Big Blue Kickoff Live 9/4 | Playoff and Super Bowl Predictions

John Schmeelk and Paul Dottino discuss the latest news going into Sunday’s game, talk about the expectations for Russell Wilson this year, and take calls from fans.

0:00 - Latest news going into Sunday

12:40 - Calls

24:50 - Sacks vs sacks allowed

40:15 - Russell Wilson

50:20 - Youtube questions

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
For a Big Blue Kickoff line.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do on
Giants dot Com. Do you know what I saw? New
York Giant Track and the Giants Mobile at.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
One tuck down.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
We all We're all Taige.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Part of the Giants Podcast Network's Hello everybody and Happy Thursday.
Welcome to the Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac,
the official luxury your Vehicle the Giants. I am John Schmelk,
joined by Paul Latino. We're supposed to have Jonathan can
see us with me on Thursdays, but he fell ill.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
It's the same reason you will not see him on
the Hangout this week. Doing better. He should be back
with us next week on on Hangout on a Thursday's
Big Blue Kickoff Live. But Paulatino was happy to put
the Superhero Cape on and glide right into the Hackensack University.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I literally flew in John.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
The Hackensack Marie Hell Podcast studio. Keep getting better. So, guys,
were three days away from game day. We are practice
number two of the week, at least a real practice
number two of the week, as the Giants get ready
to take on the Commanders, not a ton of news
Brian Dale was about to do is fly by outside.
We'll keep an eye on Twitter or see if anything
comes out of that. But we did get some news

(01:15):
on the Giants injury report yesterday, and it was a
limited injury report and specifically limited to one man who
was limited in practice, and that was Andrew Thomas, who
did practice. He was out there. I'm sure they will
ask Brian Dable how much he did today, and I'm
sure Brian Dable will not give an answer as to
how much Andrew Thomas did yesterday at practice how much

(01:35):
he will do today. But I think we're gonna go
down to the final Friday injury report and then maybe
even to a game time decision on Sunday to see
whether or not Andrew Thomas is gonna be starting left tackle.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, I think John, it's probably a little less likely
than maybe I thought a week or so ago, because
they did have their first actual practice to prepare for
Washington yesterday and the fact that he was limited, and
I'm sure the trainers we were on the phone with
him last night and then first thing this morning before
he got here, Hey, Andrew, how are you feeling now?

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Here's you think here's the problem with limited. Limited can
mean one of many things. It can Limited can mean
there were twenty first team reps and he took fifteen
of them. Correct, twenty could mean limited could mean there
were twenty first team reps, he took none of them
and just did individuals. Both of that is limited. So
there's no way to know what limited means.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, I think more than even the limited designation, his
conversation with the trainers this morning is going to be critical.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
What he say, I wasn't there, what do you mean? See,
this is.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
The point that we try to make all the time.
When the media assumes these kinds of things. We tell
you what we don't know, because those are the facts.
We have no idea how Andrew Thomas felt at breakfast
this morning.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Case closed, but he's nobody had for breakfast.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I don't even know that.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Wow, you are just lacking information today.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
What can I say?

Speaker 1 (03:00):
You're such an intrepid reporter.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I did not want to intrude on his kitchen this morning, boy.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
But here I figured you would have posted up, you know,
hiding behind the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
The point being though, that, as we have discussed for
several months, the Giants do believe that James Hudson is
a more than competent, a guy who can do the
job and take care of business for them. And look,
why would you sign a James Hudson so quickly for
the money and the commitment that they signed him for
if then you were going to be afraid to play

(03:33):
him at a game. That doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
It's not being afraid to play him, it's just whether
Andrew Thomas is healthy.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Right, But if Andrew Thomas has any soreness whatsoever, and
if they're concerned about the long term durability, the last
thing the Giants want is for him to play and
then have to come back out and then go back
in and then come back out again, because that discombobulation
is the one thing that can really throw acid in

(04:00):
the face of your offensive line.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Make sure when he's ready to go out there, well,
go out there, play a full game, and then play
the next week.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
That's it correct And if it means you got an
error on the side of caution and hold him out
for the Washington game, you do it.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Which makes me think, Paul, because I agree with you,
we're great way too much, but I feel like they're
going to want to give him a full practice and
then see how he reacts to that full practice. And
again I have no one's told me this. This is
just me trying to think through the situation. See how
he reacts to that full practice, sure, and then see

(04:36):
how he looks after that. But maybe not. Maybe they're
doing enoughing in the limited practice where they can see that.
But again we'll find that more Friday, and then of
course the final decision. Unless he's rolled out on Friday,
who knows or isn't it questionable and we know he's
in for sure, we'll find that on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
And I don't mean to make light of this, but
we had a conversation yesterday John in the lunch room.
Washington's pass rush is not.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
What it used to be, so you know, same what
it was last year.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
And again that's it's not great. Don't thee Fowler's gone?
That's you know, don'te Fowlo's gone. And they signed von Miller,
who basically seemed like he was ready to retire, and
they've brought him out of the cobwebs to try to
help their pass rush. They don't have a tremendous amount
of bite in their pass rush.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
No, but they do a lot with games, twists and blitze.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, that's what you know coach does.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
And look, we have seen, Paul, the Giants in the
past have many, many issues with teams that rush the
passer the way the Commanders do. The Giants improved in
that facet last year they did. You hope with the
same group back again, maybe it's gonna be hutted in

(05:46):
there as the fifth guy who's different, and you hope
that continues to improve.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
You know though, the stunts and the twists is more
of an issue for the interior guys than it is
the edge guys.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, general speaking, that's correct.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, So again, I don't see a tremendous threat off
the edge from the Washington pass rush as it's currently constructed.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Dorren's Armstrong has gotten many sacks against the Giants in
the past. Just remember he's not he's.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Not a journeyman by any means, but he's also not
a headache player.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
No, they do not have a headache player up front there.
They're doing it with numbers in scheme, right, that's what
they're doing. How the sacks you think they had last
year to the Commanders Giants had forty five for reference
typh eighth.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, I don't know, I don't know. What do they have.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Forty forty three just two less than the Giants. We'll
just keep that in. Frankie Louver, he's another guy you
gotta look out for. They use him very creatively as
a blitzer.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
I think he had four last year.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
I talked to Bram Weinstein that's going up on our
Giants huddle game preview on Friday, and he says he
thinks Louver might lead the team in sacks this year
with how they're going to use him as a rusher
and a blitzer.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, then he's gonna have to more than double what
he did in twenty four.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Yeah, I think he thinks he might be around eight.
So again again just marking players that people should keep
an eye on. I mean, the only guy, old old
von Miller we talked about Frankie Luvu, and then their
interior players are interesting Payne kin Law, Jersey and Newton like,
there are some guys with some talent there too, So
you know that could be I don't mean no.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
No, no, I don't want to I don't want to
be little Washington. But when we talk about like the
last few years. You remember a couple of years ago
when the Giants opened up against Pittsburgh and they opened
up against Minnesota.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
You know, they still they didn't have great rushers.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Though you see what von Ginkle did to them.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
But he's he's Van Ginkle is no better a pass
rusher than Doran z Enstrung is.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Point being, they have they have opened up with teams
that had a little more bite I think in the
pass rush than Washington does this year. That's that's my
only point.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
No look, and that's fair. You still gotta block.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Them down straight, you do, because you know what, anybody
can get a sack against empty space.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
The other part of this I want to talk about
in the trenches, and then we'll get to your calls
at two, one, nine, three, nine, four five. Already have
three call up, all the lines on hold, so maybe
we'll hold Pierce in our playoff predictions for the end
of the show, so we get to the calls as
much as we can now. Paul and I will give
our playoff and our super Bowl predictions today, which should
all be wrong and you can laugh at us in
four months. But the Commander's offensive line is something that's

