Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/13 | Commanders Wrap Up

0:04 It's time for a big blue kickoff live. Nobody could ever tell you that you.

0:08 Couldn't do it.

0:09 On Giants.com.

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0:15 17-14 is the final.

0:17 One touchdown, we are world champions.

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0:26 Hello, everybody.

0:27 Welcome to Big Blue Kickoff live on this Tuesday afternoon.

0:30 Brought to you by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the Giants.

0:33 I am John Schmoke, joined by Mark Malousis, as always, taking your calls at 201-939-4513. Hashtag Giants Chat. Pearson Butler at the controls today. Johnny Mack on the injury list. Questionable with a leg is what I'm told.

0:49 What happened? No idea.

0:51 What do you mean, no idea?

0:53 Apparently, he just started hurting yesterday. So he's questionable with the leg.

0:57 Hopefully he's all right.

0:57 He's all right.

0:58 Did he turn his ankle? High ankle sprain?

1:00 I have no idea. Four to six weeks? I don't know the details.

1:03 Low ankle?

1:03 I just know he's on the injury report.

1:06 Okay.

1:06 He's out today. Hopefully he's all right.

1:08 Hopefully he's okay.

1:08 And hopefully he'll be back tomorrow.

1:09 Hopefully he's back okay. All right. Well, hopefully everything's A-okay.

1:13 Pearson was in touch with him. Pearson, jump on the mic here a little bit. Will you please?

1:16 Thank you.

1:17 What happened to Johnny Mac?

1:18 I don't know.

1:19 He had some leg pain yesterday. He did drive from Massachusetts to here yesterday. On Sunday, I believe. So maybe something during the drive.

1:27 Maybe something during the drive.

1:28 Stiffen up, tighten up on the drive.

1:30 Yeah, maybe.

1:30 Listen, that happens. There's no doubt about it. You're in the car a long time. Two, two and a half hours, whatever it might be. Three-hour drive. All of a sudden.

1:37 Yeah, Boston could be like four, right?

1:40 Yeah.

1:40 95.

1:40 Yeah, traffic's bad.

1:42 No question about it. Hopefully he's A-OK and he's back ready to go tomorrow.

1:46 Absolutely.

1:47 Day-to-day, as they say in the trade.

1:48 Yes, he is.

1:48 Day-to-day. He has day-to-day leg.

1:50 Yeah, day-to-day leg. Or as they say in the NHL, lower body injury.

1:54 Yes, lower body injury.

1:56 That's correct. We'll not distinct the body part. Lower body injury.

1:59 How about those Brewers, by the way, up 2-0? How about that? On the Dodgers, on the New Evil Empire.

2:04 Brew crew.

2:05 Love it.

2:06 And that Milwaukee crowd last night.

2:08 And then the Guardians sending a message with a victory down in Tampa against Rasmussen and the Rays. coming from behind 2-0 early and win that game stylishly by stacking on some runs late in the game and take a 1-0 series lead.

2:21 You know who's pumped up for a potential Brewers-Guardians or Brewers-Tampa Bay World Series?

2:26 Who's that?

2:27 The TV networks. Yes, I'm sure they'll be fired.

2:29 They'll be fired up for that one.

2:33 I'll tell you this, though. That'll light up America, there's no doubt. All the households across America. But as they're facing, and I know we're talking football here, but as baseball's facing... new CBA talks following this year, that would be a nice thing in the back pocket for the players.

2:49 It would be.

2:50 If you get Rays and Brewers or even Guardians and Brewers. I mean, if the Brewers are coming out of the National League, let's say if.

2:59 You operate correctly, you can win.

3:01 That won't certainly be the argument. Don't know how well that's going to go over with the others.

3:06 Two Yankee fans dealing with the fact that the Yankees spent $ 330 million and got swept away by the Rays as Pearson was celebrated.

3:12 Oh, it was the best.

3:13 Oh, it was the best.

3:14 Now I'm done watching baseball. Now the Yankees are out.

3:19 Cashman and Boone back for what seems like the 30th consecutive season.

3:22 Everyone's back.

3:22 Signed Boone. Ten-year contract.

3:24 I know. Another successful season for Yankee baseball.

3:29 No doubt.

3:29 All right, so Giants commanders boosted. Look, I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty details at the end of this game. I feel like everyone's been through it a million times.

3:36 Yeah, no doubt.

3:37 It was embarrassing.

3:38 It was a mess.

3:39 Yeah, it was embarrassing.

3:39 It was sloppy.

3:40 The whole NFCE should be, like, embarrassed for what happened over the course of the week of football this week in terms of some of the mistakes that happened at the end of these games and overall performance.

3:51 But look.

3:52 The Giants, and this is the most important thing, and then I'll try to get into a couple deeper overall team things here, but they keep winning these close games and games that are going down to the wire. And you have to take advantage of these opportunities when you get them because there's going to be some games where you lose by a couple scores and you're not in it.

4:11 You just get outclassed.

