 3 (55:44):
You know it's all choked up talking about playing at
MetLife Stadium.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
I think that when you're at home, the idea of
defending your ground is a big one too. And like
some coaches, that's the thing, you know, we got to
defend this house. Yeah yeah, And that's one of those
things that if the players have that kind of mentality.
It's really cool. You know, I said, my son text
before every game and if he's at home, says, I said,

(56:08):
I can't believe it is. Start off saying I can't
believe they're on your grounds again, and then I'll make
it up some story for him that that he's about
to go into a battle. He fights back, thinks that, yeah, you're.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
You're pulling your own what is it, Captain Andrew luck mother, It's.

Speaker 4 (56:27):
Just hilarious, like, how dare they be on your grounds again?

Speaker 3 (56:30):
The uh in here with there?

Speaker 4 (56:34):
R vs are?

Speaker 3 (56:35):
They shout out to Howard Cross the third and Notre
Dame fighting Irish.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
Yeah, got the big Stanford cardinal this weekend. Good luck
for good luck.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
I'd luck to see it, We'd love to see it.
Notre Dame Stanford is almost as exciting as Giants bangles.
Sunday night football. But it always is when it's your son.

Speaker 4 (56:55):
It is. But nope, not close.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
I know that's fair. Sunday night football. It's gonna be
so much fun. I always love the Sunday night games.
I love the primetime games. We're gonna be waiting all
day for Sunday night.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
Everybody knows, you know, showing off.

Speaker 3 (57:11):
First of all, looks don't serve themselves obviously. I know
that's right.

Speaker 4 (57:22):
I'm gonna suit myself.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
You know, we gotta be Sunday, best, ladies and gents.
We'll be out there, Howard will be on the sideline
as per always. I'll be doing post game as per always.
But we got a whole week of preparation because of course,
just now the Giants are just starting uh on the
practice field as we speak, starting the preparation for the Bengals.
And we've got a week worth of shows here on
Big Blue Kickoff Live as the rotation of posts continue

(57:47):
to prepare you for week six, Howard, any last thoughts
parting words before we say farewell to our friends out here.

Speaker 4 (57:54):
They're gonna beat them bangles.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
We that we that they we we they we them.
I don't know we art thou. I don't know. Let's
workshop that. I'm sure Brandon London the hymn see, you'll
have some sort of chant coming on too. So if
you're gonna be out there at MetLife Stadium again, first,
twenty five thousand fans are going to receive a bobblehead.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
First of all, I'm gonna get there early. I'm gonna
need a bibble. I love a bobblehead.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
Uh have a problem.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
I mean, first of all, don't block my blessings. All right,
Thanks for listening to today's episode A Big Blue Kickoff
Live presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the
New York Football Giants. BBK is a part of the
Giants Podcast Platforms Everywhere and Giants dot Com slash podcast.
For Howard Cross, I'm Madeline Bark. Thanks for hanging out
with us. We'll see you next time.