(08:15):
really interesting to me because I think there's more talent there,
but it's a mishmashed, mixed up group compared to last year.
And you know, sometimes it does take those groups time
to figure things out. And some guys in that group
have also switched positions. Look, Lanry Tuns is gonna be

(08:35):
really good a left tackle. Tyler Biattish will be solid
at center. I think both of us feel pretty good
about that. He'll be fine. Yeah, he's okay, Ali Gretty,
he's a veteran guard. He should be fine at guard.
Brandon Coleman, who did a decent job as a tackle
last year, has been moved into guard to play left
guard this year. And then Josh Connery. And if you guys,

(08:56):
if listen to our draft stuff in the offseason, you
guys don't much. I love Josh Connery. I had a
real first round grade on him. I think he's gonna
be a really good player. But he never played right
tackle in Colin he was a left tackle. M And again,
talking to Bran Weinstein, you'll see this interview tomorrow. One
of the most interesting things he said to me, among others,
was if I would have asked him the question about

(09:19):
the right tackle spot. Three weeks ago, he would have
told me Wyley would have been the starter because it was,
no kidding, slow process for Connorley to get used to
playing on the other side. But he said in the
last two or three weeks he's made a jump and
he's really started to figure it out. But I thought
that was interesting that there was a process there with

(09:40):
him trying to get used to that right tackle spot.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
If I'm Kevon Thibodeau, I'm testing him as quickly as
I possibly can. I want to cause that young kid
who's making his NFL debut to have nightmares.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
I mean, Burns is burnt. Usually tipotal's over the left tackles.
That's probably gonna be Burns over there.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh, I think they're gonna go the other way based
on what we've seen outside. I think. But they'll flop them.
There's no question they'll flop.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
I would prefer to just get my best rusher on Connorlly,
the rookie, so you get Burns over there, maybe put
Carter over there a little bit. I would just let
Thibodea go against Tunsel.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
I think you're gonna see all three guys in different
spots of all games.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Oh no, it's never gonna be uniform. It's never gonna
be uniform. But it must get past us situation on
a third down. You think, give me my best pass
rusher against their worst tackle.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
And I would understand that.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
Logic's what I want.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
I would understand that logic.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
I mean, that's that's hunting matchups, right, Isn't that what
you want?

Speaker 2 (10:41):
I would understand. I would understand that.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
And Burns certainly played both sides. He was almost even
fifty to fifty last year. I think left and right.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, yeah he was, Yeah, he was. I wouldn't have
a problem with that, and that's why the way they
did it. But you know, I I got a feeling
that is gonna have a career year this year. I
just really do. I think he's going to come out
balling like a monster. I think he understands his place
right now. He has been by many estimates, and understandably so,

(11:09):
based on his draft slot. He has not lived up
to the potential or to the max that he was
expected to bring to this team. I think he's a
good player, but I don't think he has maxed out.
When you were drafted in the top ten, like that.
You know, you really wanting the guy to be a
Pro Bowl type player, and Thibberdeaux has not done that,
and I think his pride is hurt. We know he's

(11:31):
gone to a wrestling coach during this offseason to improve
his ability to make moves. We know he's gotten stronger,
we know he's reduced his body fat. I think this
guy's pretty ticked off. I think he's got a fire
in his gut, and I would not want to try
to block him. I'll tell you that well.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
I don't think you'd want to try to block him
last year either or the year before that or the
year before that. I don't think that looked at well
for you.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Put it this way, I always offer him my spot
in the lunch line.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
To a one nine three nine four to five one three.
Noah Brown's another injury to keep an eye for Washington.
He's their third wide receiver. It could be Luke McCaffrey
or Jalen Lane if he can't go. He's been kind
of banged up all offseason. He's a big factor in
their run game as a blocker. I could also see
them doing a lot of two tight end stuff. They
love John Bates he's one of the better. He's like there,
Chris Benhurts, Yes, he's one of the one of the

(12:21):
better run blocking tight ends in the league. So then
of course you have zach Ertz, the veteran, and then
Ben Snatt who came out two years ago. I was
a big fan of his, loved this versus two. He
just hasn't figured out way to force his way on
the field yet. His artz is, you know, playing like
he's twenty eight years old. True. Giants Foundation will host
a five K racing Kids Run presented by Quest on Sunday,
October twenty sixth at non am Metlive Stadium. That proceeds
will benefit the Giants Foundation. All participants will receive a

(12:43):
commemative T shirt and after the race day for a
post race festival with appearances by Giants legends and a
live DJ. Register now at giants dot com slash five k.
The Giants Foundation is a five to one C three
nonprofit corporation. All right, let's get to it two A
one nine three nine four five one three on Pennsylvania, Joe,
what's going on? Pal?

Speaker 4 (13:02):
Hey? Getting psyched up there a long time though?

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Speed Joe, how are you good? I?

Speaker 4 (13:07):
Talked to you not long ago, John, about a month ago,
I believe.

Speaker 5 (13:11):
So.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Uh, anyway, getting psyched up the game tonight, I I'll
watch that. I hope they knocked the hell out of
each other. You know, that'll be a good start there.
When you just did your like the division, the personnel
and the division, I think that was early before the
draft even.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
June.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
Oh was it. I wonder if you do it now,
if if if it would be any any different with
the Redskins, if we'd come on top with with their
personnel and uh compare doors. I'm not sure, but I
think we have better personnel than m N Dallas.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Now, Joe, just remember Joe the Commander got to the
NFC Championship game last year. Let's have some respect for
the opponent here. Okay, I do it.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
And it's supposed to be a close game again coming
up here. So a big thing there I was looking
at there is I don't recall in the game. I
know we had turnovers, but the Redskins always win the turnovers,
the penalties and the drops in them games. Do you

(14:29):
have any idea.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
The Commanders last year had a really really it was
kind of like the Giants in twenty twenty two. Every
close game the Commander's played, they tended to win. They
were really good in big spots, especially on fourth downs.
And that's why I think some people are think they're
in for a bit of a regression this year. I
happen to be one of those people. I could be

(14:52):
proven very wrong. All of this could be because Jayden
Daniels is amazing, But there were a lot of close
wins last year. Washington. By the way, in our head
to head with Washington and the Giants, we all had
them pretty close. Paul's the only one to have the
Giants way ahead, but me side tacking Lance, all had
both teams within two points of each other either way,
so the comparison on the personnel was not that far off.

Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah. Well, and that's the way the game's played, and
I'm hoping that you know, we can change that there.
You don't think now, I know they gave their orders
at the quarterback and everything. You don't think, by any
chance that they'll dress three at all, do you?

Speaker 1 (15:35):
My guess is that one would be the emergency third quarterback.
But you know what, maybe not maybe maybe they will
dress all three. It depends.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
I think he dresses all three in week one, he could.
He's got nothing to lose because he doesn't have a
position that's dinged up where he needs another body. There's
not really much of a penalty in dressing all three
this week. Once you start getting into the season, you
have guys hurt. Now you can't afford to give up
a body. But this week, why not. If he wants
to do it, he can do it. Doesn't hurt.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Who played the other team's quarterback this week is no or.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
That's not something we could talk about.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Joe, Well, I mean we also also a nott of
practice watching it, so we don't know and did Brian
Dables asked that and he was not telling us what
the answer was.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
Okay, I'll take this off the air. I asked a
lot there. Do you think we'll play a man a lot?
Or in long situations or close situations? Would our pass rushed?