4:12 That happens to every team every year for a few games. So when you get in these games that can go either way, It's been their defense so far, Moose, that have done what's necessary to close out these last three games. Titans-Cardinals going down literally to the last play on goal line stands. This game going down to overtime multiple times over the course of the game, coming down to what could have been the final play of the game.

4:36 And the Giants just keep figuring out a way to win these games. It's a sustainable.

4:39 We could talk about that. But you can only win the games on your schedule. You're 3-1-1. You're sitting in first place with a game-and-a-half lead on Dallas and Philadelphia, neither of which are looking very good.

4:49 I don't think you could have written up a much more optimistic.

4:53 Start of the year than what we've had for the Giants so far.

4:56 I would agree with that. And I think the other thing that, you know, I think I'm going to paraphrase the tweet because, but I think Carl Banks, after he got done on the radio side of things on Sunday, talked about the fact of, you know, basically the.

5:11 Fight in the team.

5:13 And you've seen that the last three weeks. And that's something that you can build upon. That's something that's transferable. The fact of, you know, the timeout by John Harbaugh right before the Ward interception to Javon Holland. the ability to go out there and make the defensive stand after a questionable pass interference call on Tay Banks against the Arizona Cardinals, and then the rally late in the fourth quarter, or the rally in the fourth quarter, I should say, against the Washington Commanders and the adjustments that this coaching staff made, offensively to go up-tempo, defensively, Denar Wilson, to bring the pressure. Are there things that need to be worked on? Yeah, you want to run the ball better

5:52 than the Giants are running the ball right now. and the Saints are not a particularly good rush defense, and hopefully weather does not come into play.

6:00 Or rush offense, for that matter.

6:01 Yeah, no doubt about it.

6:02 So you should be able to win at the point of attack Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. The way Jameis Winston looked in the second half, the chemistry that he's built up with Malik Nabors, who had 20 targets in the game, 20 or 21 targets in the game, had double-digit receptions. Isaiah Likely, John, everybody talked about him being a key to this offense. He has been. And they're 3-1-1. And you don't have to apologize for anything.

6:25 People are going to look at it and say, well, who cares? Look at the schedule. It doesn't really factor in. You've got to find ways to win football games and put yourself in a position to win. The thing about Sunday is we don't have to get into the end with Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders is that almost became a tremendous victory for.

6:46 The New York giants.

6:47 Um, and setting up where one thing that you have to do is, um, and John, you know this, I mean, you, you work with Tiki Barber week in and week out on the radio side of things, uh, ball security is key.

7:00 Um, and you, you know, and it's not just a camp scataboo problem.

7:03 It's been a problem that that's been an issue in that giants running back room.

7:07 You gotta be able.

7:08 To hold onto the football and you can't, and you can't turn the football over. And, It's something the Giants have worked with weighted balls. They've done– you were talking about it on the radio side of things pregame where Tiki was. I forget who it was where you're bringing in balls that are– with sand, with rocks, with all these things to make– ball security is a key, especially late in games. And that's got to be something that's got to be rectified because that's got to be– I don't care how talented you are, if the coach can't trust you to hold on to the football– well, then it's going to affect your playing time moving forward.

7:41 Yeah, it is.

7:42 And I'm not sure who's more upset about the Scataboo fumble. Is it Scataboo or the Commanders? Because that allowed them to have the embarrassing thing at.

7:50 The end of the game.

7:52 I don't know, right? The Commanders probably looking back would be like, hopefully he held on to the ball.

7:56 Yeah, exactly right.

7:58 Zavada hits the field goal, we lose. It would have been a demoralizing loss, but now we're just getting dragged left and right. That is correct.

8:04 But look, Harbaugh knows that he obviously can't.

8:07 Have that there.

8:08 Cam Scadaboo knows you can't have that there. And look, I think you brought up an interesting thing about bringing the pressure late. And John Harbaugh talked about this in his Monday Presser. I wrote about it on Cover 3 before he even spoke because it's something that struck me when I went back and I watched the tape. Moose, they ran like Cover 0 10 times in fourth quarter and overtime. And Cover 0 with the fans that don't know, you have no safeties deep. So it's basically you're manned up.

8:30 You can even zone it up. We've seen other teams do that too. Across the field... And you have no safety up over the top. And they challenged the commanders. I don't think Jayden Daniels handled it all that well.

8:40 No, I don't think he handled it well at all.

8:41 They made a couple plays. You had McLaurin on that one slant. That had a nice gain.

8:46 They tried to run a couple wide receiver screens. But overall, I think it really flustered him. And again, I'm not sure that's something that's going to work against everyone when you come up against some better wide receiver groups as you move forward over the course of the year. Like, I'm not sure you want to be manning up Nico Collins without safety help against the Texans in two weeks.

9:02 Yeah, throw Marvin Harrison into the mix as well now.

9:04 Exactly right.

9:05 Or even Chris Olave this week, more pertinently to the Saints. But you've got to give Denard Wilson credit. I think the sign of a good defensive coordinator and bad defensive coordinators, if you have a defensive coordinator that you don't like, that you don't think is very good, I think the pattern you see is that maybe you come out in a game you're doing okay, the other team starts adjusting to what you're doing.

