Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/12 I Giants vs. Commanders Review

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0:27 Hello again everybody and welcome to monday's edition of big blue kickoff live presented by cadillac the official luxury vehicle of the new york football giants i'm paul detino with matt sitek we'll be here for the next hour coming to you from the giants podcast studio presented by hackensack meridian health keep getting better our phone number is 201-939-4513 although i have absolutely no idea what you might want to talk about i mean let's you know it's It's just a Monday morning, sun shining, rain is gone.

0:57 I don't know. Maybe you want to pick up the phone. Maybe you don't. I don't know.

1:01 And, of course, you could always get this show simulcast on the New York Giants page of YouTube as well as the Giants mobile app. And you could always get an archive of this show if you're not watching or listening live on podcast platforms everywhere as well as those same vehicles.

1:21 Let's see.

1:21 What's the best way to start this? I tell you what, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to wave this official NFL game book stat book. This is the official record of the game. Matt, I've been doing this for 44 years.

1:34 Okay.

1:36 I have never seen a fourth quarter and an overtime like what I saw yesterday. And may you be doing this for 44 years. You may never see one like it again either. It was one of the most oddball, dramatic, emotional, seesaw, flubbed opportunity kind of games that you will ever see. Both teams obviously licking their wounds after numerous chances to do different things that they wish they had done right.

2:03 They could have done right and didn't do right.

2:07 And yet it ends in a 27 to 27 tie.

2:12 And before I get your complete take on this, I'm going to get this one point out of the way because Matt and I just talked about it and.

2:18 We are in complete agreement.

2:20 One week ago today, the Giants had a one game lead in the division. As of today, they have a game and a half lead over everybody.

2:31 Dallas lost. Philadelphia lost.

2:34 Washington tied a game at home in the division, which is never.

2:39 A good thing.

2:40 And the Giants, with only one loss so far this season, are one of only three teams in the NFC that have one or fewer losses. So yes, the Giants actually did move forward and gain something with yesterday's tie.

2:57 Matt, the floor is yours. Yeah, I mean, as we talked about right before coming on air, and you just mentioned that, I think is the biggest takeaway. Like, obviously... Obviously, everyone would have wanted to win the game. Like, we're not going to sit up here and say, you know what, it's good that the Giants didn't win. Because obviously, a win would have been better. But a tie is better than a loss. Like, as you mentioned, the Giants went into Week 5 with a game lead. And that lead grew after this. Now, it helped that some of the other teams in the division. It doesn't matter. Outside of the Giants game, the Giants. Cowboys, I don't know what happened to them on Thursday Night Football, but they lost

3:36 to a previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers team playing a undrafted rookie quarterback. And then in the Eagles game, I don't even– that one is even more inexplicable, that ending. So I had the Eagles game because obviously our game started right as that game was finishing. I had the Eagles game up on another screen. when they made that field goal, I turned it off. I'm like, oh, they won.

4:06 I can't believe they came back and won. And then all of a sudden it wasn't until a few minutes later when, as obviously our game had started by that point, one of my coworkers slacked me saying, oh my God, Cam Little. I'm like, what do you mean? And then I obviously turned it on and then I saw what had happened. But so at the end of the day, the Giants are in a better position in the division race now than they were 24 hours ago. And I think that is the most important thing. Obviously, it wasn't a perfect performance by any means. There are things to improve on on both sides of the ball, and we're going to get into all of it. But I think for me, other than the fact that the division lead grew from this game, the biggest thing for me was

4:53 this team, and we've seen it because in week two, we saw the team lose Jackson Dart. In week three, we saw the team lose Brian Burns. This team has got the most fight and just determination that I've seen from a Giants team in a long time. And obviously, I think that comes from the coaching, from Coach John Harbaugh and the entire coaching staff. But this team is just not– they're never going to give up. It doesn't matter.

5:19 They could be down three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They're still going to keep crawling their way back and fighting. I mean, the Giants were down. They had multiple– double digit deficits in the second half that they overcame, including what they were down 14 with under eight minutes to go. And they came back and tied it and had a chance to win it in overtime. And obviously, you know, there was the fumble and they did not win the game, but this team just shows such determination and resilience. I know we keep using that word, but it's because they keep showing it week in and week out. This team is never going to give up. And to me personally, That is the biggest takeaway. And Jameis Winston, hats off

6:02 to you because in the first half, it obviously did not look good. It looked quite bad. And then in the second half, that's like the best Jameis Winston performance I think we've ever seen. At least definitely in a Giants uniform. Maybe even in the last, I don't know, how many years you want to go back. I'm sure he had some moments as the starting quarterback with the Buccaneers.

6:25 But since he left Tampa Bay... That second half performance has got to be the best half of football that Jameis has played. Read the numbers. So in the second half, I had them pulled up here. First of all, in the first half, 7 for 16 for 72 yards. So that's under 50% completion percentage for only 72 yards. The Giants as an offense overall had a total of I think it was 82 or 83 yards of offense. It was ugly. In the second half. Jameis Winston, 26 for 38, 254 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions. And in the fourth quarter, I think for a second Jameis thought he was wearing Eli's number 10 jersey because he pulled a full Eli in that fourth quarter. Okay. He went 13 for 17, 141 yards, and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. And

7:19 he led the Giants back, obviously– Not quite a comeback win, but a comeback nonetheless. He was fantastic in the second half, getting the ball to the playmakers, which is obviously what you should be doing, and we can get into Malik and Isaiah likely, but I just wanted to give a major kudos to Jameis because I'm sure going in at halftime in the locker room, he probably wasn't feeling great about his performance, obviously, and he came out like a different man in the second half.

7:49 I'm sure that some of you who are on social media saw the ESPN tweet that entering yesterday, the New York Giants had been 0-230. That's 230 since 1970 when trailing by 14 or more points in the final eight minutes of regulation.

8:14 That is a.

8:15 Ridiculous number, a landslide of mammoth proportions in the wrong way.

8:21 Now, immediately when.

