Big Blue Kickoff Live 9/26 | Giants vs Chargers Preview

Paul Dottino and Matt Citak preview the matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, discuss defending against Justin Herbert and their offense, and take calls from fans.

0:00 - Health updates

9:00 - Chargers preview

25:40 - Calls

37:30 - Giants defense

45:40 - Dart and the offense

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it
because you're.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
On Giants dot com.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Do you know what I saw to York Giant Prime.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And the Giants Mobile at seventeen.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Fourteen the Finals one Tundown.

Speaker 4 (00:18):
We are We're old Tap, They didn't well happen?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Part of the Giants Podcast Network. Let's go on, Hell
On the Crazy Dogs has a ton.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, get everybody, and welcome to Friday's edition of Big
Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle
of the New York Football Giants. We are coming to
you from the Giants Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health.
Keep getting better on Poldatino. He's Matt Sidetech. Our numbers
two on one nine three nine four five one three.
If you'd like to give us a call, We're here

(00:47):
to talk Giants football for the next hour as they
prepare for Sunday's home game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
And by the way, it is at one o'clock kickoff.
This is another weird one Matt, where we've got a
non time zone team coming to the Meadowlands and kicking
off at one. You remember earlier this year that happened,

(01:07):
and apparently you know it's gonna happen again because well
can't say it was a night game. That was a
night game. Yeah, Dallas, we went there and they made
it a one o'clock game. So this is kind of
funky the way this is working out.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, And I mean for the Chargers, they're flying all
the way across the country. Sure are on a three
hour difference in time zone. It's not easy for any
team to do flying across the country and having to
play with such a big time time difference. So yeah,
I mean, in that sense, I would say it gives

(01:40):
the Giants a little bit of a home field advantage.
You would also just in that sense alone, obviously the
Chargers are three and zero, Yeah, three really good wins
and are an amazing team with you know, a quarterback
playing at an MVP level, a defense that's playing like
a top unit across the league. Indeed, So in that sense,
it's gonna be there very tough challenge for the Giants

(02:01):
on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
As always, you can catch the show if you're not
catching us live as part of the Giants Archive. Part
of the Giants podcast platforms everywhere in a Giants dot
Com slash podcasts. We get that out of the way.
We also get the following injury report from head coach
Brian Dable. Right up top, not Choe. We figured that
Tray Sing and Gano, we already knew that they were

(02:24):
not going to be available this week, but not Joe
and Golston not working today. That's due to their ailments.
Aaron Steady him and his wife had a baby boy,
so he's also networking today. Obviously excused, he has a
good reason. Okay, So that's the case. In terms of
the injuries. Also, Andrew Thomas, according to Brian Dable, will

(02:46):
play more snaps this week than the twenty eight he
played against Kansas City. Now, that doesn't mean he's gonna
play the whole game. It simply means he's gonna play
more than twenty eight snaps.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yes, Coach Nabels said that throughout the week in practice
that Andrew Thomas has been taking more reps and that
he is expected to take a bigger workload come Sunday. Now, obviously,
we found out after the game last week that the
plan was for Andrew to play about twenty five snaps.
He ended up playing twenty eight offensive snaps. That was

(03:17):
almost the entire first half. It was just that very
last drive within the last like two minutes of the
second quarter that Marcus Bow came in for Thomas and
then Bo played the rest of the game. So yeah,
we don't know exactly what a you know, a bigger
workload will mean for Andrew Thomas. Hopefully it's most of
the game, if not all, We don't know.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
I would I'm gonna take a wild guess here because
I certainly am not privy to any of the medical
conversations that the trainers will have. If he played twenty
eight last week and came through it, okay, I'd say
he plays at least fifty, But I don't know if
he'll play the whole game yet because they're still trying
to ramp him up. Remember he's been limited this week.
Take it all the snaps in practice?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Are sure?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
I'm gonna say fifty.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Ish, So I have a question for you. Then let's
say fifty is the number. Obviously this is us hypothetically speaking,
But if it is.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
The number, folks, again, this is totally hypothetical. We have
absolutely no medical information as to what they've talked about
with the coach.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yes, so let's say that that number is accurate, it
is fifty. Would you have him do kind of what
the Giants did last week, which is have him start
and just play the first fifty snaps? Or if the
plan is for him to play fifty, maybe put him
out for like the first quarter, then have him sit
a little bit and then save him like for the

(04:38):
whole second half something like that. What would you do?

Speaker 2 (04:42):
I would probably play him from the get go, see
how many snaps he gets by the time halftime rules around.
If for some reason the Giants control the ball in
a ton in the first half, and by the way,
I don't think that'll happen, but if they did, right,
and let's just say for argument's sake, he had forty
snaps in the first half, they go into the locker room.

(05:04):
I would then reassess with the trainers and say, look,
he's had time off to cool down. I know we
said whatever the number was X, he doesn't have too
many left. Do you want us to go out there
in the third quarter and put them out there and
finish off those snaps? Or would you rather we just
leave it at halftime, I would confer with them. Again,

(05:25):
I would reconfer, in other words, depending upon how much
of his snap count he used up in the first half.
And then I would let them make the call, because
the medical people always get the call here.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
No, no, of course, but I'm saying, in this hypothetical situation,
if the medical staff basically says it's fifty snaps, it
doesn't matter when he takes it, starts and.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Plays as long as he can through the first half.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
And then so you wouldn't. I would not rash them,
would So what I was thinking with, maybe I agree
with you play him the whole first half. And again,
I don't think the Giants are gonna, you know, completely
dominate the time of possession where he's playing, you know,
forty fifty snaps in the first half of unlikely. Yeah,

(06:09):
but let's say he does play the whole first half.
I would at least consider if the game is close, like,
if the Giants are in it, if the Giants are
winning somehow like, or if it's a very close game,
maybe have Marcus Bow start the third the second half right,
just to save Andrew for you know, those potentially key

(06:30):
fourth quarter snaps. Although the flip side is if you
take him out, that obviously gives the charges a little
bit of an advantage because you're taking out the best
offensive lineman, and by the time he would be you know,
you hypothetically would be putting him back in the game
might not be quite as close anymore.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
So your point is you would seriously consider splitting his reps,
is what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
I would just if you could tell me, which obviously
I know you cannot, no one can do. But if
you could guarantee me that it'll be a one possession
game in the fourth quarter, I would say I want
Andrew Thomas for every single snap in the fourth quarter. Obviously,
there are no guarantees understood like that, So in a hype,
in an ideal world, I would like to have Andrew
Thomas playing in the fourth quarter in a close game.