9:29 And then you have no answer for it, right?

9:31 Yeah.

9:31 But it seems like it's Wilson, over the course of these games.

9:35 is the one that's making the adjustments the last couple of weeks and changing some of the things he's doing to counter what the offense is doing. We haven't seen the opposing team be able to counter back. And I think that is a good sign that Wilson understands what the offense is trying to do to the giants and has been able to create plans over the course of the game and make the correct adjustments to, take away what those offenses are having success with.

10:03 Yeah, and you saw it after the first two drives against Arizona. And you saw it with the Giants in that second half, late third quarter, fourth quarter.

10:11 And they went down early in this game, too.

10:13 Yeah.

10:14 And Washington did not adjust. See, I think you draw upon a couple of things. Number one is like you look at the adjustments that Nagy and the offense made. going up against a Quinn-led defense that I think, and John, you're great with the numbers, but I think their blitz rate was something like 46.8%.

10:29 Yeah, something like that.

10:31 Second most in the league to only Brian Flores.

10:33 Right, to only who is like a blitz monster with the Minnesota Vikings. But that Vikings defense is doing things every single week that are just unbelievably crazy.

10:42 But you didn't see any adjustment from Washington, right? They just kept on.

10:47 And you saw the adjustment from the Giants offense to deal with that blitz. And then they started shredding the commander's defense. And there was no adjustment by the commander's defense. And then, so that's a credit to the Giants and their ability to adjust on the fly. And we talk about in-game changes, right? And you used to always hear about it as you were a kid growing up, right?

11:07 Joe Gibbs, halftime adjustments. Parcells, halftime adjustments. All these things. Bill Walsh, all the, you know, you've seen it with the Giants here in real time as these games have moved along. And you saw with Denard Wilson where, you know, literally he was throwing the ball out of bounds or throwing the ball or overthrowing his receivers like 10, 15 yards down the field. Like he had no idea, wanted no part of it, wanted no part of the blitz, wanted no part of dealing with it. And that's usually historically when he's 100% healthy, and we know first game back after that dislocated elbow, he's been a guy that's been really successful early on in his NFL career against the blitz, right? Because he's a dual-threat quarterback. But you

11:49 saw the Giants adjust defensively, and that's where– what you love to see. You love the fact that if you're a Giant fan, looking at this group, number one, they've dealt with injuries to two key components of this team. You've seen this coaching staff put their team in the best possible position to win games. And the one thing as a fan you want to feel is, Is the coaching staff putting the team in the best possible position to win and giving them an opportunity to win each and every week? And do they have the answers? You talk to athletes all the time, John. You do. And they want to make sure the coaches have the answers to the questions. And you have a firm belief that this coaching staff, led by John Harbaugh, have got the

12:28 answers to the questions. Are they going to be successful every single week?

12:31 No.

12:32 That's not the point. The point being, though, is In the NFL, you want to make sure that the game plan, and if the initial game plan is not working, where are we going to go to next? And you've seen that, and you saw it this past week offensively, and you saw it this past week defensively as well.

12:46 Yeah, two more things on the offense, and then we'll get to your calls here. The players are making plays too, Moose, and I think.

12:52 Yes, no doubt.

12:53 Your best players are.

12:54 And when the commanders went to some of that same cover zero stuff, they used a lot of that late in that game too.

13:00 What did the Giants do?

13:01 All right, we got Malik Nabors on one-on-one coverage in the middle of the field. We're just going to throw it to him.

13:04 We're going to take it.

13:05 It might be a contested catch, but our guy is going to be better than their guy.

13:09 And guess what?

13:09 He was.

13:10 And Nabors was better. And he makes that leaping catch in the end zone for the touchdown.

13:13 We saw a similar play in the beginning of the game against the Cardinals two weeks ago on that little corner route to the right sideline where, yeah, it's a contested catch.

13:24 Our guy, better than your guy. And you're seeing that with Isaiah.

13:26 Likely when he gets lined up one-on-one, he's making moves, he's making catches.

13:29 Both those guys, 11 catches in the game, double digits.

13:32 So.

13:33 I think you're seeing your best players on offense taking advantage of those one-on-one opportunities, and that's what you have to do in this league to win.

13:41 Yes, of course. And you want to make sure you have the quarterback to get him the football. And I felt good.

13:48 And is willing to throw it. And willing to throw it.

13:50 And that's where I felt good for Jameis in the second half. He didn't play particularly well in half number one. John Harbaugh talked about it after the game. But in half number two, fourth quarter... He was dynamic and he got into a rhythm and you saw his leadership ability on the sidelines as well. They showed it on. I don't know if you caught it where there was a miscommunication.

14:11 I forget a pass to Mooney or he missed Mooney on a play and they were going back and forth on the sideline. Like there's no doubt talking to the defensive players as they're coming off the field. Like all of these things that you're seeing from Jameis Winston shows you the touch and the feel that he has with this team. And then you look at some of the throws like that, that touchdown pass on the end line that he.

14:30 Threw to likely was a dime.

14:32 Yeah.