8:24 I found out about that tweet, I fired back because I remember what Phil Simms did to Kansas City at Giant Stadium in 1984.

8:31 Similar situation, but nonetheless.

8:34 The ESPN stat is accurate. For those of you who do remember the Phil Simms era of Giants football, I then tweeted back, On November 25th, 1984, the Giants were down 27-14 to Kansas City. That's a 13-point differential, not 14, which is why ESPN.

8:54 That's why they made it 14, probably. That's why ESPN is correct, right? But really, it's two touchdowns.

9:00 Yes.

9:01 Okay?

9:02 And I remember it because it's the greatest comeback that Phil had ever authored.

9:07 In the closing moments of a game.

9:09 And so 27-14 to Kansas City, and Sims hits Bobby Johnson and Zeke Mowat for touchdown passes in the final 7 minutes and 30 seconds. And the Giants won it 28-27. So ESPN, they circumvented my trivia.

9:29 Stat, if you will.

9:30 By making it 14 or more points instead of saying two touchdowns, because then I would have had them by their tippy toes.

9:39 Well, it wouldn't have sounded quite as impressive if there was another performance. Yeah, but you know what? That's still pretty impressive. It's incredibly impressive.

9:47 1984 is a long time ago. And you know me, I'm a Phil Simms guy, so there's no way I'm going to pass on an opportunity to elevate the legend.

9:56 Of Phil Simms. I mean, come on.

9:58 For sure. All right.

9:59 All right. folks, I'm going to make it very clear.

10:02 John Hallbaugh is talking today at around 3.30. He will address the media. We know there were a few injuries in the game, but we did not get any updates when the game was over. And until John Hallbaugh discusses with the media, there's really nothing else to add.

10:18 Yeah, nothing else to add about the injury front. Obviously, there were a few guys that left the game and were ruled out. We'll hopefully get updates. Who knows? With Coach, you never know.

10:30 The only one I will say, because Jermaine Illuminor did talk in the locker room after the game briefly to a few reporters.

10:36 And walked out on his own power. He had a calf injury. Yeah.

10:39 He did have to leave the game, but he seemed to be in good spirits as he was walking out to the team bus. So I feel pretty optimistic about that. But again, that's just based on his comments and his reaction, leaving the locker room.

10:54 Nothing more.

10:55 And we'll get more information, obviously, from the team when it becomes official.

10:59 Yeah.

11:00 And then before we get to your calls, just going back to that fourth quarter, because I know I mentioned Jameis' play, and he was fantastic in the fourth quarter. But I think major props also has to go towards the defense. Because up until, you know, when the Giants gave up a touchdown towards the beginning of the fourth quarter, a couple minutes in, to go down 27-13. After that point, the defense was fantastic. The next drive... three play of the commanders, three plays, negative four yards. The next drive, four plays, 19 yards. And then overtime, four plays, 13 yards.

11:39 And then obviously there was the final drive, which the defense certainly got a little bit of help from the commanders, no doubt about it. But at the end of the day, the defense came through with several stops to give the giants a chance to first get back into the game to tie it and then gave him a chance to win it in overtime. You know, that, that second drive that before prior to the final fumble, the giants were driving and in a position to, you know, obviously win the game before that last fumble. And that was in part because of the defense getting that quick stop, the previous drive of the commander. So just wanted to give some, some credit to the defense as well. Again, on both sides of the ball, Far from perfect performances, but many

12:27 guys on both sides of the ball did more than enough to put the Giants in an opportunity to win this game. All right.

12:33 We're going to go to your calls because I know a lot of people want to get in on this game. And so I would be very glad to do that. I just, however, want to mention one item that has come up on the YouTube channel because I know those of you are holding your breath. Ryan Mulski, 8000, says, I was excited to join on Victory Cookie Tuesday this week.

12:55 What happens with a tie? I don't think there are cookies for a tie.

13:00 No.

13:00 I would say that we've never had this before, but we did four years ago against the Commanders. And I don't remember exactly, but there's a reason why they're called Victory Tuesday cookies.

13:11 Yes.

13:12 I would think it's only after a victory. Michael Gonzalez, 347, says, eat half a cookie. Maybe we would. You know, that's not a bad idea. Look, I'm all... Johnny Mac, can we put the order in for a Thai cookie Tuesday? Can we get half cookies? It means everybody has to split them. Well, we do. There are cookies in the cafeteria every day. There are. As Paul, you know, because you enjoy a couple of those chocolate chip cookies on a daily basis. And those are good. And they're regular standard, really good cookies. But the victory cookies are special. The victory cookies, there's a... A much bigger variety. A lot of more choices. There's like 10 different types of cookies as opposed to the only two we get on the regular.

13:54 They're gigantic. And the chocolate chunks and the M & Ms in them and everything.

13:58 Oh.

14:01 All right.

14:03 201-939-4513. We digress for a little humor. After all, we try to be entertaining on this show. We're not just all about facts. We try to have a good time. Coach Marvin is on line one, and you are first on Big Blue Kickoff Live.

14:16 Hello, Coach.

14:17 How are you doing, Paul and Matt? Good. How are you doing, Coach? I'm doing okay. I would have preferred to win, but I'm doing okay. I would love for the NFL to come up with some way where we can't have ties. A lot of the leagues kind of gotten out of this It's only 10.

14:57 Coach, you know why they're doing it. You know why.

15:00 It's because of injuries, right? They don't want these guys to be physically battered by overtime periods.

15:06 And I will tell you this.

15:08 I absolutely agree with each team getting a chance to have the ball. The sudden death of overtime, the way it's been since 1974, in my opinion, wasn't fair. If you lost the toss and the other team got the ball, how was that fair? So they had to do something.

15:25 Accept. Accept. I'm glad you brought this up because I just recently learned that while everyone thinks that is the rule, that's technically not actually the case. If the team that gets the ball first in overtime takes all 10 minutes off of the clock and kick a field goal, then game's over. And the other team doesn't get the ball.