Speaker 5 (16:34):
All?

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Joe, I think so. I think so. I think we
are going to see more man this year and the
Commanders last year, if you dig into some of the
advanced numbers, they were not great passing against man defense
last year. And if you think about it, it makes sense, right,
Paul who are their man beaters in terms of their
weapons outside it one Terry mclaur zach Ertz is more

(16:56):
we find the hole in his own type of guy.
He's older, he's not going to run away from people
really and went over the top. Yanmi Brown made a
couple of plays here or there, but he's not someone
that you worry about playing man demand against. And even
Deebo Samuel, who they brought in this year, he's not
your traditional man beater where he's gonna go out there
on a great route at separation down the field. Now

(17:16):
he's a catch and run guy. So it would not
surprise me, especially based on this matchup, if we should
the Giants play a ton of man demand defense and
we'll see who's out there across from Pulse and the Deebo.
Another thing the Giants coaching staff has been quite mum about.
Oh yes, course of this week, Deontay Banks Willcordell flat.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah. In fact, it's even possible you might see both
of them switching off during the game.

Speaker 5 (17:37):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
I mean and left that open today.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
He left it totally open. We got a note, by
the way, I just want to get this out here.
At least the reporters, in discussing Dable on his walk
by while we were starting the program, did tell the
media Andrew Thomas is not going to practice today, despite
the fact that he looked good yesterday. They're giving him
the day off, which I would think logic says that

(18:00):
really decreases the opportunity for him to play Sunday. But
that's strictly logic, that's nothing more than that.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
That's inferring based on years of covering the league. Usually
a guy practices on Wednesday, does it on Thursday. That's
not the best signed.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, you know, as I said this morning, the first
thing that was gonna happen when the crack of dawn
came is that they were going to try to find
out what those trainers, Andrew, how do you feel?

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Of course they could just be managing the injury too,
There's no way to know. But look, you would much
rather having practice in full today than not practice all that,
no doubt or limited for that matter, no doubt. Look,
we want you guys over the summer, right. I mean
you go back to the Johnsonttal podcast we did with
the offensive lineman back in June, right where where Andrew said, look,
I'll do my best. I'll try to come back. But
he and the Giants have all been very careful and

(18:46):
they said, look, we're on schedule, but no one ever
committed that he would be ready in week one. So
this is to me, and I know I was probably
a little bit more skeptical than you or Paul that
it was always I'm gonna wait until game week to
see what happens. And again we'll find out on Friday
slash Sunday as to whether or not he's gonna have
a chance to play.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
With each passing day, I had a less hope. Let's
just put it that way, all right.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
Back to the calls at two A one nine, three,
four five one three another oldie but a goodie James
and Georgia. James, what's going on?

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Man? Oh wow?

Speaker 6 (19:16):
Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 5 (19:17):
All right? Man?

Speaker 6 (19:18):
Do you know it's been a minute since I've called.
Thanks for the introduction. I hope to not disappoint this time.
You know, I probably got a lot on my mind.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
I mean, James, James, you never disappointed. What do you
got to bring it?

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Baby? Bring it?

Speaker 6 (19:33):
I just can't call for for a ton of a
hype show, you know, just to get everybody excited for
the season, because you know, a lot of people are saying, well,
let's see you know, when are we gonna see Dart
if the season doesn't get off to the right start,
and this and that. I'm here to say that the
season's gonna start off right and we are gonna see

(19:53):
Dark because I think day Ball has in the back
of his mind if it's past halfway in the third
quarter and we got a twenty four point leave, we're
putting Dart in and what would be.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Who's got a twenty four point lead? John, help me
out here? Hey right, everybody.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
I'm gonna let James go. He's confident, he's stealing it.
Let him go.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Go ahead, James, because everybody's like star because we're gonna be.

Speaker 7 (20:21):
H three and this and that and that opposite is
what I see happening. You know, you can't talk about
the great moon Ball and all, you know, the continuity
of how we got better, but then just kind of
still say we're gonna we're gonna stuck. You know what
I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
I see what we take a big leap this year,
Russell Wilson gets us into the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
I would just say this, James is very difficult to
go into it. James is very.

Speaker 7 (20:48):
Difficult to go how I see it right now.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
James, James is very difficult.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
Dark is the.

Speaker 7 (20:56):
Number two ish if things are going right, you know,
if that's like a bad game, you're not going to
play start out there to continue getting beat up, you know,
to add on to the on flood the Winston out there,
you know, let him finish out the game.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
Also, just I.

Speaker 6 (21:18):
Want to say I like them.

Speaker 7 (21:20):
Listen to Russell Wilsons in he I know the last
time I called a kind of hit on this point.
But now I like to answer to the question he
asked about being you know, one of the sixteen Black
Stoning quarterbacks and history being what it is, you know,
and the history of our own team. I'm very proud.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
I'm happy.

Speaker 7 (21:49):
I'm not putting too much stock into that portion of
it politically, you know what I mean. But our quarterback
room has upgraded immensely, even if it's just from like
the decision making, you know, like thinking about popping you.

Speaker 8 (22:08):
John warn the other day with like that flee click
or play an INNDY where we took a fat it
was pretty much the indication that you know, we need
a we need a quarterback who can run this offing
and the preseason game, well, you know, I talked to
a lot of my people about the indication that it's
not haven't been the playbook.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
The playbook works because every quarterback that went.

Speaker 7 (22:31):
Out there put up a touchdown and a field goal
for pretty much every drive that they had. So uh,
I'm optimistic. You know, I'm looking up for the season.
Plenty of teams that's gone from worse the first and
we're gonna start. Uh are knocking the quarterback out free
this week again, Washington.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Great, thank you, James, appreciate the call, my friend, Always
the pleasure to hear from your good stuff. Well, I'll
I'm gonna say is that it's very difficult to go
into another team's building for the home opener and week
one and blow them out. You can win, very difficult
to blow the mount That's all I'll say, especially a

(23:16):
division rivals.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
He's asking for a twenty four point lead. I just
like to score twenty four points. How about that.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
Pierced Are you sure that was not a big Adam Maryland?
That was James and Georgia. You're sure about that? Okay.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
By the way, we should also tell you that Mike
Kafka spoke we were able to catch briefly before we
came in here. He is going to call the plays
during the regular season as he has this entire offseason,
and did indicate being downstairs on the sideline is it
gives him a better feel for what's going on with
the receivers and the quarterback and stuff. So that's part

(23:53):
of the offensive equation that has changed from last season.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Absolutely. By the way, I there are some other good
news we should report. Pearson will be at the controls
all week, this week and next week. There was a
Paul did you know? It was a big social media
outcry for why Pearson wasn't screening calls every day. We
got called out on Twitter for it. You were calling
for Pearson.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
How many relatives do you have?