14:32 I mean, there are, there are, there are, I mean, there are some quarterbacks in the NFL that can make that throw. You know, Jameis Winston, that is a throw that not many commit. Like he put in the perfect position in that throw and Giants got their playmakers, the football and Winston got on a heater to get himself back into the game. And, Unfortunately, it ends in a tie.

14:52 But for the Giants, you know, onward and upward and get ready for the New Orleans Saints.

14:55 And hear that crosser to Malik Nabors in overtime.

14:58 That set up the play where Skadable fumbled. But that was an extremely small window. And he just fit that thing right in there perfectly in stride. And Nabors turned it into a big play. So here's the question I'm going to ask for you, Moose, before we get to the calls. And I think this is kind of a big picture thing. We talk about the defense a lot, the adjustments.

15:14 We've seen them now. probably have a little bit more success.

15:18 The last couple of weeks when they've opened up the offense a little bit and thrown it a little bit more.

15:21 Yeah.

15:21 And again, went a little bit more shotgun, a little less play action, maybe a little less of the, you know, two running backs, you know, double tight ends, a super big personnel. They ran a lot of 12 last week, for example. Is that the, I'm on the fence here, but yes, I think Winston has played better that way the last couple of weeks. I also think if you put the game in Jameis' hands, ultimately, and you have him throw it 35 to 40 times a game, it's, history tells you you're probably going to have some mistakes in there as well as some big plays, right? But at the same time, the run game, especially with all those big people on the field, has not.

15:55 Been tremendously successful over the last couple of weeks.

15:58 They've struggled to run the ball, get explosives, and just be consistent, you know, down in, down out, running the football. So I'm curious to see what direction Matt Nagy goes in here moving forward. If they try to continue with the same formula they've had, do they lean more into the drop back shotgun pass game? I understand the arguments both ways. I'm curious to see what we see against the Saints this week. Yeah, or is it just situational?

16:20 Right.

16:20 Because they had to do it because they were trailing in the game.

16:22 That's a good question, too.

16:23 I mean, that's the other aspect, too.

16:25 So, yeah, I.

16:27 Think you have to look at it.

16:29 You know, I'll draw, you know, I think talking to, you know, Callahan and hearing Aggie throughout the course of training camp early on in the season where, you have to adjust your game plan based on who is that quarterback square, you know, can't be square peg round hole. Right. So, you know, you're obviously, you know, Winston is not going to have a lot of designed runs, what you were going to do with Jackson dart or what you potentially, as he saw in a couple of occasions, what you tried to do with JJ McCarthy Sunday against the Washington commanders.

16:58 And in order for him to find his rhythm in this passing game, maybe you have to mix it up a little bit because you want to take advantage of those downfield throws. But Sunday against New Orleans, like, you know, I don't know if you have to go to that route, like, you know, because you should be able to, if you can win at the point of attack, should be able to run the ball on this Saints defense, given, you know, they're a bottom three, bottom four rush defense in the National Football League. So Sunday should be a game, John, where you should be able to gain confidence in that ground game against the the New Orleans Saints. I come out of the game Sunday against Washington, and I understand the commander's defense is not the Minnesota Vikings, right?

17:38 They are pretty good against the run, though.

17:39 Right, they are pretty good.

17:40 I'm talking about the past.

17:42 I come out of that game and say, well, Winston found a rhythm, developing chemistry with the receivers. If If the Giants find themselves trailing in a game, that's an avenue that they can go down to where he can find a little bit better of a rhythm. But now we know how to get him into a rhythm. And maybe at a time to shake up that passing game, maybe we go to a little no huddle or up-tempo offense to where we understand maybe that's the bread and butter of Jameis Winston in order to get him into a rhythm throwing the football.

18:11 Because we do know this.

18:12 Once Winston finds that rhythm, as he saw Sunday against Washington, like he was throwing some really, like it was a total different quarterback. First half as compared to second half when you're looking at Jameis.

18:24 Yeah, the weather also got a lot better in the second half.

18:26 That's true.

18:27 I think that probably has something to do with it.

18:28 If Nabors catches that deep ball down the right sideline at the end of the first half, his numbers look a lot different.

18:33 In the first half, too.

18:34 Yes.

18:35 So I think those are two things as well. But Moose, I think you made a good point.

18:37 He came really close with that one, too.

18:39 Yeah, and I'm sure he thinks he should have came up with that one.

18:41 But if you take a look at the teams the Giants have played, and again, you only play who's on your schedule.

18:46 I understand this.

18:47 But The Giants have played the Cowboys, who I'm going by DVOA here, which is a pass efficiency metric. The Cowboys have the worst pass defense in football. Arizona has the third worst pass defense in football. And the Commanders have the seventh worst pass defense in football.

19:03 So they've gotten some teams here that are very susceptible to the pass.

19:07 Yeah.

19:09 That is correct.

19:10 That's my Don Bosco prep education right there.

19:13 And how did I miss Tennessee? The second worst.

19:15 So they faced the three worst pass defenses in football, according to Pass Defense DVOA this year.

19:21 And then the commanders who were number, what did I say, seven. So needless to say.