15:46 That is true. That is true. It's the new rule that both teams get the ball. Most people think... That's actually the case, and most of the time it is. But we've seen the Giants go on 10-plus-minute scoring drives, so it's not technically the rule. We almost saw it in the Sunday night game last night because the Ravens took up over seven minutes of clock, and then the Falcons only had two minutes to go down and score a game-tying touchdown. It is a sliver of a loophole in the rule. You're right to point it out.

16:13 I agree.

16:14 I commend you for pointing it out.

16:17 Yeah, I do too.

16:18 You know, it's... I don't know that there's a perfect solution, Coach.

16:23 I think it is a perfect solution because you said it, Paul. You said it. When you said the reason they don't do it is because their fear of injuries, correct?

16:34 Yeah.

16:36 Why are we talking about an extra game? Why are they talking about adding games?

16:41 Because they can make more money on adding games.

16:43 They can make more money. It's not even about injuries anymore. It's about how much can we make, how much can we milk out of these people. And that's one issue I'm having with the game, because we're adding too many games. Because when was football in our time, Paul, what did we see? Football, when Monday night came out, I think that was in 72, was the first one.

17:07 That was really great. Yeah, 70 was the first Monday night game. Well, Coach, would you want the overtime to be a full 15 minutes? Is that a better answer?

17:17 I think it could be 15 minutes because what happens once the teams both touch the ball, which happened this weekend, now you're in sudden death. You're in sudden death. You can end that game before the 15 minutes, even before the 10 minutes.

17:33 Sure.

17:34 You can end that game. We had opportunities to end the game ourselves.

17:38 Both teams had the ball twice.

17:39 They had opportunities to end the game.

17:40 Yep. Both teams had the ball twice. I mean, come on.

17:44 Yeah, exactly. So I don't know.

17:46 So is the rule flawed then? Because the teams failed to score?

17:51 No, the rule's not flawed.

17:52 You know what's flawed? Coaching.

17:54 Okay. Coaching lost the game for Washington. And then you have analytics that plays a role. I hate analytics. Analytics was killing me this weekend.

18:07 Yeah.

18:09 All these things are added to it, and it becomes because people are not playing a smart football.

18:17 I'll tell you what, Coach, because I know how much you know about the game, I'm going to give you a little bit of a scenario here at the end on that final commander's play.

18:28 If you go back and look at it, did you record it?

18:32 I saw it. I have my feelings of what happened in there.

18:35 Okay, but here's... I've watched the play a number of times, and I think what happened isn't as much on Dan Quinn as it is on Jaden Daniels.

18:46 I believe it is more the quarterback's.

18:47 Fault because when you watch the play, okay, when he snaps the ball, and if we understand correctly that the instructions from the Washington sideline were to just hammer the ball out of bounds, just wing it, throw it out of bounds, and that would be the end of it. Right?

19:07 Just throw it out of bounds and forget it. Or spike it. Okay.

19:12 Now, I think what happened is Jaden Daniels panicked. He's a younger, more inexperienced quarterback, and maybe not the most intelligent quarterback in the league. And so, when you see the play, you'll see the Giants come on an all-out blitz. They obviously know, look, they got nothing to lose.

19:32 Because.

19:34 Washington's in position to win the game. So the Giants came on in all outlets. They overloaded from the left side. Daniels saw Thibodeau and Tremaine Edmonds in his face, and the first thing he thought about, because he's a running quarterback, was toughness. it down and try to take off he panicked Jaden Daniels panicked.

19:57 I don't know if he panicked more than he did. I think something they lost. They lost what was supposed to be happening on that play. I don't know if he panicked because I think his mind triggered it like if it was just like they had a timeout or if it was in regulation time.

20:14 But that's a panic, coach.

20:17 He's a running quarterback, like you said, Paul. So his brain automatically does what it does.

20:23 And you can't do that.

20:25 The smarter quarterbacks and the poised quarterbacks won't do that. They will keep the focus on the play. He got instinctive.

20:33 He panicked.

20:35 What was the play that was called? They were running a play. If you notice, really, I don't feel he panicked because if you look at the play, when he got tackled, he took his time getting up.

20:47 Oh, it was absurd.

20:48 He wasted four seconds.

20:50 Yeah, I think he was under the impression that they had a timeout while everyone else on the field was well aware that they didn't.

20:57 No, but on that part, Matt, look at the receivers. When they got back to the line of scrimmage, it was only like two seconds left.

21:05 It was terrible. I'm assuming the wide receivers were thinking that he was going to just throw the ball away. Because the offensive linemen who were right there seeing Jaden get tackled, all of them knew immediately what the situation was and were like, get up, get up, get up. And even one of them in the locker room after the game said, I think it was Chris Paul, when asked, said it was communicated in the huddle before that last play that they had no timeouts left.

21:29 Right.

21:30 He did say that. But if you look at it, my question is, what was the call? They ran a place. They put a man in motion, and the receivers were running plays.

21:39 The play, as I understand it, Coach, was that he was supposed to look long downfield to either sideline and just throw the ball long downfield and overthrow it out of bounds so that they would have probably four seconds left.

21:53 To kick the field goal.

21:55 You're right, Paul. I'll go with that.

21:57 I'll go with that.

21:58 Matt's right, too. I'll go with that. I know I've been on for a few minutes, but I have something that's irritating me. I was listening to the beat reporters. They have these podcasts. and they were talking about the scatterball play, and they were saying that scatterball may need to be benched, bring back Singletary, can't give it to Harris because he fumbled, Tracy fumbled, he can't get it, so you got to bring somebody in. Everybody's missing the point.

22:27 I don't know if you and Matt off the top of your head can do an estimate of how many fumbles there were in week five in the NFL Sunday. I don't know right now.

22:38 But I know the conditions were certainly not optimum. I think there were four different games.

22:43 In the whole NFL game.

22:45 Yeah, I think there were at least four different games that were affected or impacted greatly by the hurricane that kind of hit the East Coast this weekend.

22:54 But all games wasn't affected by that.

22:56 No, you're right.

22:58 The number of fumbles, there were 49 fumbles this weekend.