(07:11):
But again, you do that it may not be a
close game in the fourth quarter, in which case, like,
would you put him back out there if all of
a sudden, the Giants are down two touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
In the fourth quarter were not much sense? I don't
think so.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
I guess that's gonna be a kind of a feel thing.
But I definitely agree. Put them out there for the
whole first half and then I guess see how the
game is.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Going, all right. So that's that's where we stand right now.
In terms of the Giants injury situation, Chargers still have
some injuries to work through. They've got several guys like
the Giants, who have been some limitations in practice, but
we don't have an update from them because they are
on the West Coast and certainly we need to know

(07:56):
what those guys are going to do this afternoon. But
of significance, Bradley Boseman has a bad back. He's their
starting center, although he did return practice.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
He was limited yesterday but did not participate Wednesday and
correct upgraded to limiting.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
He goes up against Exter Lawrence, so that's always going
to be a big matchup, especially if Dexter is going
to start playing like Dexter Lawrence can. If he raises
his level in this game to what we are accustomed
to seeing where he's an all pro, that could be
a very important matchup because a guy with a sore
back against Exter Lawrence is not a good matchup for
the Chargers, No, Okay, So I point that one out

(08:34):
but kay Beckten, their starting right guard, has got concussion.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
That is one today's injury report will be important. If
he doesn't participate in practice again today with them having
to fly across country tomorrow, I would say it's very
unlikely he ends up playing.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Jamari Sallier is the backup, and if you watched any
of the video of the game last week, he got
bull rushed and put on his keyster rather quickly. I
would not be very happy if I were justin Herber.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
That's right guard, correct, Yes, okay, because then the other
offensive linement I'm sure you're about to talk about next,
the right tackle Trey Pipkins.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yes, he himself has a n E and quite honestly,
he does struggle with speed rushers, especially off the edge.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
So I believe that knee injury occurred during last week's
game against the Broncos. So I believe was able to
finish the game, but sort of was kind of in
and out of the lineup. I looked at next Gen
stats earlier this morning. Trey Pipkins ended up surrendering eleven
total pressures he at right tackle, and that's with him

(09:42):
not playing every single snap. He gave up eleven pressures.
He had a nearly twenty five percent quarterback pressure rate allowed,
which is quite high for an offensive lineman that is
out there for a majority of the snaps, and especially
when you consider that over on the left side, they
have of if the best left tackles in the NFL

(10:02):
already with Joe Aalt, and I mean, that's my matchup
to watch Joalt versus Brian Burns. That is going to
be very entertaining, and I would think that they would
probably leave despite how talented Brian Burns is. I think
they'll probably leave Joe Walt on an island there and say,
you know, just take care of their best pass rusher

(10:24):
one on one because we need to send some help
over to the other side. But this is I feel like,
for me, like the biggest player to watch on the
defensive side of the ball this week for the Giants
is gonna be Keevon Thibodeaux because he's gonna really have
a good opportunity to take advantage of that matchup against
Trey Pipkins, or if Pipkins is unable to go whoever,

(10:46):
I don't even know who the backup is because Trey
Pipkins is already the backup tackle they already lost for
Sean Slater, which forced Joalt to the left side and
Trey Pipkins into the starting lineup. It sounds like Pipkins
will play because he was a full participant in yesterday's practice,
So obviously I assume that means he's going to be
good to go. But I don't know if that's that
much of an advantage for the Chargers because again, eleven

(11:07):
pressures against the Broncos last week, that's that's an opportunity
for Kevon Thibodeau. It's to really add to his strong
start already to the season.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
See now, imagine how dangerous the charges would be if
for Sean Slater had not torn his priteller tendon had
been out for the year. Slater's their starting left tackle.
Alt is their starting right tackle. Slater gets hurt, goes
to IR for the season, Alt has to flop to
the other side. Both he Slater and Zion Johnson, their

(11:40):
left guard, who by the way, was very highly thought
of when he came out as a first round draft pick.
They have dominated the left side of the line. But
could you imagine if they had had Slater on the
left and Alt on the right this season with the
experience that they've added over the last two years. Yeah,
I mean, as it were, just it would be impossible

(12:01):
to get to Herbert.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
As talented as where as I and we are talking
about Joe Alton being response later when healthy is even better.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yes, yes, he is better.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Yeah, So that that would have been a not fun
tackle combo to try to get again.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
So anyway, the point is attack the living heck out
of the center and the right side of the offensive line,
because that's why Justin Herbert's been sacked ten times this year.
Four of the ten sacks were on him for holding
the ball too long. I studied each one of those
sacks earlier this morning, and I have looked at them
without a doubt. Okay, Herbert wants to get the ball

(12:37):
out quick. Most of their game plans and their playbooks
have gotten the ball out quick. But when they want
to go long or when they're forced into a third
down and long package, he's got to hold the ball
longer because the receivers take longer to get those routes

(12:58):
to develop. Those are the problems. That's when Herbert runs
into issues because his O line does not hold up
his propensity to hold the ball and wait for those
guys to get open has caused four of the ten sacks.
So if you're the Giants, what do you have to do.

(13:18):
It's quite obvious for the Giants to win this game,
and I know they've got to do other things also,
but if it starts with Justin Herbert and this defense
getting to where it's supposed to be, they must dominate
on the first two downs because you want to force
him into having to look longer on third down passing opportunities,

(13:43):
because that's when the weakness of the Chargers will show up,
whether it's the line breaking down. I saw. I saw
a sack where the full back flat out whift that
was Matt Locke. I saw one of those. I saw
another one where there was a safety slot Quarner Blitz

(14:05):
and the line had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Running back went one way, The line didn't even bother
to look at the blitzer and he came in clean
and Herbert had no chance. So you want to put
them in those situations where they are the most uncomfortable,
because between Johnston McConkie and Keenan Allen, Justin Herbert has

(14:28):
guys to throw two. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
I mean, I'm glad you brought up those wide receivers
because I feel like the way that they have played
the first three weeks, the Chargers have the top wide
receiver trio in the NFL right now because Keenan Allen
is just old mister reliable. For Justin Herbert, they just
brought him back after he spent a year in Chicago,
and what has he done, just picked up right where

(14:52):
he left off. Nineteen receptions, almost two hundred yards, three touchdowns.
You have Lad McConkie, who was the I believe thirty
four pick in last year's draft who really came on
at the end of last season. He's been the worst
of the three, and he has still been very solid.
And he have Quinton Johnston, who's had drop problems throughout

(15:14):
his entire career, a former first round pick, big play threat.
It seems like he's figured it out because he has
a team leading two hundred and thirty nine yards on
only fourteen receptions. He's their deep threat and the connection
between Johnston and Herbert has been on full display these
first three weeks. They have three touchdowns between the two
of them. They are a very, very talented trio of