19:27 They've been in some advantageous situations against the team they've played in terms of passing the football.

19:31 Yeah, and listen, that's fair, but you want to see them take advantage of it.

19:36 And they have.

19:36 And they have. And now you've got your backup quarterback in. It's not your starting quarterback in Jackson Dart. And they've dealt with that, and Winston is starting to find more and more of.

19:49 A rhythm here.

19:50 I come out of it, you know, even though it's a tie, John, I come out of it with some positives. There are things to work on for sure. The positives would be Winston's second half, leak back-to-back games. And then you get to the defensive side of the football with no Brian Burns and The continued rise of number 52, Arvel Reese. And it was great to see Reese and Sonny Stiles after the game. Two players wearing number 52, going back to Ohio State, exchanging numbers after that, exchanging jerseys.

20:17 After that game.

20:18 And how about Abdul Carter, who we were both bullish on to begin the season. You know, Abdul Carter, Drew Phillips had himself a game with a couple of sacks. I mean, there were positives to take away from this team individually and as a group defensively, especially as that game went along.

20:32 All right, 201-939-4513. Guys, go check out the Giant Subtle Podcast. Our rapid reaction is up there right now. Also, we're now posting our post-game show after the game every Sunday on the Giant Subtle Podcast feed. That's audio only, so you can't find it on the app or the YouTube channel. That's just on your podcast platform. So if you want literally two hours worth of content breaking down the game after it's over with Tiki Barber.

20:54 That was a lot to break down this Sunday.

20:56 A ton.

20:56 Yeah. You got to go to your favorite podcast platform, search for Giants Huddle, search for Giants Podcast Network. It'll pop up and you can listen to your post-game show. All the commercials are taken out on the podcast feed. You go straight through. We take phone calls for about 45 minutes at the end of every show. You get all the post-game locker room stuff. If you don't want that, you can fast forward.

21:16 Those long car rides, you're popping on, away you go, sitting in traffic, seeing those red lights in front of you, away you go.

21:21 That was Melissa's on 17 about a half an hour ago.

21:23 That's exactly right.

21:24 I was like, I got to get there.

21:25 Absolutely right. But check Check that out. It's on the John Settle podcast feed. And then we have our first of her playbook coming up in a long time today. Michelle Gingras is joined by, who is she joined by? It is Kimberly Martin from ESPN.

21:39 Oh, nice.

21:39 She used to be with Newsday?

21:41 Yes.

21:41 Kimberly, right?

21:42 Newsday, yes. Excellent reporter.

21:43 I think she was with the Bergen Record at some point.

21:45 Oh, Bergen Record too.

21:46 Was it?

21:46 Okay, maybe I had that wrong.

21:48 No, no, she was with Newsday. Okay, so Newsday and maybe the Brooklyn Record.

21:52 Before ESPN, her stop before that, I believe, was Newsday.

21:55 And then, of course, you can see her on ESPN, a lot of their programming in the morning as well. So go check that out.

22:00 That should be up later on this afternoon. Should be a fun interview. All right, let's get to the calls.

22:04 201-939-4513.

22:05 That's in Nebraska. Let's go to corn country and say what's up to Terrence. Terrence, what's going on, pal?

22:12 Hey, what's going on, guys?

22:13 How are you?

22:13 What's up, Terrence? I'm great.

22:16 I'm off today.

22:16 I'm enjoying the show.

22:17 Nice.

22:18 I'm enjoying this giant season. We're 3-1-1, and it's definitely a change from the past 13 years. And I'm not originally from Nebraska.

22:27 I'm from New Jersey.

22:28 It sounds like it.

22:29 I've been here for about a year now.

22:30 Yes.

22:30 Yeah, yeah. But I'm just.

22:34 Terrence, out of curiosity, what brought you from New Jersey to Nebraska? Oh, love, man.

22:41 I got married.

22:41 Ah, good for you, man.

22:42 That's great.

22:44 Nice, nice, hearty Midwestern woman just like me. I like it.

22:47 Good stuff there. Yeah, yeah. I got married.

22:49 I'm trying to convince her to come back to the East, but we'll see.

22:53 Cost of living a little bit different in Nebraska versus New Jersey, Terrence.

22:57 Oh, absolutely, man.

22:59 Absolutely.

23:00 Yeah, I'm calling, you know, I'm looking at the national media and whatnot and all around it's like, Everyone says the Giants are, I mean, the NFC is a joke, whatever. And that's annoying to me.

23:15 It really is.

23:15 I don't know how we're a joke. I mean, if you look at our team, I find it resilient.

23:21 We lose firms.

23:22 We lose our starting quarterback. We're 3-1-1. And in the past three games, which is disrespectful, I don't know how.

23:29 We were underdogs versus the Cardinals.

23:32 We're dogs against Washington. And now we're dogs at home against the Saints.

23:38 I'm like, come on, man.

23:39 Enough's enough.

23:40 I mean, give the Giants some credit. We got Harbaugh for one, and the team shows a lot of heart. You tell me, the last few years, if we were down by 14... Do we even.

23:53 Tie that game?