23:01 Were there really?

23:03 Forty nine. And you know what's happening? People talking about these guys are fumbling. It's not that they're just fumbling because usually a fumble in the day with a strip set strip.

23:14 Right.

23:14 They strip them of the ball.

23:15 Right.

23:15 They're not stripping anymore. You can't cover the ball up because it's all you. You can't run with the ball, whole ball covered up. They're punching these things out.

23:25 Yes, they are. Yes, there are definitely more.

23:27 They're not just doing it to running backs. They're doing it to wide receivers. They're doing it to punt returners. They're doing it to kick returners. They're doing it to tight ends. We got one by likely punched out.

23:38 Hey, DeLon Payne did a great job on the scattable fumble. I mean, he ripped that sucker out. He knocked it out. It does seem like there are more defenders that are going for that, you know, the peanut punch. Yep. Instead of just tackling, they're going for the punch.

23:51 100%.

23:52 That's right.

23:53 And it's not just that they're holding them up. If you are diving or getting tackled, there's a punch guy going for the punch. You can see it in the Giants game when Banks was along the sideline when I think Malloran broke one to get them on outside of the field. Banks went for the punch and not the tackle down that sideline. So they are punching the ball out.

24:18 How you protect it, I have no idea because you cannot run... and cover up a football completely. Your arm's just not big enough to do that. You can three-point it all you want. That punch is coming. If somebody hits you, the ball's going to come away from your body because it's a natural thing your arm's going to do if somebody hits you from the opposite side. The ball's going to leave your body. Even if you carry it like Tiki did, that ball will get punched out because Tiki was to keep it from being stripped. Not punched.

24:53 So people need to figure out how offensively they're going to protect themselves from this punch out. And I have one more thing real quick. It's only going to take 30 seconds. I was talking two weeks ago about pass interference calls.

25:10 Mm-hmm.

25:11 A lot of people are starting to talk about it. King, the writer, I can't even think of his first name.

25:19 Peter King.

25:20 Peter King jumped on it, saying that maybe they need to go to the 15-yard penalty. And maybe they need to figure out if it's intentional, if it's something that's intentional. An intentional pass interference, maybe that's a spot foul. An intentional, maybe it's a 15.

25:41 Would you try to get into a guy's head and determine intent?

25:44 You got yourself a real problem. Just ask the court system.

25:47 Well, it's only on the referee. Well, that call is the same thing. It's an opinion. The referee's doing it on opinion anyway. And it was one unlikely. That wasn't a pass interference. That dude caught that interception.

26:01 There are so many things that there are no perfect answers for, and that's probably one of them.

26:07 Coach, we're going to let you go.

26:08 Be good.

26:09 All right, guys. Thanks, Coach. On that play that he just mentioned at the very end there, though, the defender clearly contacted likely. Now, whether you want to say it was illegal contact or defensive holding instead of pass interference. Commanders wanted holding. I can understand that, but he clearly contacted him beyond five yards. Yes. I agree that there definitely should have been a flag. No doubt. What the call should have been, that I can understand if you want to have an argument. But I will say this.

26:35 Either way, the Giants would have had another play because it would have been an automatic first down anyway. For sure. But what I say is this. I don't think there's been one game in the NFL across the league this season where the losing team after the game, the fan base, was happy with the officials. You can't blame the officials for losing. Yes, sometimes they get calls wrong. They're not perfect, just like players make mistakes on the field. So do the refs. They're human. But everyone just wants to point and blame the refs for their team losing in the game.

27:06 Or in this case, I've seen Commanders fans complaining about the refs for the tie. The refs aren't the reason why the game ended in a tie, clearly. And that goes for every loss across the NFL this year. I'm tired of everyone pointing the blame at the refs. Don't put yourself in a situation... to lose a game because of one call made by a referee. How about that?

27:27 James in Georgia is next on Big Blue Kickoff Live. Hello, James.

27:32 Hey, what's going on, guys?

27:33 How y'all doing today?

27:34 Hi, how are you? How you doing, James?

27:36 I'm all right, all right. It's been a minute since I called. I'm going to just get to it. Last time I did call, one of the last times I called, I called about Scataboo not being a starter. And it's just, I call it from a stylistic standpoint, you know, you want to set up the jab before your heavy punch.

27:55 Now it's like, I don't think, I honestly don't think hardball, me and my neighbor have conversations, I don't think hardball is... is a Scataboo guy per se. He loves him some Scataboo.

28:06 Everybody does.

28:07 But I don't think he's a Scataboo guy because of his running style. It's like, you know, the crash test dummy. Yeah, we want to be a physical team, but you also have to find the cutback lane. I think with Matt Nagy's offense, maybe y'all can speak to this being football guys, but I coached a little football.

28:28 Here and there.

28:29 What's up, Coach Marvin? Coach Marvin, by the way, had all the points going, you know.

28:33 Yeah.

28:37 Sometimes I think Matt Nagy's running scheme is like lane-based instead of gap-based. You know what I'm saying? Well, they're all gap-based, but where you run in between guys, and I think his blocking scheme, his running scheme, is more where there's lanes. Everybody's kind of turning their back, and you have to run off of that wall that the offensive line is built, and Scadaboo's just running into the wall.

29:03 You know what I mean?

29:03 Yeah.

29:04 I will say this.

29:05 Both Scataboo and Coach Nagy have discussed the fact that there are times where Scataboo does not have to run through a collision. He does have to do a bit of a better job of running to daylight because he's got some fleet of foot skills. And he does have the ability to make a few moves and to dazzle a little bit and to make some cuts and to find those openings that you're talking about.

29:32 So.

29:33 Philosophically, I don't think that you're too far off and that they'd like to see him do more of it. But I think you're way overboard in saying that Harbaugh is not a Scataboo guy because he has been effusive in his praise of Scataboo ever since he got here.

29:51 He absolutely loves the player. And also, obviously, he had the fumble at the end, which he took full accountability for that. But, I mean, he was running decently well. Prior to that last carry, he had 12 carries for 59 yards. That's almost five yards a carry. I think we would all sign up for that. Even with that, he was still average four and a half yards per carry.