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Do you think these relatives like him? Come on, these
are the callers.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
We have great relationship. Okay, very good.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
Were the hero they need right now. Johnny Mack or
other guy who produces and call screens the show. He
is on his honeymoon right now. Great timing, and he
will be back after week at number two. So make
sure you go check that out two one nine three
and died four five one three two A one nine
three died four five one three. Let's go to Tim

(24:44):
and Charles that he's up next. I Tim, he.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
And Paul, So I got to start off and said,
we went from an oldie but a goodie to one
of my chop Liver.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
I feel like I've heard from you Tim more more
recently than I have heard from James.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
Yeah, that's true last week after two. So I'm gonna
be pretty quick. First thing, I had a question for you,
and I'm not sure if you can answer it because
I know you can't talk about certain things you've seen.
And the question is about Jalen Hyatt that moved back
to the spring. There was I mean, and I know
everyone was playing at every different position and whatnot, so

(25:22):
everyone was getting slot chances and outside chances in the
wide receiver group. But I felt like, based on what
he did in college and everything, that Jalen Hyatt might
have the best chance at redeeming his career at this
point if he got more shots in the slot. And
in preseason, I don't remember seeing him in the slot,

(25:43):
at least I don't remember seeing any completions of It's
not that that meant he start with, but I feel
like when he's on the boundary, it's almost like there's
two defenders. There's a defender and the sideline. And I
think that his So I was wondering, if you guys
have seen in what you can talk about him playing
in the slot more. And then I'm gonna go on,

(26:03):
I got a bold prediction and maybe not so old prediction.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, why don't you go I'm gonna try to find
how much he played the slot in the preseason.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Here, Yeah, during the course of the entire offseason program,
he did not do much work in the slot.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
He did in the spring not a ton, And they're
more than he ever had been before. That's true.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
I agree with that, more than he had been, but
still not a ton and I and I think that's
because they look at him as.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
Soby thirty six snaps wide in the preseason, five snaps
in the slot.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
And I think that's because they look at his speed
as a tremendous asset on the outside. I mean, Russell
Wilson can't talk enough about throwing him a deep ball.
So you can run deep, you know, I think you
can but I get the impression that they feel that
they'd be better off utilizing him out there. Now. That
may not be the best thing for the player, but

(26:57):
I think they think it's best for their scheme.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
Okay, so all right, So first I'm gonna I'll say
the bold prediction for the last So first on this game,
I think it's going to be decided by three points
so less now with my gut feeling, and this isn't
a bold prediction necessarily, but I think we're going to
start the season two and oh, and I'm hoping that
we get to make the Cowboys b O and two.

(27:22):
So I'm actually going to root for the hated Eagles
tonight because I hate the Cowboys that much more.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
See Tim, I disagree to Tim. I think you root
hard for Dallas tonight and they'll be so up. The
one thing Dallas has never done great over the years
is handle success. Well, am I wrong? So I would
much rather have them coming off some really good victory
and Jerry Jones hold some big press conference about it.
I told you we didn't need my compass. And then

(27:49):
you know they end up coming out next week and
they're home for their home opening, So I would root
for Dallas if you know, if we're thinking about the
Giants fade in week two. But I get where you're
coming from, Tim, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
And then and my bold prediction is this is on sacks.
I feel like at the end of the season, all
prediction the team we will have ten or more, not
more than said ten or more sacks. Then we give up.
And the goal that I'm going for this is not
a prediction but just a goal, is to get fifty
six in honor of Lawrence Taylor. Oh and I'll be

(28:22):
wearing my fifty three number fifty three Harry Carson, White,
Mitchell and Ness Road Jersey Super Bowl twenty one with
despite of Lockhart at catch on it. It's when I
go see the game on Sunday, So goe Giants twenty three,
twenty or better.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Cool, awesome, Appreciate it and know it's funny when he
said fifty three, was that there the bull bulb prediction
I can get fifty six sacks for the Giants this year,
I believe was his bull. I thought he said he
was head of his number fifty three Jersey. I thought
he met Reggie torber No.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
I think the one thing of Dari one was. Yeah,
the one item when your bold prediction string, which I
don't think is very bold, is the Giants having more
than ten sacks than they give up. I actually think
despite the fact that Russell Wilson does like to take
sacks because he holds the ball, I think he's gonna

(29:16):
wind up somewhere in the mid to high thirties.

Speaker 1 (29:19):
If that's the case, the Giants are gonna have a
lot of success this year.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
And I think the Giants are gonna have over fifty
on defense. So I think that one, actually for me,
is not very bold. Okay, well, you know Dables really
tried to get Wilson into this get the.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Ball out then, But then again, it's also probably been
about eight years since the Giants have been plus anything
in that cap.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
I know that I'm well aware of that. But Tim,
that's that's where I'm gonna go with that particular item
of your of your prediction string.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
I guess that was the other one you get right
down in Pierson plus ten sacks versus sacks allowed. I
guess was the other one.

Speaker 9 (29:56):
Me.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Let's put it this way, if you're a decent team,
that should not be that hard to achieve and if
we think the Giants could be, you know, as competitive
as we believe that that should be very realistic, you'd.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
Be surprised because the the spread of sacks, the difference
between finishing second in sacks and finishing like twentieth in sacks,
it's only like fourteen sacks. It's not that big of
a difference. It's only like one a game. So I
don't have that plus or minus in front of me.
I have to find, you know, something that shows me
both at the same time. But my bet is that
there weren't many teams last year that were plus ten.

(30:30):
But I have to look at it. I'm not sure. Okay,
two one nine, three, nine four or five one three,
just because it's it's all seems to be clustered between
forty and fifty years, thirty seven and forty two whatever. Anyway,
I see we've had way too much optimism. This is
why Pearson's a good screen caller. Let's go to Charlie
and Portland, Maine. Oh no, here we go.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
You could turn a seventy five degree sunny day into
a horrible range show.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
I actually take it back. Can we get Johnny back
from the Sunneymoon plays? I want him back in that chair, please.

Speaker 5 (31:03):
Hey, look, Pierson's the best and I'm glad he's back
and he needs a race.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
But other than that, oh boy, Hey, you're right, Charlie.
Now Troy's getting on four times a week. This is
gonna be a big problem. As many calls as you want.

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Hey, look, you know you know who's going to have
the first sack.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
I'm waiting for your funny answer.

Speaker 5 (31:30):
Yeah, Rusty Wilson's going to have the first sack. He's
gonna get sacked before a defense even gets one. Just
mark that down.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
I mean, look, if it's possible, Jayden Daniels is very
hard to sack because he so mobile. Now his pressure
to sack ratio is actually a little higher than you
think it would be. But we're supposed to take sacks, Trolie.
I don't think that's a crazy prediction exactly.

Speaker 5 (31:52):
So don't expect that he's not going to take sacks,
because that's what he does, right, and.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
He's only you could come up with some kind of
negative prediction right out of the box after this team where.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Time out of time out of time out. In fairness
to Charlie, all right, Paul is right that I have
been getting the ball out quick in the summer. But
saying that he thinks Russell Wilson is gonna take some sacks,
that's not exactly being negative. That's looking at history, Paul.
Let's be fair.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
No, No, I understand.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
So that's not that negative. I mean he's about to
get a lot more negative than that.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
It's Oh, I won't be surprised if he does, Paul,
you were talking about this.

Speaker 5 (32:31):
Right, Yes, he had a chip on his shoulder and
he's gonna do this. You know why he's gonna do
if he does this, because he's you know, he's fighting
for a contract. That's what he's going to be. Good.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Well, he's here next year. They've already picked up the option,
so he is here in twenty six. So it's not
a free agent year. So let's make that very clear.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
He's playing for money, Paul, whether he's here or not.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
No, he's going to be here next year. He has
a guaranteed one year twenty six contract. It's the option
that was picked up.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, but a lot of times you see into that
fifth year option you can get a contract extension.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Well you can't, you can, that's possible.

Speaker 10 (33:09):
That's what he's.

Speaker 5 (33:10):
Playing for, Paul. You know when you know when players
have their contract.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
I don't get two horses, butts what he's playing it for.
If he goes out there and plays like a monster
and kicks people's rear ends, that's a good thing, Charlie.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
Correct, But only you.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Could find a way to make that bad. Seriously, come on,
I just putting it in reality, Paul.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Okay, great, you'll do that, all right.