(15:35):
wide receivers. And you mentioned winning on early downs. The
Chargers did lose running back Naji Harris last week to
a season ending achilles injury. YEP, that has paved the
way for what I believe will be Omari and Hampton,
their rookie first round pick, to just become the bell Cow.
And he is an extremely talented running back. He had
a little bit of a slow start the first two weeks,

(15:56):
but when he came on last week, you know, after
Naji Harris's injury, pretty much played most of the snaps.
After that, he showed exactly what he could do. He
had a breakout game, seventy yards on the ground, another
fifty nine yards receiving touchdown. He is extremely talented, so
it's not gonna be easy to win on those early
downs going up against Omar and Hampton. And again I

(16:18):
said this before, but Justin Herbert is just playing like
a top quarterback in the NFL right now. If you
had to put in the MVP race after just three games,
he would be certainly in the conversation right now. With
the way he's playing. He leads the NFL well. After
last night's game, I don't think he no longer leads
the NFL, but through three games, he led the NFL

(16:41):
in passing yards six to one touchdown interception ratio. And
he's also been running the ball a little bit more
than we've seen in years past. I mean, he's second
on the team sixty nine yards on the ground. So
this is a very very talented Chargers offense that I
think everyone came into the season thinking, Oh, Greg Roman,
Jim Harborough, They're just gonna pound the ball on the ground.

(17:01):
They've been extremely pass heavy, They've let Justin Herbert sling
it and they have had very positive results. So obviously
I think they will rely on the run game. They
want to get Omar and Hampton going, but Justin Herbert
is going to be slinging it around the field again
to those three three wide receivers, and we didn't even
touch on the rookie tight end that just had a

(17:23):
bit of a I don't want to call it a breakout,
but a little bit of a coming out party. This
last week gats In the first time he really got
on the field. Five catches for forty six yards, seven
targets out of Syracuse out of Syracuse Local. So they
have just pass catchers all over the offense and again
Omar and Hampton catch the ball out of the backfield.

(17:44):
This is not going to be an easy matchup for
the Giants defense.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
See the reason that that horrible isn't big and run
heavy is Christin Harris's injury. See, they wanted, they wanted
Hampton to be one A to nij Harris's one. Harris
goes down and now they have to elevate Hampton into
more than they wanted to this early in the year.
That was not the plan. All right. I just got

(18:08):
done talking to they played by play guy Money Smith,
and they've had to push Hampton now and accelerate his
role in the offense to much more than they wanted
to do. And that's a little bit of a sticky
situation for them because obviously teams know that they can
come after half of that offensive line with blitz packages.

(18:30):
Hampton's not used to picking up blitzes.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Now what he didn't come That has probably been the
biggest area he has struggled in. So so it is
not surprising for a rookie running back no not named
Kem Scattaby.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
So yeah, really, so there are some bruises on this offense.
They've averaged twenty three points a game through three weeks.
They're not an unstoppable locomotive, and there are ways the
Giants can attack them that could potentially circuit them a
little bit. But I do want to simply touch on

(19:03):
the defense for a minute before we get to the calls.
We got a full bank this defense. Parriman is out
with an injury, Khalil Mack is out with an injury,
and yet in all the key defensive categories, they're top ten,
if not higher, in the league. They are playing sound football.
They hit you, they don't miss tackles. They play their

(19:25):
positions extremely well. They are going to play a ton
of deep zone. They are not going to give up
big plays, and they are not going to have mental
errors that are going to allow you to hit them
on a busted play. They're disciplined, their physical It's gonna

(19:45):
be hard for the Giants to score a lot of
points this week. Despite the enthusiasm over Jackson Dart's first
ever NFL start, this defense is they've only given up
seventeen points a game, fourth best in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, look, there's a reason why Jim Harbo brought Jesse
Minter from Michigan with him to the Chargers because he's
had that defense rolling since he got there. They've had
a lot of success. They come into this game. They've
only allowed two passing touchdowns and they have played Patrick Mahomes,
Gino Smith and bow Knicks. Yeah, Patrick Mahomes obviously one

(20:22):
of the best quarterbacks. The other two Gino solid bow
Knicks up and coming like they're not slouches, is my point.
And two total passing touchdowns. The one thing I will
say is when you look at it, because I see
we have a YouTube comment asking about the Chargers run defense.
When you look at their overall numbers, you see they've
only given up two hundred and eighty four rushing yards,

(20:44):
which is the eighth lowest in the league. You think,
oh wow, they must have, you know, a top elite
rush defense. It's a little bit misleading. They've just jumped
out to leads in the first three games, where the
other teams have sort of had to abandon the run game.
You look at their average yard per attempt allowed, that's
all the way up at five five point zero, which
is twenty six in the NFL. So this is a

(21:08):
defense that you can find some success running the ball
on as long as.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
You're a short linebacker.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
That's why one hundred per as long as you don't
get behind big early because that obviously you're not going
to be able to run the ball as much as
you want. And that's why the Chargers rush numbers look
like how they do.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
So in other words, do not get into a scoreboard
competition against them. You get into a track meet, you'll lose.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, especially with Justin Herbert playing the way he's playing. Yeah, yeah,
you can't. You can't do that.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
All right, let's get an update quickly, Matt if you
have it, or Pierson if you have it on the
Giants Total podcast, which is currently available on Giants dot
com and all of your favorite podcast platforms.

Speaker 6 (21:48):
Guys, Pearson Todd Haley went up yesterday, former NFL head
coach and coach around the league, just talking about getting
a rookie QB ready to start because he was in
Cleveland when Baker Mayfield the first start.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
And Mayfield, by the way, is one who was often
used as the comparison for Jackson Dark.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, at least personality wise.