30:13 The thing for me is, obviously, he had that very serious injury last year that forced him to miss a majority of last season. He has been basically a full go since the start of training camp. But I think... in the situations where he does try to, you know, like run into the defender, it doesn't look like he has quite the same like pop running guys over like he did last year, which I think is just him still getting his legs beneath him. Because again, that was a very serious injury last year. And I think he's still in a way somewhat knocking the rust off a little bit, but I thought, you know, obviously the fumble, not that was bad, of course, but, But I thought that he was running the ball pretty well yesterday outside

30:59 of that one carry.

31:00 Yeah.

31:02 I mean, but so was, I like Harris and Tyrone Tracy. You know, they're both 1,000-yard backs. The last time they had full healthy seasons, correct?

31:11 Yeah, well, Tyrone nearly a 1,000-yard rusher twice.

31:15 1,000 yards of offense.

31:17 Yeah, right.

31:18 But you know what?

31:19 Tracy had a big fourth-down conversion in the second half.

31:22 He did. Let's not forget that.

31:24 And Nige Harris, they've been working him in over the last couple of weeks.

31:29 He's been getting some carries. Look, I would not worry about the Giants running back room.

31:33 I think you should worry more about the offensive line, which is not getting enough of good push right at the line of scrimmage.

31:40 They've got to give those guys.

31:42 An opportunity to get a step or two of momentum going so they can hit their second gear and get to the second and third levels of the defense. To me, that's the problem right now. The Giants' offensive line, and we've been praising them for about a year and a half now, the truth of the matter is they're not getting enough push in the run game.

31:59 That's just a fact. They're not.

32:01 I'll take my last two off the air. I wanted to say, has anybody seen Kayvon Thibodeau? He put himself back on the milk carton again. You know, we've got to put out an APB for him.

32:13 Kayvon Thibodeau and Jermaine Edmonds were the two Giants defenders who were in the face of Daniels on the final play that forced him to panic. So I think you might want to.

32:23 Go back and look at that tape. He did have a few pressures as well. Thank you, James.

32:28 We need you.

32:29 I've got one more, if I can.

32:30 Yeah, go ahead.

32:34 Well, I noticed the game planning yesterday. I'm glad it changed up some because yesterday early in the game, there was no outlet routes. There were no quick routes against the pressure. Nobody was wanting the quick slant. You know, Jameis had no. Hot routes to throw against the blitz. If they showed on the broadcast and you go back across the film, everything was a lot of go routes. When they sent the pressure and the blitz, nobody was looking back at the quarterback quick enough for Jameis to get.

33:08 Rid of the ball.

33:09 It was a good game. Rather the win than the tie.

33:14 I'll call back next time.

33:15 You got it, James. Thank you. Please do call again.

33:19 They were in trouble, right? They had less than 100 yards of total offense in the first half. They had to pick up the pace.

33:25 They were down by two scores. They did a.

33:28 Lot of wide receiver screens. A lot of those horizontal plays. Get the ball out quick. Get it into the playmaker's hands. Try to get some yards that way.

33:38 Up tempo. No huddle. Rhythm passing for Jameis.

33:42 They were in trouble, man. They were down by two scores. They had to do something. I mean, it wasn't exactly like, you.

33:49 Know, oh, gee, the game plan's not working, so we're just going to stick with it. No, that's not what they did.

33:54 They knew that they had to call for desperation tactics, and they were able to succeed and tie the game.

34:01 Yeah, I mean, and I think clearly there was an emphasis in the second half in getting their best playmakers the ball. Because in the first half, obviously, Jameis only had, what was it, The offense only had like 80 yards of total offense. Jameis had 72 yards passing in the first half. Well, when the game ended, by the time the game ended, Malik Neighbors had 11 receptions for 121 yards on a career-high 20 targets. 20! That's crazy. Isaiah Likely, not too far behind, matched Neighbors with 11 receptions, 94 yards on the two touchdowns, 13 targets.

34:41 Likely, first ever Giants tight end with nine or more receptions and two touchdown catches in a game. The two of them, only the second wide receiver tight end duo in NFL history to have 11 receptions, 90 or more yards, and at least one touchdown in the same game. So, and Jameis talked last week about, you know, I need to get the ball into the playmaker's hands. He did just that in the second half. And what happened? The Giants offense exploded. for, I don't know, Jameis himself had 254 yards and the three touchdowns, all three of which went to those two players alone. In the last two weeks, just the two weeks alone, so this game and the Cardinals game, the two of them, Malik Nabors and Isaiah Likely,

35:27 have combined 52 targets, 393 yards, and four touchdowns. And I don't think it is a coincidence that during that same span, the Giants' offense alone has scored 57 points.

35:41 In the second half yesterday, likely your neighbors had 25 combined targets after only having eight combined targets in the first half of the game.

35:53 They knew where their bread was buttered. And they were getting out that butter knife and spread it pretty thick on the toast. They had to. They had to. And it worked. It kept working. So why would you go away from it? 201-939-4513.

36:07 We've got about 20 minutes left. So here's what I'm going to do. We're going to ask you guys to make your quick point. We'll make a quick comment if there is one to be made. But we're going to try to get to as many people as we can. We probably did a poor job of letting the slow tempo of this show drag on too long.

36:27 All right. We're going to go to Jersey Moe in Florida. You're next up on the show.

36:31 Hello.

36:32 Hey, what's going on, guys?

36:34 Man, I love the show.

36:35 I'm from Jacksonville.

36:36 Giants fans since 86.

36:38 Nice.

36:39 I agree with you. The offensive line is not giving enough push.

36:45 These guys are waiting on them, and it's just blocking everything up.

36:50 I'd rather take a tie than a loss, man. I know we're running short from time.

36:54 I love your show, man, and just hang up. Well, thank you, Jersey Mole. Appreciate you. Appreciate the call, Jersey Mole. Rob in New Jersey. You're next on the show. Hello.