Speaker 5 (33:32):
But let me just tell you this about the Washington game.
We're gonna find out. I mean, like I said, I
show me, they can show me they're a different team. Great,
but I want to see if we can stop the run,
which I don't know if we can yet or not.
And I get to see if we can actually run
the ball. And this offensive line is good enough without Thomas.

(33:56):
And I told everybody six months ago Thomas wasn't going
to play because he had a serious surgery on his foot,
so he ain't planned for a couple of weeks probably,
so we got hups in right. This is the guy
that Shane brought in to take Thomas's place, and Casey
was injured. So this is even going to be a
huge mistake by Shane. Bringing this guy in, and I don't.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Think he's gonna hold up or it'll turn on to
be a really good move, Charlie. Like you said, you
gotta wait and see, right, maybe it'll go the other way.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
Yeah, yeah, he might surprise me, but I don't know.
So Look, our officeive line is not great and not
that you know. Washington has the greatest path rushes in
the world. But they'll scheme things, they'll blitz, they'll do stuff,
and uh, all I know is I would be attacking
jam this and I would be attacking Hudson if I'm Washington,

(34:49):
go after those two guys and make Russ have to
move and get out of the pocket. And that would
be my game plan. If we can run the ball,
then that will change. That will help because as we
all know, Russ is great with play actions. But if
we can't run the ball and rough pass to throw
thirty thirty five times a game, it ain't gonna be printed.

(35:12):
That's all. That's all I'll say about that.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Thank you, Charles.

Speaker 5 (35:15):
We'll find out. Okay, guys, I.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Thought you were done. I thought you were done, Charlie almost.

Speaker 5 (35:20):
I want to give my score.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
Okay, give your score.

Speaker 5 (35:25):
Thirty one Washington seventeen Giants.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Okay, we'll put it down for you and appreciate the call.
In terms of the running the football, both these teams
run defenses were not very good last year. They both struggled.
Both teams I think made it a point to try
to fix those issues this offseason. I think the Giants
are set up a little bit better to run the
ball than Washington is in terms of their running back

(35:49):
town and their offensive line. But Washington with Cliff Kingsbury,
does a great job of spreading out and figure out
away with motion and stuff to free up the running backs.
It's going to be a committee situation. Chris Rodrigoz will
be their battering ram, Bill Krossky Merritt is kind of
their rookie that they're gonna they're gonna work in the lineup.
And then you have Austin Eckler, who I think will

(36:10):
probably start out as their quote unquote number one back
and get the most touches in at least in this
game against the Giants.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Mostly passing game stuff. We'll see Paul I don't know,
you think you think they'll they'll rely on him more
as a run of the show.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
And Weinstein teams indicate that to me when I talk Wow,
So okay, I will put it this way.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Okay, fine, he's not going to break any long.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
Ones if the Giants struggle stopping He returned to kick
off for a touchdown against the Giants last year, so
let's kick returns. I understand. But the shows he has speed.
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
We'll see.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
If the Giants struggle to stop the run against Washington
this week, that would be a concern for me. This
is not a they don't they don't run under center.
Everything's out of shotgun and limits what you can do.
I would hope the Giants can stop the run against
Washington this year. Given the focus in the offseason and
the additions they made on defense, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
Yeah, I think the rush defense needs a few few
games to kind of get themselves together. I like the
fact that they're playing two running backs by committees in
Washington and Dallas. John I've been very firm on this.
I don't think you can really grade the Giants rush
defense until they play the Chargers in Week four. Because
Dexter Lawrence hasn't played during the preseason. He needs to

(37:22):
get himself together you need, you.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
Need the st heyes that he's ready to go.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
I know, he says he's ready to go, but come on,
is he gonna be one hundred percent? I don't. He
hasn't taken a lot of hits, you know, he really hasn't.
He needs to get he needs to get bruised up.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
I'm just I'm just warning you. I'm not like if
we have three bad rush defense performances the first two weeks,
which I don't think we'll have the record, I don't
want to see that either, I know, but I'm just
not going to write it offense. Eh, they're still getting ready.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
I've seen too much football to make too many concrete
statements this early in the season.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
Oh, I'm not saying I'm going to make a concrete statement,
but I'm not going to make an excuse for it either.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
No, I'm not saying that I want them to play.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Well because you have to start fastier. I won't wait.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
Absolutely, I would like to see that.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
I don't think, and I don't think the coaches are
going to be sitting there like, ah, I we'll figure
it out. I We'll get it together. Just a couple of.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Longings, sure or not? But you know, Dexter Lawrence is
a big part of whatever they're going to do. Regardless
of the improvements they've made on defense, whether it's Robertson Harris,
or whether it's Carter or or whether it's Goldsten, whoever
else is in that front seven, who's been added, who's
going to have to try to do a better job
against the run and not just get to the quarterback.
They're still going to need some time to mesh. You know,

(38:33):
they're gonna be kigs to work out. So I'm not
going to grade. I'm not going to grade them harshly
until a few games in. Would I rather see them
be effective early, Yes, absolutely I would, But I'm not
gonna mark down a grade and pan on them after
the first couple of weeks of the season.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
Well not for the season, but you do have to
talk about how they play an individual game.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
You know, in two thousand and seven, the defense played
like a literal league defense the first two weeks, I know.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
And they went on too and then they barely made
the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Yeah, but what happened in week three? The defense totally
turned it around, and you know, they they played better,
but the losses still matter. If they play I understand that.
I'm just not I'm not gonna be as dramatic, That's
what This is one of those times where I will
not make an emotional impult, which doesn't happen often, but
this is one of those times, and again I will not.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
It doesn't mean they're going to be bad the whole year,
That's not what it means. But I'd rather speak and
I think it to be concerned.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
I'd rather see them stop everybody from the beginning.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Again, especially since the first three teams are playing are
not good rushing teams.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
They are passing teams. But I don't think they'll be
tested by those three teams. I think these first three
teams would much rather beat you through the year.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
That's my point, though, Paul. Since these teams want to
throw it, they don't have good running games. If you
still get torn up by these that should be a
huge concern.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
I don't think they'll get torn up. But if they don't,
do we.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
Walk out of Washington in Dallas and they gave up
one hundred and forty five rushing yards in those.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Times, I won't be happy. I don't think the coaches
would either. No, I'm.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
Fair enough, Let's let's go to Barry in Brooklyn. Barry,
what's going on?

Speaker 3 (40:14):
Hey boy, hey John?

Speaker 9 (40:15):
I got a question, Yes, Sirs, if Russell Wilson played
lights out football, did you bring him back next year?

Speaker 1 (40:23):
I mean, I think it depends what lights out football
looks like and what the Giants record is, how many
points they score. I mean, I would never rule anything
out before week one of an NFL season. We've all
seen crazy things happen before. I'm sure Russ and Russ
that's his goal, right, His goal is to play so
well here that he forces the Giants hand. I mean,
you just drafted Jackson Dart in the first round. What

(40:45):
I consider resigning Russell Wilson less likely? Unlikely? Sure, but
again it's an NFL season. If he plays really well,
who knows.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
I would say the one element here that does lean
towards highly unlikely is if Russell Wilson totally balls out
to the point where you expect him to.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Or then he didn't want to get paid, right Bingo,
that's a good point.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
How in the world are you going to fit him
under the showery cap if he has a Pro Bowl
kind of season.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
I don't know what the demand is going to be
for an older quarterback, though at that price.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
Point, he's gonna want more than he's making. Now, that's
probably true, yes, And I don't know that the Giant's
going to be too anxious to open their wallets.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
So Barry By suggestion would be is that if this
situation comes to pass like you describe, things are really good.
Just enjoy the ride. Don't worry about what's gonna happen
in February. In March.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
I think that's the best advice of the day.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Okay, Hi, Barry, appreciate the call man.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
You got it.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
I'm saving the best bar in the world, Brooklyn, New York.
All right, Kevin and Arizona, you can screw one more, Pierce,
And I'm going to go through the playof predictions pretty quick.
A right, Kevin, what's going on?