Speaker 6 (22:09):
And just after the show, I'll be posting the full
Chargers preview sit down with Brian Dable, your interview with
Matt Smith, and we got Darius Slayton on there too.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
Cool and also our This is not a video or
on the podcast network, but I would just highly recommend.
Dan Salomon, our senior writer Giants dot com, did his
weekly interview with Coach Dable, his weekly one on one
just Dan and Coach sitting in a room together. It's
posted up on giants dot com. He gave a lot
of insight into Jackson and what sort of like this

(22:41):
week has been like for both him and Jackson. We
do this every week, but this week especially given you
know the major storyline in this building. Highly recommend everyone
giving that a read.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Folks, remember the Giants Foundation is going to host a
five K racing kids run presented by Quest on Sunday,
October twenty eight at nine at MetLife Stadium. That proceeds
will benefit the Giants Foundation. All participants we'll receive a
commemorative T shirt after the race. Stay for a post
race festival and appearances by Giants Legends and the live DJ.
Register now at giants dot com. Slash five k the

(23:13):
Giants Foundation is a five oh one C three nonprofit corporation.
Don't forget. There's also the Ultimate New York Giants Women's
Tailgate presented by Joe Malone. That is a ticketed event.
You gotta be twenty one or over. It takes place
coming up this Sunday, the September twenty eighth, ten am
to twelve pm in Lot G ahead of the game

(23:34):
against the Chargers. Matt Lit'll be there, Giants Legends will
be there. There will also be exclusive Kendra Scott activations available,
tailgate games, giveaways, photo ops, DJ Entertainment, food and Drake.
Concluded with the ticket purchase once again, that is this Sunday,
prior to the Chargers game. Giants season tickets they're still available.
This is only the second home game of the season,

(23:57):
so there is still plenty more left on the strip.
If if you are interested, you get exclusive member benefits
as well as things that can happen all year round.
Visit Giants dot com, slash tickets and stay connected to
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(24:19):
free on Apple TV, Roku, Amma's on Fire TV and
the Giants mobile app.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Real quick before we get to the calls, just because
we have one YouTube comment here that Pearson wrote down.
Since Jackson is starting, will Brian Day will be the
play caller? No, he's already said. Mike Kafka is the
play caller. He has a ton of confidence in him.
One other comment I saw in the YouTube chat practice
squad elevations always take place Saturday at four pm. Correct

(24:44):
for a Sunday game. If it's a Thursday or a
Monday game, then it's four pm on those days. But
for Sunday one o'clock game, practice squad elevations will be
announced tomorrow late afternoon. And they asked specifically, will Turbo
Miller be elevated for Tracy? I would say there's a
decent chance yes. Shiring the running back depth, I.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Would expect Turbo Miller to be elevated and be the
kickoff return guy as Singletary then moves into the number
two spot behind Scataboo in the running back room.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
And that's something you know, you and I have been
excited to see for a long time now, Dante in
the kick return.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
It gets lost in the headline about the QB. But
Dante Miller, I can't wait to see the ball in
his hands. I would anticipate that that would be a
move that they would make, and I think on kickoff
return he could be really dynamic. And the other move
is probably going to be I don't think they're going
to sign a kicker to the fifty three. I think
they'll use a practice squad activation. And because you get

(25:42):
three of those per player between Young Hoku, the former
Atlanta Falcon who just came in a couple of days
ago Ridgewood, New Jersey product of course, originally from South Korea,
eight years with the Atlanta Falcons, originally came up in
twenty seventeen out of Georgia Southern as an undrafted rookie
free agent with guess what the Chargers believe it or not,

(26:04):
you know, did make one Pro Bowl with the Falcons.
The last year or two, he's been somewhat inconsistent and
the Falcons lost patience with him a couple of weeks
back and they cut them. Giants signed them to the
practice squad and coach said that Mcatamney, the second year
player out of Rutgers who's also in the practice squad
would compete with him right up until Saturday. I'm sure

(26:26):
till four o'clock Saturday when they decide which kicker they
will elevate. But I think it'll be a practice squad activation.
I don't think they're going to bring anyone up to
the fifty three because they did not make a move
with Gano. You know, they didn't put them on ir yet. No,
not yet.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
It's it still could happen.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
It could happen.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
If it were to happen, it probably would be announced
in those moves tomorrow. We don't know if it will.
But also just as we're talking about these Saturday moves
and you know the roster numbers, just a heads up
that the Giants do have an extra spot on the
roster available right now, just to just some of the
different moves that have been made over the last week.
Because they signed tom on Fox the to the active roster. Yeah,

(27:06):
weaved then signed back to the practice squad. So right
now the Giants roster is at fifty two, so there
is an extra spot. So I'm assuming come tomorrow that
number will be back up to fifty three. But just
something to keep an eye on.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
You would think, all right, two on one, nine, three, nine, four,
five three. Big Ed in Maryland is first up on
the show. Good morning, Hey, what's.

Speaker 7 (27:29):
Up, guys. How you doing, Big Ed?

Speaker 4 (27:33):
I'm okay, guys, I'm all right, Big Matt, Big Paulli.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
It's that Friday vibes, right, Big Ed.

Speaker 7 (27:46):
Let me tell you.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
I certainly could have used you on Sunday.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
Not man, I'm not man. First three games of the season,
tell us this is what we played a game four.
We don't know until they get out there to show
what's gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right, that sloppy September. We've talked about it many times.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
That's right. So look here's what I got man in mind.
First of all, from which I was just talking about
with I'm gonna call him with their old name, the
San Diego Superchargers, right, theretok one of the greatest theme
songs of the NFL. Yes, yeah, we old school, we

(28:29):
know about this twentieth century stuff, but uh yeah, I
feel like PAULI, from what we've seen from them and
us attacking the ends by not them not having their
starting tackles is a big plus, just as long as
Burns and Thibodeau can stay, you know, attacking and then

(28:50):
we're not going to sleep on Andre Andre Carter because
he's still getting to his peak yet. Haven't hit it yet,
but it's but it's coming. And what you said, yeah,
Decks can get off and do some stuff and disrupt
that line. You got a really good chance of looking
good on defense. But I'm a little disappointed in my

(29:10):
boy Deontay Banks. He has got to keep his head up.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
Now he's playing better, he has a bit better, right,
But hey man, he gotta get it together because you
know you're a number one pick. You're supposed to be
playing top notch corner for real. You got it round
that said, come on, bring it back the memories of
good old c Webster and good old Trell Thomas, good
corners that played the game correctly. Gotta be on that

(29:38):
all pro level.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
Get If the Giants go straight up right, usually it
would be Pulsing the Debo on the left side and
either Flat or Banks on the right side. Now, if
they go with that standard grouping, Johnston would be the
left receiver, so that means he goes against either Bank Flot.

(30:01):
I would tell you physically, Banks matches up better against
Johnston than Flot does. Yeah, So if you believe the
matchup stuff that Shane Bowen has been talking about over
the first month of the season, you could see potentially
Banks getting more one on one chances with Johnston. What if?