23:53 Do we even put ourselves in a position.

23:55 To win the game?

23:56 What do you think?

23:56 Well, I would say, Terry, this reminds me, because I'll go real fast here. This reminds me a lot of Dable's first year in 2023 and the first half of that year.

24:02 That's what this reminds me a lot of, to be honest with you.

24:04 Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I think there was such an uptick when it came to Brian taking over this team as compared to where the franchise was that, you know, and there was talent on the team. And obviously you saw the mindset of the franchise change or, the tone set with what their decision in that Tennessee game early on for the head coach, Brian Dable. I think if you go back past couple years, though, I mean, Terrence, I think everyone has said it, the Giants have won games this year that they probably would have lost or did lose a year ago. And I think there's a belief, like John Harbaugh talks about, like next play. And I think there's buy-in to that idea of the next play.

24:50 And you saw it in the Arizona game. You saw it with the Javon Holland pick against the Tennessee Titans. It's one thing to say it. It's another thing to live it. And I think that's really what it comes down to. And who cares what everyone's saying nationally? It does not matter. The Giants are sitting there in first place in the NFC East.

25:08 Absolutely. It's annoying.

25:09 But the comparison, though, between Dable and Harbaugh is, I mean, Harbaugh speaks for himself. And our team is so much better, even with Winston.

25:19 And we just have more depth.

25:22 Oh, yeah, Terrence.

25:23 In this team, yeah.

25:26 I was not comparing the quality of the coaching or the quality of the roster. I was simply talking about the results. Like, if you remember, go back to that year. Remember the crazy end of the Ravens game? where the Ravens had the ball to get in the field goal range, and Lamar just fumbles it.

25:39 And they end up getting recovered.

25:41 You had the two-point conversion at the end of the Titans game to lead off that year. You had the close game against the Packers that year as well, right after the Ravens game. So just some of the results and how the games have kind of come down to the end. You know, you talk about how the Giants were underdogs in some of these games.

25:57 Remember.

25:58 These games, Terrence, they're going down to literally the last play of the game. So, like, they really should have all been pick-ems, right? I mean, you're basically going to the last.

26:06 Play of the game, right?

26:08 I don't know how it happens, but it happens. I'm enjoying the ride. I'm going to give a shout-out to the chat on the YouTube chat. It's a good time to talk on there, and I love how you guys bring up their points and whatnot. E-Manny and J.C., all those guys, and even Jason. One more thing I want to ask.

26:26 Yes.

26:29 What's going on with Charlie? Where has he been at?

26:31 He's all right?

26:32 No, yeah, Charlie's good. Terrence, appreciate the call. Charlie, I spoke to him off the air at the start of the year. He literally said to me, John, I'm not going to call him this year. I got some stuff going on. I'm not going to do it. I'm still listening.

26:45 Okay.

26:46 I'm still rooting for the team. I'm just choosing not to call.

26:50 But he's okay? He's fine.

26:51 Charlie's good. I talked to him. He sent me a DM the other day.

26:54 He's good. Oh, good.

26:55 But, you know, does the fact that he's not calling have to do with the team winning a lot of these close games?

27:00 Absolutely.

27:01 How about we just keep Charlie off the phones? And we just keep on rolling. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Absolutely right.

27:08 Because the minute he calls up, if he calls in on one of these shows, Pearson, you know they're losing the next game.

27:12 Like, it is in the books guaranteed. That's what's going to happen.

27:17 But, you know, and Terrence brought up, and the Giant fan is ecstatic, and they should be. And this is, you know, this is why, like, you see an example on Sunday of why, you know, and John, you talked about this a lot throughout the course of training camp, why John Harbaugh practiced— Game situations, end of half, end of game, all of these things to do that, right?

27:41 Cross the T's, dot the I's, everything is with intent. So you don't have any of that. So you don't have where you cost yourself at.

27:50 The end of the game.

27:51 It's one thing to get beat physically. It's another thing to lose a football game. The one thing is you do not want to get in your own way. And so... John Harbaugh set a tone and a temperament for this team.

28:00 There's no doubt.

28:01 They caught a break on Sunday against Washington. You'll take it. There's things to like. There's things to build up upon. There's things to improve. You don't know how to necessarily feel, but the Giants right now in a strange NFC East where the Eagles lose one over in London against the Jaguars. The Commanders lose. The Cowboys lose Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brutal loss. Oh, terrible. The Giants are sitting there 3-1-1.

28:27 And getting set to take on the Saints on Sunday.

28:29 A New Orleans team that, you know, the Giants should be able to run the football with and really struggled against the pass rush and the pressure of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

28:39 Yeah, and I know it could frustrate fans a little bit when it comes to people talking about who's the favorite, who's the underdog, all that stuff. But, you know, these people will look at more than just the record, and we talked about this a little bit, I think, on Saturday morning show on WFN.

28:52 Yes.

28:52 8 to 9 a.m. 8 to 9 a.m. Check it out. Get locked in.

28:56 Absolutely right. And, you know, you look at some of the overall efficiency metrics.