Speaker 5 (41:49):
Hey?

Speaker 9 (41:49):
Not much guys, Hey, great show.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
Hey.

Speaker 9 (41:52):
I wanted to make a positive prediction. I believe that
the Giants, if they can rush the ball with at
least one hundred and fifty yards or more, and if
Skataboo could have one hundred yards receiving out of the backfield,
I believe the Giants. That's my prediction. The Giants will
win the game in a close game. And also I

(42:14):
wanted to also state that if Alexander on defense can
cheat his feet up a little closer to the line
of scrimmage with his hands and explode to get his
butt up in the air and explode into the offensive lineman,
I would love to see that. Put that big body
in the backfield of Washington. Anyway, that's my prediction. If
they get one hundred and fifty yards rushing and if

(42:35):
Skataboo could get one hundred yards receiving out of the backfield,
I think the Giants win the game. That's my prediction
in a close one.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Hey, Kevin, can I make a Giants running backs combined?
Thank appreciate the call, Kevin, good stuff. Can we make
that Giants running backs combine for one hundred receiving yards.
I don't think Scatboo's going to get enough snaps to
get that high.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
I'm not sure Scattable will ever have a game this
whole season where he has one hundred yards receiving. That's
asking a.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
Lot, is asking a lot a lot of that to
have a lot of injuries at that position for some Yeah,
you'd have to break a long one.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Because for that to happen, let's let's not forget. And
I don't mean to be disrespectful to Scataboo because certainly
as a rookie, the Giants are expecting him to give
them something. But Devin Singletary is still in this team,
John and and we know the coaching staff really really
likes him a lot. YEP. So I don't think they're
just all of a sudden going to say, Okay, whenever
Tracey's not on the field, Scataboo's getting all of those

(43:27):
other carries. I don't think that's gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
I agree. I think Singletary is going to get five
to seven carries.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Sure, they're not going to cut him out of the
deal entirely. I mean, he's he's been a proven back
over the years.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
So Statambou in his college career, all three of these
games came in twenty twenty fours at three games where
he's had over one hundred yards receiving six for one
to seventeen against Texas Tech in Week four of last year,
four for one twenty one against Oklahoma State that was
on November two last year. They didn't list the how

(44:00):
long the long one is there, but I imagine four
for one twenty one, there's got to be like a
seven screen in there or something like that. And then
in the national title game he was just short. He
was eight for ninety nine. That's the national semifinal game, right,
I'm sorry, eight for ninety nine in that game against
Texas SO.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
And how many games in his career did he play
in college college? Because you're saying it's three out of.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
How many twenty five games?

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Three out of twenty five? Yeah, I mean that's long odds,
to be frank with you, but hey, you know what
if he can do it and the Giants could run
for a buck fifty, yeah, I'd say there were odds
a pretty good winning the game.

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Let's go to Alex and Syracuse. Alex, what's up? Hello, Alex?
Going once? Alex and Syracuse going twice? Are you there, Alex?
If you're muted, hit on mute, Come on, yeah, I
got you what he got?

Speaker 10 (44:51):
Sorry I thought I hit the mute, but I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
No, No, today we're good.

Speaker 10 (44:55):
I got a quick thing for a few bull predictions.
I want to start. I got a quick out on Russ.
I feel like people are really disrespecting Russ nationally for
a long time. Now, I'm excited about Jackson Dart like everybody.
I think he's the future.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
But I think Russ is.

Speaker 10 (45:11):
The guy for right now for sure. But I think
people forget how consistently good Russell Wilson's been. But that's
beside the point. I know you guys know that. Here's
here's my one note that I want to make because
I hear fans saying this.

Speaker 4 (45:24):
A lot lately.

Speaker 10 (45:25):
I hear the media and this a lot lately. What
I think is really kind of dumb that people keep
saying is people think that Davill's gonna play Dart earlier
than everyone thinks, because that's how he's gonna save his job. Now,
first of all, I think Davill's planning to win. I
think he's made that very clear, and I think he
thinks and I also think that Russ gives them the
best chance to win for a good majority of this season.

(45:47):
But even if that wasn't the case, even if he
was thinking about his career, I just think the idea. Sure, yes,
if Jackson Dart comes in and looks really good, you
can make the argument that that helps him keep his job.
But I also think the flip side that the we're
talking about is if Jackson Dart gets put in early
and looks maybe decent, but like a rookie quarterback often
will look, I feel like that's the quickest way for

(46:08):
him to lose his job. So if I'm Brian Dable
and I'm trying to keep my job, I'm not playing
Jackson Dart. So probably a were eliminated from the playoffs statistically,
and probably not till after that bye week at the earliest. Anyway,
I just wanted to say, I just don't think it
makes a lot of sense. He buy that logic alone.
I just don't think it makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
I'm Alex real quick. I will just say this, the
idea of job future and security will not play into
the decision of one to play Jackson Dart. So on that,
of course, we are a hundred percent in agreement on that.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
I think John and I have said many many times
the number one factor that will determine when Jackson Dart
has an opportunity to get into a game is how
Brian Dable, Mike Kafka, and his coaching staff feel about his.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Progress and look Rand Carthon said this when I did
that's a puddle with him two weeks ago. Is look,
if any we don't know if he is, but if
he gets the opportunity to run the scout team and
he's lightening up and killing people out there, then the
players start believing in the player too, right, So those
are all things. And then how is the offense doing?

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Right?

Speaker 1 (47:11):
If the offense is doing well, they're not gonna yank
Russell Wilson. So those are the two things that are
really then impact what kind of decision they make.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
Conversely, even if the offense is spluttering some, but if
Dart isn't progressing and looking good at they're also.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Not going to play him. Yeah, so hey, you need
both of those boxes out to get so, I.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Mean, in all honesty, I don't get this this rush
to necessarily get this guy into the line. I mean,
people are just so impatient.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
I get the rush. I don't agree with it, but
there you go. I understand the psychology out there the least,
All right, Thomas.

Speaker 10 (47:45):
Yeah, all right, I got three predictions for you. Yes,
So here are my three bull predictions. One of who's
actually more of a conspiracy theory. I'll end on that
Tyrone Tracy, uh fifteen hundred plus all purpose yards not
just rushing, rushing, receiving fifty number. This one's a little
bit of a cop up. Maybe I'm not going to

(48:05):
give you like record for us. But here's what I
here's my bull prediction. I believe that in the final
week of the season, the Giants will be playing meaningful,
potentially playoff entering football, whether they can determine their own
destiny or not, you know, but but I think that
final week, that final game, you will be playing footballer
if we win, we had very.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Mean, mathematically aligned Okay, I like I like it mathematically
alive in the final week. I'm with you on that.