37:02 Hi, Matt and Paul.

37:06 Yes, sir. How are you doing, Rob?

37:09 Yeah, I don't know. I'd rather have the win, but the tie is good for me.

37:15 Sure.

37:15 But what I can say is defense looked pretty good, but I didn't get to see the first of it when I was on my way home to work.

37:22 But when I came home, Looked a little iffy, but they came around.

37:27 Defense looked good. And wait, Jamison sometimes gets me a little worried, but you know what?

37:32 I love in the second half when he came in and looked really good.

37:37 And neighbors and likely those are my guys.

37:40 They did a great job getting us back. Yes, that's all I can say.

37:44 All right. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you, Rob. Did you catch the Schefter item? Which one? That one? Yeah. Will Shipley?

37:54 Mm-hmm.

37:55 I saw that a little while ago. Yeah. The Eagles, who are already down, they're starting running back in Saquon Barkley. They're a backup running back in Tank Bigsby, who's been already placed on injured reserve. We're down to their third string running back, Will Shipley, in the London game yesterday.

38:11 Now he got hurt, left the game, and Adam Schefter is reporting that he is going to miss at least a few weeks. So then they are down. to their, assuming Saquon is not back, which it was a hamstring injury, I would assume that he's at least another week out from returning, if not more, but they would be down to their fourth string running back, Damian Pierce, who was on the practice squad up until a couple of days ago.

38:35 Maybe they'd like to call Wilbert Montgomery out of retirement. Now the Giants don't play the Eagles until, what is it, week nine? I would think, considering it's only, we're going into week six, Saquon was not placed on injured reserve, I would think by week nine he'll be back, but who knows. Dan in Jefferson, you are next on the show.

38:56 Hello. Hey, guys.

38:58 Just want to make a quick comment on, like, why did the NFL have ties? This is like, if you probably polled the coaches or the players, nobody wants to have a tie, so... I really wish they would get rid of that rule and put some type of rule in like college football has or something to not have ties.

39:17 And the other comment is, well, what's your opinion? Does the tie help the Giants or does it hurt the Giants?

39:24 And that's my question.

39:25 Well, let me answer the first one. Thank you for the call, Dan. Thank you. And you can answer the tie one once again.

39:30 I guess the caller missed the beginning of the program.

39:32 The Kansas overtime that they use in college, where each team gets to line the ball up on the other team's 25, and then.

39:38 They get to try to do things, and they have to match the two-point conversions after they get a couple of opportunities, et cetera, et cetera. I can't stand that. Now, I do play-by-play for FCS football. So, you know, I'm not trying to bite the hand that feeds me, but I can't stand that. And I know that's because of injury, too.

39:59 They don't want these guys playing forever and getting themselves hurt.

40:01 They're student athletes. You know, it's like we got to figure out something. Well, that's what the college game does. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, no.

40:12 That's like putting the stupid ghost runner on second base in the 10th inning. That just makes me very, very, very angry.

40:18 I hate that.

40:19 You are mutating the game when you do that. And to decide a win or a loss based on a mutation of the game.

40:28 That's disgusting to me. So let me make that clear, please. Yeah, well, to that. I'll say that I cannot say this with 100% certainty, but I'm fairly confident that the reason why the NFL says, you know what, after 10 minutes of overtime, it ends in a tie is, as you mentioned earlier, Paul, it's because of player safety. Like, I am sure that there is some data science behind the fact that if you go beyond that 70 minutes, that's going to make the players even more susceptible to injuries. And so I'm assuming it is because they want to try to keep the players as healthy as possible. in a, in a violent sport where injuries do happen on a weekly basis. Now, in terms of your second question, as we did touch

41:10 on the very beginning of the show, again, we all, all of us would have preferred a win. Everyone in the locker room would have preferred a win. However, a tie helps the giants in terms of their division lead. They went into week five with a one game lead over the rest of the division over, I think it was the Eagles and Cowboys, both sitting at two wins and, Now going to week six, they have a one and a half game lead. So the lead in the division did grow. Obviously a win would have made it two, but what's done is done. They hold a one and a half game lead over the rest of the division with four more divisional matchups still to come. And as we've seen so far through five games, it doesn't look

41:54 like anyone in this division is, you know, pulling away and is so dominant that, you know, You're going to chalk the game up as a likely loss. Every single one of those division games are going to probably look like yesterday. Obviously, hopefully not ending in a tie, all of them or any of them. But they're going to be slugfests and close matchups. So there are four more of those to come. It is very clear that five games in, the division race is wide open. The bottom line is this.

42:23 For those people who think that a tie means you're stuck in neutral and you didn't go forward or backwards, you're wrong. the Giants did move a little bit forwards.

42:31 Because the Eagles and Cowboys both lost. Now, if they had won, obviously that would be a little bit different. Different story. But they both lost. Those are the facts.

42:39 So if you're talking about the road to the playoffs, the Giants inched one block closer.

42:45 Not a mile. Not two miles. One block closer.

42:50 Small. Nonetheless, it was an advancement. We go to John in Cape Cod. You're next on the show.

42:57 Hello.

42:57 Hello.

42:59 Thanks for getting me on, guys. How are you, Paul?

43:01 All right, John.

43:02 I'm sorry, not Matt.

43:04 How are you doing?

43:06 I'm doing pretty good. I'm a little aggravated over the game, and I'll tell you my viewpoint on the whole thing. You hit the nail right on the head. That half game could be a big deal by the end of the season because the division is up for grabs. There's no doubt about that. But, you know, what I see with the Giants is, is a team that's still struggling.

43:32 I don't see how they can beat a really good team the way they're playing. Now, part of it is the fact that they don't have Dart, of course, and Winston, for all of his savvy, is still a streak passer. But what I see is that their offense, aside from the running game, is being carried by likely a neighbor's.