Speaker 3 (30:20):
What if a debo though, because we have seen him
shadow a little bit the first couple of weeks, like
Week one, he did shadow Terry McLaurin for most of
the game. He did not every snap, but a lot.
And last week we saw the Broncos have Pat Sartan
shadow Quinton Johnston. It wouldn't shock me if the Giants
had a Debo shadow Quinton Johnston because he basically only

(30:41):
lines up on the outside. He's not a slock eye correct.
But the other two receivers, Keenan Allen and Lad McConkey,
both are capable of lining up inside and outside, and
they both do that at pretty high rates. And I
feel like Cordell Flott, Andrew Phillips and Deontay Will. More so,
Flot and Drew Phillips match up better against those two

(31:02):
than a debo. I feel like a Debo and Quinna
Johnson on the outside and then have Flat and Drew
Phillips handle the other two guys, depending on obviously, who's
lined up in the slot and who's lined up outside.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
That's the game they play, and you just don't. You
just don't know.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
Pretty solid so far, I think he has.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
I'm concerned about Johnston's physicality, though I wouldn't want to. Yeah,
Bank Banks has the most physicality, and and I'm not
taking anything away from a debo, but I might. I
might tell Banks this is your breakout game, go get Johnston.
I might do that.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Johnston's deep deep routes with Banks would just worry.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
Here's here's what you want to do. You want to
beat the crap out of them, chuck them.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
Off those us Well, yeah, for sure, I get pressure
on Herbert, so they don't have time to let those
players suited to do that that in that aspect, yes, no,
that's why.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
That's why I'm thinking of doing it. Okay, go ahead,
think ed.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
Hey look also right, so I'm thinking of our young man,
mister Dark. Mister Dark, if you're a listening, which I
hope that you are, he's except what the defense gives you.
Chargers have been playing lights out d ball. They just
like you said, PAULI you right, That's what I've been

(32:21):
seeing from preseason, from the first game, from the very
first one the Hall of fager Man, the Charge has
been playing lights out ball. I'm gonna say, right, I'm
simply gonna say, take what the defense gives you. If
you don't have that D ball, but you got a
wide open tight end over the middle or to the side,
please take that. Take what the defense gives you. Just

(32:43):
get first down. Do the Peyton Manning way. Just get
first down. Keep the drive going. Gives you a better
chance to be on the field longer because the defense
is going to need your help. That's why we are
not what we should be because we haven't been given
a d at help. He's been playing real good ball,
Like I'm really really happy to see Drew Phillips and

(33:05):
Cordell really come up and playing way better. That's been
like the best so on that. I hope to see
you soon, Paul. I gotta come up there, all right,
beg you to the office.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Stay well, Thank you, big, ed well. Two things one.
Last week definitely was a little bit of a struggle
for Drew Phillips. You know, he had the two pretty
big penalties. So hopefully this is a bounce back game
for Drew.

Speaker 2 (33:32):
You know he's toast there. I mean I felt so
bad for him when he gave up the fifty to
fifty ball to Thornton to the one yard line. Dad
unbelievable throw by Mahomes and Thornton made a terrific grab.
I mean, Phillips was on him. I said this the
other day, like mustard on a hot dog.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Yeah, there's not much more he could have done except
make the play. Well, I know I was talking more
than the two penalties, which were kind of back hearing ging,
but uh, that was one and then it's the second
thing with Big Ed was saying with you know, take
what the defense is giving you. You know I mentioned
before Dan's one on one with coach Well, he asked
coach about the coverage that the Chiefs gave the Giants

(34:11):
for most of the game last week, which was the
split safety. Look right, they ran it at nearly eighty percent,
which is the highest that any team has done that
across the NFL this year. And basically Coach Dable said
exactly what Big Edge just said. He's like, when they're
doing that trying to take away your your deep weapons,
your receivers down the field, you have to take what

(34:32):
the defense is giving. You can take those short intermediate rats,
you got to run the ball well. So just coach
Dable is on the same page as what Big Ed
was just saying in terms of if they're trying to
take away the deep ball, you know, that's fine. Then
you take those, you know, five six yard completions as
they come and just methodically work your way down.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Here's the bad news. Defensive coordinated Jason Minter again talking
to Matt Muney Smith, the Charges play by play guy,
he said of the things that they're really happy with
with him is that he is a big timer in
terms of disguising secondary. They don't blitz very much. In fact,
I think they're the second fewest blitzer of all the

(35:13):
defenses in the NFL. They're not coming after your quarterback.
They're not trying to ruin his day. They're not trying
to freak him out and cause him a great deal
of anxiety. No, that's not what they do. They're very
happy playing back, playing zone and what they will do
is show you all kinds of different looks in the secondary.

(35:33):
Thinking that you're playing one coverage and then they play another.
That's where their complications come in. Not in the front seven.
They come in the back seven, which means it is
ten times more difficult for the quarterback than it is
the running back, the tight ends, or the offensive lineman

(35:54):
to decipher what's going on because the secondary stuff is
more on the QB than it is anybody else. Obviously,
the receivers have to make adjudgments too, but Dart is
really gonna have to be aware of the mind games
that the Chargers are gonna play on him.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, and I you know, talking about the Charger secretary.
We haven't even mentioned this guy's name yet, but they
have your best defensive backs in the entire NFL. Oh yeah,
in Derwin James. And Derwin James is sort of that
like do a little bit of everything technical card. Yeah,
he can line up all over the field, has success
in just about every aspect that you need a defensive
back to have success in. But where he's really really

(36:34):
excelled this year has been in coverage. I would think
that you know, he might be lined up against like
Theo Johnson for and whatever tight ends on the field
for a decent amount of this game, which it's gonna
be tough sledding. Then for the tight ends because he
has been phenomenal, which I would say, like, if that's
the case, and you know that guy's back there, target

(36:56):
the cornerbacks in coverage because they have been playing pretty well.
But I'm a lot less worried about, you know, Benjamin
Saint ju just who we are familiar with with his
time when he was back with Washington a lot more,
you know, I feel a lot more comfortable throwing it
in his direction or tarheb Still then I would want
to throw the ball at Derwin James because Durwin James

(37:17):
the type of guy that's going to make you pay
if you make even the slightest mistake.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
Dante Jackson is having a heck of a year.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
He's having a good year too, and he's.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Been a just a guy for most of his career
and now this year he's come out playing great, great football.
We go to a German you are lined to in
New Jersey. Hello German, that's an interesting name. Good, Hi,
what's up.

Speaker 8 (37:43):
It's a pleasure. Actually it's a first time caller. I've
been listening to you guys I drive over the road,
so it's really good to hear on the news.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Very cool for you to up.

Speaker 3 (37:51):
Thank you for calling.