Speaker 10 (48:30):
Thank you. And my third full prediction, and again this
is maybe more of a weird conspiracy theory, but to
be honest, ever since that blocked Dallas field goal where
Andrew Thomas hurt himself two years ago, I felt like
that play cursed us as a team. And so my prediction,
wherever you want to call it, is, I don't believe

(48:50):
Andrew is probably gonna play this week. I realized this
might even be ambitious, but I would love here's my hope.
I think we see Andrew comeback, hopefully fully healthy next
week play his first game against Dallas, and we beat
up on Dallas, and that, in my mind overrides the
curse that started with that play from Andrew Thomas two
years ago with the black field though, So that's again

(49:12):
maybe more of a conspiracy theory than a plump prediction,
but that is that is what I believe to be true.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
Thank you, Alex, appreciate the call.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Thanks. We're now venturing into the land of curses.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
My question we have about all the bad stuff that
happened before that field go come up? That was the
black cattle. I mean, you know, yeah, let meet the
black cattle.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
For the better part of a decade, it's uh, it's
been a lot more than a curse.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
Yeah, same you did of those four years before. It's
twenty twenty two. That did not exactly go well.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
No, no, no one. Thing I will say to you
though about you know, Wellington Marrow always said that the
goal of every season was that your fans can come
to the last home game on their ticket plan and
have a reason to vote for your team because or
pull for your team because you wanted them to still
be alive In the playoff race. So your mathematical scenario

(50:07):
for the final game against Dallas falls in line with
what he always wanted as a team owner, to keep
everybody engaged and to show people that we still have
a chance. We're in the mix.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
I get it, all right. We got a bunch of
YouTube comments, peers, and I'm gonna fly through these before
we do our playoff things.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
Right.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
We got James McKnight. Abdul Carter plays the most snaps
from what position on Sunday. It's a good question, James.
I'm gonna say, stand up pass rusher, so standing up somewhere,
not on the edge, hovering behind the defensive.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Line, insidelinebacker.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Yeah, but he's not playing that early. I know, I know.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
But yes, whether he's a rover, whether he's a rover
or standing up next to Karaka, he's gonna be inside
the inside the tackles probably more often than not.

Speaker 1 (50:52):
I think you think he might be at edge a
little bit more though. It's a good question. I think
if you combine his defensive tackle and stand up inside snaps,
it'll be more than edge together. But as an individual position,
edge might be most stark calling. That is an excellent
question it is. I'm sorry I was James mknight with
that question, this one from sarcone. If the O line

(51:13):
survives the first game with that Andrew Thomas, we should
have a good year. I think it would be certainly
a very good sign. But as Paul pointed out, we
talked about the Commander's rush game maybe not being the
best judge of the Commanders don't have a great pass rush.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
Let's not make a knee jerk reaction decision.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Then again, you might. You known't Michael Parsons next week either,
So we got to see what the Cowboys past us
looks like again one of the best offensive lines in
football tonight and the Eagles, And that's think about Dallas
that we really don't know what they're gonna look like
in week two. No, they got new coaches, new coordinators,
no more Michael Parsons. Like Giant fans, watch the game
tonight very closely, you'll give you a good idea of
what Week two is going.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
They do have offensive talent, though, No.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
They they are going to score points they got I'm
not sure what that's gonna look like. I'm with you,
Scott Young. Do you know who will be returning kicks, Paul.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
Uh, that's pretty much been faded complay. It's gonna be Olshevski. Now,
who's going to be with him?

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Now? Did say he would do kickoffs today? Pretty I
don't know if he actually I don't know if he flat
out said it, but he said he feels the new
kickoff role lends to his running style.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
A little bit more. Yeah, and then also added that
it's best to have a second guy back there who
you have confidence in returning the kicks, because he thinks
they'll be more playable kickof.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
He didn't give a name on that.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
He did not give a name that. I don't think so,
but Olshewsky I'm sure will be one of them.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
Who's on the vidy You look who was on the
unofficial that chart for the kicker.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
I'll take a look while you go through.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Take a look quick, yep, Damien Lawaka Onlawaka Lawasha, Lawaka okay,
I like Lawaka. If you were to guess, what would
the snap share percentage be between Tracy Scataboo and Singletary
this season, assuming all are healthy? I mean I think
to start the year, you're looking at like seventy twenty
ten maybe seventy fifteen to fifteen, with Tracy at the seventy.

(52:56):
I think by the end of the year, as Skatabou
gets more integrated. I don't know, Paul, what do you think,
like sixty thirty ten, sixty fifteen.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
That's reasonable, something like that's reasonable. However, the two factors
to keep in mind here will be number one, if
Tracy continues to have some fumbleitis which could linger from
last year, and that would be a problem. And then
the other thing is, of course Scataboo needs the show.
Is he can be healthy too, and he's also going
to need to be effective. Who earn more snaps?

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (53:29):
And look, I think the big part too is how
effective is Tracy going to be?

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Right?

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Like, if Tracy is as good as I think he's
going to be, I think it's going to be hard
to take him off the field a ton, because I
think he's going to be very effective.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
For the unofficial PR based step chart, I.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Thought, I remember being Devin Singletary. I didn't want to
say it until you checked it. And then who's after that?

Speaker 2 (53:47):
Wan Dale, Robinson and Tyrone and Tracy are also listed there.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
You go by the way, it looks like former Giant
Dorry Jackson might be one of the starting corners of
the Eagles to night by the way, Wow.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
You might.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
I think he's starnning across from Quinde on Mitchell.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
So he goes last off season with an expired contract,
sitting around waiting for a call. The Giants basically call
him back late. Yeah, because they needed someone else at
the position. And now he's going to start opening day
for the World Champs. Man, oh man, what a story.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
I don't know if they've made an announcement. There was
some question as to who that second corner is going
to be, and last I had heard, I thought it
was going to be a Doorg Jackson. Anyway, And one
more from Damian Lawaca and what positions you think the
Giants are better than the Commanders. Giants have a better
pass rush. I think they have a better secondary, better
running back, better at running back. I think their offensive

(54:40):
lines are comparable, especially if Andrew Thomas isn't out there. Again,
I think Washington is talented. I just don't know what
that group's going to look like together. This is a
lot of new guys' fair I mean, wide receivers I
think are probably about equal Neighbors is better than mclauren,
but I think Debo's probably a little step above over
the fights two is.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Tight end, which is more proven, But I think Theo
has much more upside.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
Yeah, but I wouldn't give that in week one, give
that advantage. He can't necessarily, you Urch has done too
much in this league. I mean, I think you're looking
at the trenches. I think that in the secondary, I
know some and you know they really like Trey Almos,
the rookie corner that's gonna be starting outside, and Marshaw
and Lottimore is healthy, the second round pick right, Marsha
Latimore is healthy and Sansri still is really good nickel back.
He's in his second year. Him and Drew Phillips are

(55:24):
both gonna be really good nickels in this division for
a long time.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
I think both teams have really promising corners right now.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
I really want to see how they match up with Neighbors,
because if they play a lot of man, which I
suspect they will, is that gonna be Latimore or is
it gonna be Amos with help? And look, Lattimore, he
was bad in the playoff last year, the point where
he got yanked off the field. Now he was banged up.
He was, So if the Commanders, and my feeling is
that they're gonna be a lot more aggressive on defense

(55:51):
this year, a lot more blitzing, a lot more man
This could be you know, you want to see Russell
Wilson throw the ball down the field, Well, yeah, this
could be a boys and girls.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
They want to see that. They traded for Slayton, and
if Vlatimore does not live up to that, they're gonna
really get burned.