43:56 They need to figure out how to move their cap around and go out and get somebody like a Jerry Judy because the other guys are not getting it done. Other than that, maybe getting more time for Isaiah likely is the key because the other receivers, they were one-on-one yesterday and just weren't getting open. And the last point I want to make is I'm very disappointed with the defensive calling yesterday. You know, I'm not a coach, but I've been watching the game a long time. And even I figured out after the first run by Daniels that if they don't get a spy on him, they're going to get killed. And it took three whole quarters until they finally got the message and stopped the runs that killed him. But all the damage was done by then.

44:53 I don't know what you guys think, but I'd love to hear it.

44:56 All right, John, I think a couple of things.

44:59 There were three explosive runs. The three longest commander's plays from scrimmage all resulted in touchdowns. Two scrambles by Daniels where the defensive line wound up getting caught out of their rushing lanes and allowed him a huge window to scamper for touchdowns. I guarantee you that Denard Wilson is furious when he looks at those tapes.

45:20 All right, so.

45:22 Don't consider that a systematic behavior. I'm sure that those were individual execution behaviors where guys vacated their lanes. I'm not going to name names because I've watched it. I know what I think, but I have not talked to Denard Wilson about it. And so I don't want to start naming guys. That would not be fair. I will not do that. But trust me when they vacated lanes.

45:46 And the Krosky-Merritt touchdown... Again, another vacated lane, but at least he's a running back.

45:53 Okay.

45:54 Yeah.

45:55 I will say that on the second Jaden Daniels touchdown run, it did look like there was a spy on him. It's just Jaden Daniels with his speed outran him and got into the end zone. But if you look at the replay from, I saw a replay from behind the line of scrimmage, which showed. Yeah, but Harbaugh said there wasn't.

46:16 He said there wasn't. He said they didn't play spy on him. On that specific play? Yeah. All right. So I appreciate what you're saying.

46:24 I think I know what you mean. I think there was a single high on that situation. And I think I know exactly who you're talking about.

46:29 Yeah.

46:30 But Harbaugh had said that they did not spy Daniels on those touchdowns. So in any event, John, here's what I'm going to say. The Giants defense, they gave up those three plays, which were horrific. There's no question. I think those were poor execution. I thought the rest of the day they played really good defense.

46:50 I agree.

46:53 But I also saw the fact that unless I missed some of it, that it took until late in the third quarter, early in the fourth quarter. till you saw three linebackers or three people up there and one of them was the spy and by then the damage was done you know it's a lesson learned but you know from my opinion you've got a quarterback you're facing that can change the game with his feet. And there should have been a better plan to contain him right from the get-go. I thought the defense played great. And the rain had to do with the thing. And the reffing on both sides was miserable. And the bottom line is the Giants tied the game because... The offensive coordinator, Washington, either didn't brief those guys at the right moment or

47:49 they've got some incredibly stupid people on the field.

47:52 All right, John.

47:53 That's it.

47:54 Thank you. Two things. One, you mentioned, you know, by that point the damage was already done. Well, as we mentioned before, the defense put the team in a situation where they were driving in overtime to win the game. So I don't think it's fair to say that the damage was done and, you know, that was that because– The Giants had a chance to win this game in overtime.

48:15 So I don't think that is fair. And second of all, just in terms of Jaden Daniels, obviously yesterday, I would say towards the second half, especially the fourth quarter, a lot of Jaden Daniels' struggles came when the Giants started blitzing the you-know-what out of him. And it clearly was working. And that's why Denard Wilson kept on going back to it.

48:39 But I will just say this. Going into this game during his short NFL career, Jaden Daniels has had a ton of success when getting blitzed. Like that was a note that I noted down about his splits when like blitz and not blitz going into week five was very good over the last, you know, the parts of the three seasons that he's played when getting blitzed. So yeah.

49:04 Maybe that played some part in the decision to not do it too much early. But then when the other stuff wasn't working, then they went to it and clearly it was working. And the only thing I will say now looking forward to next week is the Giants play the Saints this coming week. Again, Tyler Shuck. who just played the Vikings yesterday, the most blitz-heavy team in the NFL.

49:25 How'd that work out? And Tyler Shook was held to under 100 yards passing, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. Horrible day. If the coaching staff looks at the upcoming game plan, looks at the tape and sees... This is a guy that hasn't been playing too well against the Blitz. I feel pretty good that the Giants will be sending some Blitz maybe early this coming week.

49:45 And I don't want to put this on the staff, but I think there's also probably some sense of rationale that suggested Jaden Daniels.

49:54 Has a bad left elbow. It will require surgery. He had a brace on it.

50:00 Even the people in Washington told me before the game, they did not expect him to run too much. Because it would enhance the risk of him getting tackled, going downfield, and probably.

50:10 Injuring the elbow worse.

50:12 So, you know, there might have been some thought amongst the Giants, because there was certainly some thought amongst the Washington people. In fact, how many planned runs did Daniels have yesterday? You'd have to think hard, right?

50:25 Yeah. It was all scrambles. It's not like it was a part of the game plan.

50:28 No.

50:28 It was a lot of scrambles. They were not intending for him to run. So keep that in mind. And one other thing real quick, just because I'm not sure which caller brought this up about whether or not the tie really helps. I went back and looked at the 2022 NFC standings. Oh, it helped. The Giants were 9-7-1, and the teams got the sixth seed. The Seahawks got the seventh seed at 9-8, and the Detroit Lions were the first team out at 9-8. Well, guess what? The Giants lost to both the Seahawks and the Lions that year.

50:59 So they end up 9-8. They don't make the playoffs. That's correct.

51:01 So.

51:02 Just to show you, the tie, obviously, it will require the Giants to continue to win more games, of course. But that tie could end up being very, very important come the very beginning of January. Good stuff. Ed in Rochester, you're next on the show.

51:18 Hello. Thanks, gentlemen. I know I'm up against the clock. I only have two quick things. First of all, I agree with everything everybody said. The punch seems to be something that's being really elevated this year, in my opinion. Secondly, for me personally, as far as the tie, I mix emotions about it. I'm sitting there watching the game. And I was very confident, finally, after eight years of mediocrity and less, confident that we're setting this up for the final kick, even though our kicker missed three field goals.