Speaker 8 (37:53):
Yeah, but listen, I want to talk about a few things.
One it will be middle linebacker. I feel like we
don't really have enough to from that position. Put an
up duel there. It's really nice to be honest with you,
but I feel like he wasn't one hundred percent there
as far as like taking care of the gaps. And
another thing I want to say is Jackson darry I'm

(38:13):
super excited. A lot of people wanted him in and
a lot of people also saying like, oh, he's not ready,
but I feel like the kid is ready and just
let him learn. I feel like he's going to do good,
even though we're playing the Chargers, but I feel like
he's going to do well. And I just want to
say thank you again, guys, have a nice day.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Well, thanks for calling, and please try again another time.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
Yeah, thank you. So to your first point, I feel
like a dull played, you know, admirably at off ball
linebacker last week, but it was very clear that he
was put there due to all of the injuries that
the Giants had. I mean, Mike and McFadden obviously is
out for a while, Darius Mussaw was out with the concussion,
Chris Bord has been placed on injured reserve. Was it

(38:55):
Flanning and Fouls was out? I mean, those are four
of your top five line going into the season on
the depth chart, So like, I hear what you're saying.
And obviously with all those guys out, it's easy to say, like, yeah,
where's the depth middle linebacker? But they went into the
season with depth that just all of those guys drop
like flies in the first two weeks, which is what

(39:18):
led to Abdul playing such a big role at that position.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
For goodness sakes, they had no choice exactly.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
But I will say Darius Muissau was a full participant
in practice yesterday. It looks like he is trending in
the right direction to be able to play this week.
I would think that he would probably be the starter
next to Bobby Ocarake, by the way, leads the NFL
and tackles through three games. Uh so that will certainly
help a little bit with the depth. And in addition

(39:49):
to that, I believe Flannagan Fouls has been returned to
practice I think as a limited participant limited so you know,
it remains to be seen. If yeah, he's been limited
both days, it remains to be seen if he'll be cleared. Obviously,
if he was also cleared, that would be bringing two
of those guys on the depth chart back into the lineup,

(40:10):
which I think would certainly help. You know, even with
those guys back, we might still see Abdual lineup at
some times at that off ball linebacker position. Sure, because
he's just so talented he could literally line up anywhere.
But I feel like we might. There's a good chance
assuming muis out, and maybe even Flannaganfous as well, assuming
they are back, I feel like we're going to see

(40:31):
Abdul have more snaps, you know, on the edge or
up front, like he did the first two weeks, as
opposed this past week.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Steven, Las Vegas, you're online three? Hello?

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Paul? I to talk to you. Hey, what's up?

Speaker 9 (40:46):
Second time calling it? I spoke to you you and
John last time.

Speaker 4 (40:50):
Paul.

Speaker 7 (40:50):
Sure.

Speaker 9 (40:51):
I just want to call about Jackson Dart. You know,
A huge fan. I really like the kid. I think
he's gonna do great. But do you think that to
this point, you know, the giants developing him. I think
we just need to work on the schematics. I just
feel like last game with Russell Wilson, they weren't doing screenplays.
They didn't get it was gonna get the leak on
a screen. I mean, they're just going vertical. How do

(41:14):
you think the Giants are going to game plan this
week for the Chargers with Jackson Dart, uh, you know,
starting his first game. And also what do you think
about Skataboo getting him, you know, more touches as far
as screenplays or moving him around.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
You've already hit on exactly what I would do, to
be honest with you, given the situation, not only for
Jackson Dart playing in his first NFL start, but also
given what the Chargers defense is trying to take away
from you, It's obvious that the Giants have to be
able to run the ball, but they also have to
use a lot of quick game for a lot of reasons.

(41:51):
One because you don't want Dart to have to look
down field and to decipher what complications the Charger secondary's
going to throw it him. That's a game that you
probably won't win, so why get involved in it. Don't
play into their hands. Okay, So go with the quick slants,
go with the wide receiver screen, go with the tosses

(42:14):
the pitches of some of the RPOs. Again, run the ball,
I mean, I'm you know, the little dump off passes
into the flat, no question. Get the ball out of
Jackson Dart's hands as quickly as you can so that
he doesn't have to play mind games against that secondary. Now,

(42:37):
part of what the charges will then do. They'll say, oh,
you want to do that, Okay, some of our guys
are going to cheat up now, all right, fine, if
they cheat up now, well, then make sure that your guys,
your tight ends, your receivers, whoever it is that's going
to get those balls. Make sure that those guys understand, Hey,
guess what your quarterback needs you today. You know, run

(42:58):
that little five yard hit and make sure you cut
it off correctly and your body off the defender and
you make the damn play, okay, because the kid needs you.
If you can't get those short quick throw games going
and those guys can't do what they have to do
to get the ball, they're gonna leave this poor rookie
in deep deep water. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
I think we're gonna see a lot of a lot
of just you know, just because it's a rookie quarterback
making his first, start a lot of very quick pass like,
just get the ball into your playmaker's hands. I mean,
Milieu Nighbors is one of the top offensive weapons period
in the NFL. Just get the ball in his hands
and let him go to work. We saw, we've seen,
you know, going back to last year, what he could
do was just a simple little slant rap. He could

(43:40):
take it seventy yards to the house and break a
few tackles, out run everyone. So I feel like we
are especially because again this Chargers defense is very talented
and they have a very good defensive play caller. It's
gonna be a lot of that. Just get the ball
into your guy's hands. And Scataboo is definitely gonna play
a role in that. I mean, we saw it last
got too. He was the team's leading receivers. He had

(44:00):
six catches for sixty yards last week. You know, I
don't know if he's going to replicate those numbers receiving again,
but I think he's definitely going to play a big
role in the passing game as well.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Steve, I'll let you finish in a minute off of Scataboo.
I read an item that Scataboo and Barkley, the only
rookie running backs for the Giants in the last forty
years that had at least sixty yards rushing and sixty
yards receiving in the same.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Game, eighth rookie franchise history to do.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
It's incredible, It's incredible.

Speaker 4 (44:30):
I like the kid.

Speaker 9 (44:30):
I think scatabo is going to bring a jolt to
this offense. You know, the kid doesn't like to go down.

Speaker 8 (44:35):
He takes a few keeps up.

Speaker 9 (44:38):
I think if we if we can use him, he's
like by all start, you know, if we can use
him in the right way, he's going to be phenomenal.
And I think with Scataboo and with Dark Development together,
because this is the future of our franchise here, I'm
gonna see a lot of exciting things to come.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
No question, Steve, appreciate the call.