28:59 And, you know, the Giants right now moves their 29th in offensive DVOA, their 23rd in defensive DVOA.

29:04 Yeah.

29:05 The combined record of the teams they've beaten are 4-15-1. They're playing a 1-14 this week, a 1-14 the next week. But the point is that you're taking advantage of those opportunities. And you're winning the games you can win. And you can only win the games that are on your schedule. And that's how you put yourself in a position when you play some of the tougher teams in the second half of the year that maybe you don't figure out a way to win those games.

29:25 You have a little bit of a cushion.

29:26 Yeah.

29:26 Right? So that you can still make a run. But the first step, and I always said this on the show, the first step to becoming a good team are beating the teams that you're supposed to beat.

29:37 Yeah, sorry. Don't want to jump on you.

29:39 No, you're fine. I'm fine.

29:40 Right.

29:40 I'm with you.

29:41 And that's what you want to do.

29:43 And this will be, listen, you go into a game against New Orleans where there were some expectations in a wide open NFC South for the New Orleans Saints coming into the year, especially with the way that they closed the season a year ago. That's why kind of another example of You know, you can't necessarily build off of one year and every year is going to look a little bit different for Kellen Moore and the New Orleans Saints.

30:04 And they're one in four. The Texans are going to be a fascinating one with the acquisition of Marvin Harrison and the.

30:09 Fact of how well C.J. Stroud has played.

30:11 I understand we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. The issue for the Texans, why they're 1-4, is that defense has not been able to close games out.

30:18 Well, and D'Amico Ryans has now taken over play calling duties, too.

30:20 Yeah, and so that has been— you expected coming into the year, you looked at the Houston Texans and said, well, undoubtedly that's going to be a championship defense.

30:31 And their defense, unfortunately, has given up leads late.

30:33 They have, and they have not been the same, but they had a dominating performance against the Titans this past week.

30:38 Titans couldn't do anything. Tough times down in Nashville. Yeah, that— I mean, it really is.

30:43 That was a tough performance.

30:48 That is not a great place to be, Tennessee Titans, right now. All right, let's go to Jason in New Haven.

30:52 He's up next.

30:52 Jason, what's happening, pal?

30:55 Hey, John and Moose, how you guys doing today?

30:56 What's up, Jason?

30:58 Good, man, good.

30:59 I just wanted to piggyback off the last call. He had some great points. I just wanted to say, man, like you said, Moose, you said it great. Who cares what the national media thinks? We're in the era of... quote-unquote hot taste, and everybody has an opinion. So right now, like you said, Moose, we're 3-1-1. Here's what I'll say.

31:18 I don't know how the season's going to end, but here's what I'll say about this team, and I kind of relate, and maybe John and Moose, maybe you guys will agree or disagree, but, you know, I'm a Knicks fan as well, and like you said, John, what does becoming a good team mean to the teams you're supposed to beat? And one thing I can respect about this year's Giants team is, you know, we may not have the ceiling of an NFC championship-level team yet.

31:49 Maybe. Who knows? Things happen.

31:51 Crazy things happen. But one thing I will say, any team that plays the Giants, they better come in with their helmets strapped, their chin straps strapped, and they better come ready to play because this Giants team plays for– From the beginning of the first quarter to the end of either overtime or fourth. And we play and we play hard and we tackle and we block and there's no quit.

32:15 Well, Jason, I would also say to you, you better not do anything to give the game away because the Giants will take it.

32:21 Yeah, good point.

32:22 And we've seen in years past, other teams come in here, they make mistakes, they don't do what they need to do. They see the Giants as a soft landing and they don't bring their A game. And the Giants still in the fourth quarter, they might be up 10, but then the other team's like, all right, we'll turn it on.

32:35 Let's go. And then we saw last year, right? They have these comeback wins. They lose at the end of the games. You get the sense that if.

32:42 This Giants team under John Harbaugh, by the way, and again, I should stress this, doing this with a backup quarterback, missing one of your two best players on defense, three best players on defense, doing it with that, if a team comes in here, turns it over a couple times, isn't buttoned up, commits a bunch of penalties, this team will put themselves in the position to take advantage of that team's mistakes to come away with an upset victory.

33:05 Right.

33:05 And that's going to go into my last point, because I know you got other callers. But my last point, and I was so glad to see the coaches being able to adapt, right? We don't want to sit back and let Jaden Daniels just have eight seconds in the pocket. So what does Denard do? Oh, we're setting the house, which I prefer that kind of defense. I like to dictate.

33:30 I like my defenses to dictate. Dropping eight in coverage really works unless you have an awesome, awesome front four, which we have good players there with some potential, but we're just not there yet. So kudos to the coaching staff. But that goes into my last point. You know, I think this offense with Dart was going to be a lot of RPO, a lot of heavy run formations, a lot of play action. And since he went down, that doesn't fit, in my opinion, Jameis' strengths. And you saw in the second half, what happened? Boom.

34:05 Shotgun.

34:06 He's wheeling.

34:07 He's dealing. He's getting our playmakers involved. Neighbors are going off. Likely going off. Theo had some nice catches.

34:14 So....