Speaker 1 (56:06):
They trade a thing for him, a big.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
That's why they need him to play to that level.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Well, I think those perimeter matchups and potentially getting those
big plays over the top could be huge. All right,
So Paul and I both picked out our playoff teams
on our Super Bowl matchup. I was thinking about doing
like award winners. There's so many politics though, and like
guessing injuries and stuff. I felt like that that wasn't
as much fun. So maybe if you want to do
that with side tack tomorrow and pick award winners at
the end of the show, you can do that. It's
up to you. Talk to him about it today if

(56:32):
you want to do it right, Okay, playoff predictions NFC Paul, Eagles,
NFC East. Yeah, all right, that would break the record,
by the way and infamous, twenty one straight years without
a repeat winner. I have the Packers winning the NFC North,
how about you.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
I got Detroit and green Bay in that order, making
the playoffs out of that division.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
Okay, I have the opposite. I have green Bay Detroit
Lions as the no. I actually, I worry about the
Lions losing their two coordinators and I think they could
take a little step back there. Maybe I could see
it the West the South. I went back and forth
a bunch. I decided just because when I did my
first picks Paul, I found like it was the exact
same playoff teams as last year. And in the NFL,

(57:11):
you know what never happens year to year. I know,
never have the same playoffs. So I had to find
different things here. So I decided to try to go
different here and I went Falcons.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
I wanted to go Atlanta, and then I decided to
eat Crow. And I'm finally tipping my cap to Baker Mayfield.
He did what he did, and.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
He turned it around.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
He had a heck of a year. I'm gonna go Tampa.

Speaker 4 (57:30):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
He he had a great year.

Speaker 5 (57:32):
Good.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
I'm not sure how the Atlanta quarterback thing he's all
gonna turn out either. I'll be honest with you, I'm not.
I was never a huge Pennis fan.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Apparently he has gotten rave reviews in the summer and spring,
but again the summer and spring, and then you know
the thing about he has really good weapons like Drake London,
Darnold Moody, Kyle Pitts, b John Robinson, a good offensive line,
like it is set up perfectly for him to play
the way it was to play. I have the Niners
coming out up top in the West me too, which
is actually a different team, which helps one new team
in there. You mentioned you the Packers. He's your first wildout.

(58:01):
I have the Lions as mine. I have the Rams
as my second wildcard. I have the Rams and then
the third wildcard. As you can see, I've crossed out
like three different times. I was trying to find a
different team again. I thought about putting the Bucks here,
but again nothing against the Bucks. Actually think they're gonna
be a good team this year. I decided to go Seahawks,
just to be a little bit different.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
And I had Atlanta as my last wildcard team.

Speaker 1 (58:20):
I thought that, you know, Cardinals are another hot team
that some people like there. And I did not put
the Commanders in, which is one of the big changes
from last year.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
I got one team in the East because that's it.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Yeah, all right, let's go to the AFC Paul Bill's
AFC East Easy Ravens and AFC North Easy and AFC South.
I wanted to pick a different division winner here. I
just couldn't convince myself that anyone was better than the Texans,
so I went with the Texans.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
I decided to go Jacksonville.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Really, that'll be a big jump for them. That to
me was my long shot pick only three wins last year.
It's my long shot. I get it. That would be
the team I would put ahead of them if I
was to pick a team just because of the talent
on both sides. Chiefs AFC West YEP. Wildcard one. I
have the Bengals, so do I Wildcard two? And I
went back and forth year between the two AFC West teams.

(59:08):
I went Chargers and then the third wild card team. No,
I didn't go Denver. You didn't go Denver makes the
playoffs every year with almost the last wildcard spot.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
Yeah, the Pittsburgh Steelers. I know, I went Denver.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
Could be the Aaron Rodgers curse takes him down. But
you know, I actually think Rogers is gonna have a
good year this year.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
I'm so anti Aaron Rodgers and so pro bis.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
You couldn't do it.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
I couldn't do it.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
I had to go, and my I don't. I don't
know if to give the champions Did you like Championship
I had?

Speaker 2 (59:40):
I just simply went right to the Super and I
had Buffalo over Detroit.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
I have Packers over Bills because it's really not good.
I have friends that I grew up with that were
big Bill fans, like my oldest friends in Brooklyn. So
I would love to see the Bills win. I've seen too.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
Much, I think, even though I'm a big Dan Campbell
fan from when he played with the Giants and I
know him well, I just think that you know, you
mentioned the coordinators. I think the Buffalo coaching staff I
have such high respect for. In a Super Bowl nine,
one game takes all, I'm gonna say, I gotta go
Pittsburgh over Detroit.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
And it's probably gonna be the Chiefs again, because that's
just the way the world works. I wanted to be
a little bit different. Okay, but yeah, look, if it
was Bill's Lions, man talk about two tortured fan bases
and one of them has to win.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
It almost was this past year.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
That would be pretty cool happened if it was Bill's line.
I mean didn't get that close. The Lions didn't make
the NFC title Game, no, no, but.

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
The season was progressing. A lot of people thought that
could happen.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
I know, Look, I think the Bills are just they've
been so close so many times against the Chiefs. Eventually
they're gonna break through, right.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
I'd like to see it happen for no other reason
because that fan base does so they do.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
They're a great fan They're a great fans. And by
the way, and I'll say that another raven fan base
have seen them win. But Lamar Jackson's awesome, and that
team has been really good for a long time, and
they have not broken three yet, so I could wouldn't
shock me if the Ravens broke the rive. They got two,
that's right, the Flacco one. I don't know about the
don't I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Need to see Baltimore get another one. I'd rather see Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
Agree with that, I agree? But Lamar has an has
Lamar even gone to an NFC title game. I don't
think he has, right, I don't think I don't think so. Yes,
we'll see. But yeah, and though if the nfcy's wide open,
I could see it the Packers, I could see the Lions.
I can see the Rams, I could see the forty
nine Ers, I can see the Eagles. Any of those
teams would not surprise me. While in the AFC, I
think it's going to be one of those three Ravens
Bill's Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
Yeah, I think that's very fair.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
All right, Giants on the podcast, folks, go check it out.
Pearson Butler has done a fantastic job getting all these
episodes up this week. Kevin Burkhart went up yesterday. He's
calling the game Giants and Commanders one o'clock on Fox.
Really fun conversation that went up yesterday Today is going
to be remind me Pearson look out for Hangouts. Giants
Hangout rebranded, reproduce. Here's some Butler's baby for a while.

(01:02:02):
Oh yeah, it's more of a lighter fun thing and
you have a chance to laugh at the hosts over
the course of that program, which is always entertaining. It
should be fun. Go check that out. Giants Hang it
Out Today, Tomorrow I should have a one on one
with Brian Burns hitting along with some other game preview stuff.
And then on Saturday, a special Saturday episode which you
did not plan on, a kind of fell in our lap.

(01:02:24):
Old buddy of mine, Chris mad Dog Russo will be
joining me to preview the Giants and the NFL season
That'll be going up on Saturday morning on the Giants
Total podcast. You can find it on the Giants Podcast Network,
a podcast feed on any of your favorite podcast platforms,
Giants dot com, the Giants app, or giants dot Com
Slash podcast John's YouTube channel as well. Make sure you
go check those out. Giants tickets home openers in a

(01:02:48):
couple weeks, giants dot Com Slash Tickets, and for all
of our content, go download Giants TV on your favorite
smart TV or other device that is all our content
on it. Make sure you go check that out. For Paulatino,
I'm John Schmelk. That's all we time we have for
Big Blue Kickoff Lie presented by Cadillac The official luxury
vehicle to giants right here in the Hackensack Murdin Health
podcast Studio. Keep getting better. Thank you to Peterson Butler.

(01:03:10):
And it'll be Latino and sidetak tomorrow with your definitive
preview of giants and commanders. We'll see that