Speaker 9 (44:57):
All right, yeah, you guys have a great date.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Thank you, Thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
I don't know if you saw this, and I know
we you don't. You're not the biggest PFF fan, and
I understand, and especially when it comes to their grades,
it's somewhat arbitrary, but I just want to know, did
you know that through three games, PFF has camp Skataboo
as the number one ranked running back in the NFL.
Number one, not too shabby. It doesn't mean a whole lot,

(45:22):
but it doesn't mean nothing.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
I was just gonna say, that's not even gonna get
get an ice cream at the corner store.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
No, no, look, I obviously it doesn't. It doesn't mean
a whole lot, but it clearly means he's playing good
football if they have him ranked number one in the
NFL at the position. That's all I'm saying now.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
I will say this, there were two other items Steve
to the Giants offensive playbook that I would consider using
that might help out Jackson Dard a little bit. Number One,
I would consider if you're going to give him two
or three plays in a row, I would consider, go
and hurry up, because that might get the Chargers into

(46:02):
a little bit of dismay, right, because they're very interested
in doing all this coverage stuff in the back end
of trying to confuse the QB. Well, what if you
hurry up, you give Jackson two or three plays in
a row and say, Okay, this is what we're doing.
Just concentrate on making the execution correctly. Bang bang bang
bang don't give the Chargers time to sub out. Don't

(46:23):
give it. Well, I know that you have to give
them an opportunity if you sub I understand that. But
if you don't, don't give them time. Hit them quick,
hit them quick, hit them quick before they have time
to set up and start their disguise as going in
the background, in the depth of the secondary. The other
thing that I would consider doing strategically more motion because,

(46:46):
as we all know, when you motion pre snap motion
on offense, the defense has to react and it's supposed
to help the quarterback identify what the defense is going
to do against you. Now, chargers are going to try
to play a lot of mind games, so you may
not always get the truth when you see what they're doing,

(47:07):
especially in that they have a variety of zone coverages
that they can use and brackets that they can use.
So it may just help you identify zone to man
and it won't give you every detail. It's not going
to unveil whatever's totally behind the curtain, but it could
provide some additional hints to Dart as to what he

(47:30):
can expect when he snaps that football. So those are
the philosophical ways that I would approach the offensive playbook.

Speaker 3 (47:36):
Yeah, I think they're gonna the Chargers are definitely going
to try to you know, disguise their looks on defense
to confuse Jackson, as you said, and a great way
to try to remedy that which you just mentioned is
the first time we mentioned this, to play with tempo.
I mean, we haven't touched on that yet up to
this point in the show. But likes that he does
like it. I was gonna say we saw it in
the preseason. Like, I think there's a very strong chance that,

(47:58):
you know, could be the first I've you know, first
driving the third quarter every drive, Like, the Giants are
gonna play with tempo on offense and as long as
Jackson Dart is able to help move this offense down
the field. I have a strong feeling and I'm not
going out I feel like on a limb saying this
that the Giants are gonna play with tempo and that's gonna,
you know, at least somewhat help remedy those defensive disguises

(48:22):
that Jesse Mitch is going to try to throw at
Jackson because the defense is gonna kind of be playing
on its heels, which is obviously would be great if
we could have the Chargers defense playing on their heels
all game.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
Okay from Patterson, You're in line one on Big Blue
Kickoff Live.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Hello, Hello, Hi, what's going on?

Speaker 5 (48:41):
Hey?

Speaker 4 (48:41):
God? How you doing? Man?

Speaker 6 (48:42):
All right?

Speaker 9 (48:43):
How are you?

Speaker 4 (48:44):
Ye?

Speaker 7 (48:45):
I'm good man. I actually met you at summer camp.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
Man. I actually I asked you a crazy question. I
ask who as Joe Malone was. He looked at me
like I was crazy, but.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
I just wanted to That's not my part of the
department store.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
Okay, yeah, Now I'm plumped up about this game.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
Man.

Speaker 4 (49:03):
I think that the young kid is going to do well.
I'm for the benching, although I did want to see
Rustle one more games.

Speaker 7 (49:14):
It's okay.

Speaker 4 (49:15):
I think that we'll move the offense very well.

Speaker 9 (49:19):
I know the Charges are a good team, but I
think that we'll do good.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
I just want to say, go Giants. I'm pumped up,
Go Big Blue.

Speaker 2 (49:26):
All right. Well, thanks for the call. Thank you appreciate
that and always nice to see the fans of training
camp every summer, So thanks for stopping by. With that,
A couple of things to remind folks off. We have
a few minutes left if you want to get on
the line two on one nine. Is there a YouTube
comment that you wanted to address before we No, not
right now? Okay, kickoff is at one o'clock on Sunday

(49:48):
with the Chargers coming in. Remember the pregame on WFAN
radio starts at eleven. Uh, and then afterwards there's the
postgame on WUFA N as well as the postgame show
live on MSG Television network as well. Uh and uh,
you know, like I said, folks, it's it's It's also

(50:09):
the Women's Giants tailgate day. So I don't know if
you want to. Maybe some of you ladies out there
want to drag your significant others out to the to
the parking lot a little early, but maybe you can
enjoy the tailgate while they sit back and have their
own uh whatever it is that they go to cook
on the grill or whatever and then meet up with

(50:30):
you when when you get into the game. So don't
forget that's that's also available. Go to Giants dot com
for for that women's ticket, uh tailgate information fill in
North Carolina. You're next on the show.

Speaker 7 (50:42):
Hello, Hi Paul and Matt.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
Hi.

Speaker 7 (50:47):
Yeah, I just wanted to follow up because Paul, I
know you love the PFF stuff, but not.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
As much as I enjoy castor oil. To be honest
with you, go ahead.

Speaker 7 (50:57):
Yeah. If you heard one of Giants huddles, I think
it was in John Subtle. He said that they and
they talked to Tom Cockland quite a bit in the
beginning when they were getting when they were starting to
get some of his evaluation tools of some of these players,
and they integrated that and other coaches into the grading system.

(51:20):
So I think it's more of a handy tool, uh.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
Than you than you might fail. I hate to burst
your bubble, but there's a lot more to that story
than you can imagine. And I have reasons why I
feel like I do, but I appreciate your input. Please
go ahead with anything else.

Speaker 7 (51:38):
Yeah, so some My other part is, uh, some other
party I wanted to call early in the season, it
feels like we're not being physical enough on the line
of scrimmage defensively and offensively, and until that we get
ratchet that up to a level that is consistent with

(52:01):
the opposing team, we're going to always be subjected to,
you know, these games like the Dallas game, where we
were going to be on the short end of the stick.
And so so my question robbin around that is, I
know there's a heavy emphasis on the getting good tea

(52:23):
good leaders at each of the positioning groups, but I
always feel you need nasty guys, a nasty guy in
each of these position groups. What do you feel about that?