51:53 I'm sitting there, it's old-school Giants, we're going to set this up, and we're going to kick this field goal and win in overtime, and then scat. And he let the air out of my balloon, and again, I'm glad we tied the way it went down, but I just saw us winning at that point in the game, and I don't know, maybe I'm speaking for other fans, but that's the emotion that I felt so long of not being a great team and not finishing strong, and here we are doing that.

52:20 So that's only my comment.

52:21 I know you're short on time. If you want to speak to it, thank you for taking.

52:25 My call, and have a great rest of the day, and go Giants.

52:28 All right, thanks very much. I think the two touchdowns in the final eight minutes... that forced the game to go into overtime. If you're a Giants fan and you're looking for something to feel good about and you're not satisfied with the tie and you don't understand all the explanation as to why it did inch them forward, Just think about the fact that we talked of history and how the Giants had those two touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the fourth. They continued to dig in and they showed you that despite what you might think are insurmountable odds, they were able to come back and fight and tie that.

53:06 Game and send it to OT.

53:07 I don't think too many folks out there thought they would do that, but they did.

53:11 Yeah, I'm with you. And you know, The favorite quote from Coach yesterday after the game, I'm sure you love this one too. He said this right when he opened up the press conference before fielding any questions. He said, but the one thing that has become very evident is what is inside of our players. Their heart, their grit, their mental toughness, their ability to overcome adversity is A + + +. I could not agree more with that.

53:37 This team, I feel like we've said this every week, but it's only, we're going into week six now. There have been five games and it feels like there's already been, you know, a full season's worth of drama is the best way to put it. Yes. Between injuries, adversity, crazy finishes, comebacks, like we've already seen it all and it's only been five games. But this team, as I mentioned at the jump, this team just is not willing to ever give up.

54:02 Until that final whistle blows and it says zeroes on the clock, this team is going to keep fighting. And that is something I think every single Giants fan should be incredibly proud and happy about to see.

54:13 Now, I'm going to hammer that home, too, because if the two touchdowns in the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter don't convince you about the grit that this team has.

54:22 How about at overtime?

54:24 Zavala misses a 46-yard field goal wide left, his third miss of the day. So the Commanders got the ball first down from their own 36 midway through the overtime. And what happens on a Third and seven, Abdul Carter knocks the ball out.

54:43 Forces a fumble.

54:45 The defense absolutely, after the gut punch, think about this.

54:49 I don't know how you felt. I don't know how you felt out there in Webland, but I.

54:54 Know the Giants fans in the stadium, when Zavada missed that third field goal from 46, which we know he can make in his sleep, it was a gut-wrenching feeling. It was like, oh no, they're not going to win this game. They're going to lose this game. And the defense went right back out there. And on third down, Abdul Carter forces a fumble at midfield, which forces Washington to give up a chance right then and there to put an end to the Giants' misery and knock them out.

55:29 It didn't happen. Did not happen. The Giants' defense held. I'll take it one step further because the very first play of that drive, they completed a 13-yard pass to get to basically midfield. So that's after the field goal that was missed. They now have the ball midfield, first down. I'm sure most people were thinking, oh, here it goes.

55:50 Giants lose again. But no, the defense then put together three straight plays, came up with a huge stop, and put the team in an opportunity to potentially win the game. Obviously, it did not happen. we don't have to keep harping on that, but the D both sides of the ball stepped up when the, other side needed them to. To give themselves a chance. To give them a chance. And I think that is something that should be encouraging for everyone.

56:17 I don't think there's any doubt. All right, let's get to our comments because there were those of you who could not get in on the phone. I know we started the show a little late. So we're going to finish up by getting to what you guys have typed out to us.

56:30 T-Tom 13 still in first. Giants have heart. Hooks rub. A loss that turned into a win that turned into a loss but ended up as a tie. I'll take it. First place, go G-Men.

56:40 JCNY718, not happy with the outcome, but I'm okay with it. We looked dead for most of the game, but our boys never quit. They fought through mistakes and played their hearts out. That's a positive, still in first. Jason Benjamin, 77-54. Jameis Winston, there you go, deserves every fan's respect with his performance yesterday. And Wild Bill NYG, we are very good at adapting so far and making adjustments as the games go on.

57:09 What else can we add? I mean, to that last comment, again, as someone that spends a lot of time on Giants Twitter, I feel like that is something that for years fans have been saying, where are the adjustments at halftime, whatever. It is very clear that this coaching staff is amazing at making the necessary adjustments, where even if it looks like the Giants are dead, which going into halftime down 12-3 with the offense not able to move whatsoever... I'm sure many people out there thought, oh, the Giants have no chance to win this game. What happened? Coaching staff made the adjustments. They came out and put themselves in an opportunity to win the game. Ended up as a tie.

57:46 But yes, I could not agree more. This coaching staff seems to be, through five games, very, very good at making the necessary adjustments to either keep them in the game or to get them back into the game when it is needed. Totally agree. Real quick, one minute of promotional announcements. Giants huddle, anything going up today that you know of? Not that I know of, no.

58:11 Okay, I'm sure something will be going up tomorrow. John's always working on some interviews. All week, for sure. Don't forget, your 2026 season tickets are still available. Single game tickets also available for the New Orleans Saints game coming up this Sunday. Go to Giants.com slash tickets. And then finally, we do want to mention to folks, that the Giants Foundation will host a 5K Racing Kids Run presented by Quest on Sunday, November 8th at 9 a.m. at MetLife Stadium.

58:35 Net proceeds will benefit the Giants Foundation. You get a commemorative T-shirt. Giants Legends will be there. There'll be a live DJ. Register now at Giants.com slash 5K. The Giants Foundation is a 501c3. non-profit corporation. So there you have it. The Giants with a 27-27 tie against the Washington Commanders.

58:55 They are still in first place at 3-1-1. For Matt Saitak, I'm Paul Tettino. This has been Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York Football giants. We're back again live on Tuesday at 12 p.m.

59:13 Eastern Time. So long, everybody.