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Well, I've always said, and you know, Lawrence Taylor used
to talk about getting after them like wild dogs, right,
I've always felt that you had to have a couple
of guys with real sharp teeth, kind of foaming at
the mouth kind of guys on your defense. I've always
believed that. I mean, the fact remains though Dexter Lawrence
is a real mean nasty eye in those trains when

(53:00):
he gets out there on Sunday. Okay, they got one.
Brian Burns plays with a tremendous amount of passion and
force when he's out there, so they certainly have one
of those guys there. Now, I will say this, I
don't think anyone in the secondary has the edge lit
Aroll role brought to this team years ago. I will

(53:21):
agree with you there, I don't. I don't think anybody
is quite as sharp as as as Antrell was, because
he was he was like a razor blade but I
think I think they got a couple guys in that
starting lineup for sure.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
Another guy who I know, he's not, like you know,
considered one of the top key guys necessarily, but Roy
Robertson Harris. I think he definitely plays with some edge
when he gets on the field. You have some to
his game. I think we've seen it a little bit
the first three weeks, so.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
I appreciate the thought, though, I mean, philosophically, you're right,
I think you have to have a couple of them
for sure.

Speaker 7 (54:00):
Yeah, all right, thanks guys, have a good weekend.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
I'd be good.

Speaker 3 (54:02):
Thank you, Phil. And just about the PFF thing, I
as I prefaced it before, I don't think you should
make an argument solely based on what you know. The
PFF grades are for certainly not but I do think
that there is some you know, it can assist you
with things.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
I do think.

Speaker 3 (54:22):
I don't think it's like completely useless, which I feel
like you might might kind of feel like that. I
think it has helped to like as like supportive evidence
for an argument you want to make, but it can't
be your whole argument. That's how I think we have.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Time real quick. For one, more. Call Mike and Virginia.
You're in line too.

Speaker 5 (54:41):
Hey, how y'all doing today?

Speaker 2 (54:42):
Thanks?

Speaker 5 (54:45):
I'm always going to stay at Giants fan, But I'm
honestly disappointed in the team. Sure, I know, I know
we have to make the moves. I know we got
to make the changes, but honestly, it just didn't seem
like we used we Uh, that's what's set up for
rest of them be successful. They were bracketing neighbors and
you got a safety over top, you got a corner

(55:06):
in front of him, and you got a linebacker on
his inside, and they were running comeback rubble. So there's
nowhere for him to throw the ball. But people want
to blame Russell.

Speaker 4 (55:16):
Now.

Speaker 5 (55:16):
Granted, yes, we know that he wants to get out
of the pocket sometimes when when the pressure's on, but
it just didn't seem like this. The play calling was
there for Russell will be successful like we couldn't. So
we can't throw a slant with Russell, we can't throw
bubble screens with Russell, we can't move the pocket, we
can't put people in motion to get people open. It

(55:37):
just seems like it was more of a they're not
going to change the offense to help Russell be Russell,
You're gonna do what we're telling.

Speaker 7 (55:45):
You to do.

Speaker 5 (55:46):
And that's what I didn't like. I don't write the
fact that we're not using our people. It just it
seems like it's just been a constant we don't use
our people correctly.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Mike, I think the problem there and I'll let you
finish in just able the problem there is. Look how
explosive the offense was against Dallas. You know they played
three games, right, they played three games. In one game,
everything on offense was clicking. In the other two games
it wasn't. And I'm, by the way, I'm not going

(56:17):
to be one to blame Russell Wilson either. I think
you're being you're being very wise and very you're taking
things well into context because there were many times and
I know that there were also some times where guys
could have been hit, but there were also many times
where he had nowhere to throw and there was nobody open. Okay,

(56:40):
a lot of times folks ignore that. They'll see the
three or four plays where he could have hit an
open guy and said, oh, you know, that's terrible. He's
missing open guys all the time. No, even Tom Brady
missed open guys over the course of his career. It
happens every week to every quarterback, Make no mistake about it.

(57:02):
No quarterback comes out of a game on Sunday and
did not have a missed open target at some point
during the four quarters of the game. It happens. That's
life folks in the NFL. So I agree with you.
I think Wilson's taken too much of the front of
the blame from people outside the building.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
Its certainly not It certainly does not all fall on
Russ's shoulders by any means. I like one hundred percent
agree with you on that. But you just mentioned the
Giants have at three games, one of which the offense
was really clicking. I do think you have to keep
in mind that that game was against perhaps the worst
defense in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (57:38):
Look like that right now, one.

Speaker 3 (57:39):
Of the worst defenses. Who's who's been who's been hitting
You didn't have to drop absolutely one hundred percent, one
hundred percent, and he took advantage of that poor defense
and looked amazing out there. But I mean, just this
past weekend, that same Cowboys defense made Caleb Williams look
like John Elway, and he hasn't had the greatest start

(58:01):
to his career, Caleb Williams, but he looked amazing. So again,
it's not all Russ's fault. It's just the two games.
The two matchups against what would be considered tough defenses. Well,
I think Washington's defense is middle of the pack, but
it obviously played tough in that week one game. Chiefs
defense is very talented, but as we said before, it

(58:22):
did seem like at times it's not all rust of all,
but at times he was trying to just force the
ball downfield when it just simply was not there. And
you have to take those, you know, three four five
yard completions and methodically work down the field instead of
just trying to throw the deep ball every other play.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
Mike, I'm going to leave you with this. Kurt Warner
was just on I think it was with ESPN the
other day and he goes, you know what, I understand
this move. I could see it. There's logic behind it.
But this doesn't say a lot about Russ. This is
more about the Giants are really impressed with Jackson Dart.
The coach really wants to get him in there, and

(59:01):
this is more about giving this young kid an early
opportunity to continue his growth more than it is about
Russell Wilson failing to do the job. And I agree
with Kurt Warner one thousand percent.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
Right, Okay, I understand that. I understand that also, like
the defense wise, uh, we got to do better. We
really have to do better.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Like it's game four, time to get your legs defense,
it's time ringing.

Speaker 5 (59:31):
Pressure, but you have your corners playing fifteen yards off.
It's just mis meant to me, it just seems like
it's just been a consistent bad coaching situation.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
Appreciate the coling man, Dabele.

Speaker 7 (59:43):
We were working well.

Speaker 5 (59:45):
I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
I know, I understand we got a run. Thanks for
listening to today's episode of Big Blue Kickoff Live, part
of the Giants podcast platforms Everywhere and at giants dot
Com Slash Podcasts. It is presented by Cadillock, the official
luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants, and as always,
coming to you from the Giants Podcast Studio, presented by
Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep Getting Better. Kick Off Sunday, one o'clock,

(01:00:11):
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We'll see you next time.