34:15 That's kind of what I'm going to wrap up this call. The Saints have the second most– they have given up the second most points in the league so far and the seventh most yards. So their defense isn't great either. And while you can't always cement a win or a loss, we could easily lose to any team as well. But– I kind of want to see Jameis. I'm not saying he has to drop back 40 times. There's going to be running balls. There's going to be Ricard and Manhurts.

34:43 I'm assuming that's still going to be the calling card. But, man, offense with Jameis looks so much better. Instead of that heavy run play action, he just doesn't suit his strengths. So my question is, what do you guys feel about kind of opening up? I know you related earlier, but what do you feel about opening up the playbook a little more in terms of the past? He just looks better in shotgun. He looks better in no huddle. And getting the ball to our playmakers, which we do have.

35:15 So what do you guys see as far as that chess match in the Saints game? And I'll take it off of here, fellas.

35:20 Thank you, by the way.

35:21 And the Saints, by the way, have the sixth-worth pass defense in terms of DVOA.

35:24 So another team that you can throw it on.

35:25 Yeah, and it's one, John, and Jason, great call. It's one John and I talked about earlier is what do you take away from it? Do you take away from it the game situation, or is this something because you could go and um, and say, we're going to run up tempo. It's great when you're completing the majority of your passes. If you start to go up tempo and then you start to have short possessions and then you're putting your defense back on the field very, very.

35:48 Quickly, that's the other aspect of it.

35:51 So, um, there's, there's, you know, what, here's where I think is I come out of it where I think it's something you could turn to. I'm just curious, John is, um, Did you turn to it because you were down by two touchdowns or did you turn to it to say, OK, well, not only because of that, but we're going to play to Winston's strengths here. And then you come out of that game and saying, OK, how quickly can we go to that, say, against the New Orleans Saints? Because I do think John Harbaugh. And Nagy, I still think they want to run the football.

36:22 I agree with you.

36:24 I don't think they're going to go away from that. And I think this is a game Sunday where that ground game and that offensive line.

36:30 Can build a little confidence against the New Orleans Saints.

36:33 And I don't see why Jameis Winston can't run under center play action.

36:36 Yeah. He has a big arm to get it down the field on those plays. I don't see why he does not fit that. I think he does just fine. But I think the run game has to be more effective. So I think that's a big part of this too, right? Can you get the run game going? The Saints have been... They haven't been great either. The Saints right now are second-worst defense in the league next to the Cowboys.

36:54 Yeah, and the Cowboys just brought Mike Pettin in as a defensive assistant.

36:58 Yeah, I mean, and I think they're also putting Christian Parker up in the booth, too, is another.

37:02 Change that they're making.

37:02 Oh, is that what they're doing? I missed that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

37:04 Yeah, I think Jerry Jones said that on his weekly conversation on the local radio station. There you go.

37:11 Which are always entertaining when you listen to Jerry.

37:13 Dude, again, it popped up in my feed. He told this story, apparently.

37:19 They were leaving Green Bay like 20 years ago after a win. And he's in like this big, he called it a big long car.

37:26 I'm assuming he means a limousine. With like all his grandkids.

37:28 Yeah.

37:29 And he said this, a lady walks up to the side of the car. And I forget the phrase he used. Maybe it was like generously proportioned.

37:37 Okay.

37:37 And she just literally like, basically like. pulls down the pants and, like, puts, like, the cheeks right on the car window. And they, like, stick to it.

37:47 Oh, my God.

37:48 And she, like, boons the car and then pulls up her pants and walks away. And Jerry's line at the end of the story was, yeah, And when all of us close our eyes, we can still see the marks left on the side of the car window.

37:59 Jerry, I mean, he's got his stories. Come on.

38:02 Are you kidding me?

38:06 Tell that on the radio.

38:08 Are you joking? That is funny.

38:10 It's a different world down there.

38:12 It really is.

38:13 It is a different world, for better or worse, depending on what your perspective might be. Let's go to Ken in Louisville. He's up next. Ken, what's happening, pal?

38:22 Hey, guys. How you doing, John and Moose?

38:24 We're good.

38:26 So I called last week with a Kayvon Thibodeau question, and you guys both said, let's give him a little more time. I was listening to the Believe in Giants podcast yesterday, and... I was delighted that Carl Banks saw the same thing. And so I know it's out there that he called them out. And then it looks like the Giants brought in Dwayne Smoot. I guess what I wanted to ask you is two things.

38:52 One is.

38:53 It didn't work well with Dexy last year, you know, with the Carl Banks call-out. Do you think, one, Kayvon would be– that might motivate him or, you know, Denard can get more out of him? And then, if not, do you think Dwayne Smoot– I don't know much about him– could help in the run-stopping, you know, and issues that we've had?

39:17 Yeah, I would– I mean– And John could disagree.

39:21 Thank you, Ken.

39:21 Appreciate the call.

39:22 And thanks for the call.

39:23 I would say that Carl is going to be open and honest with what he sees. And so, you know, he's going to tell you good and bad and different. And he's earned that. You know, he's a Giants legend. He did it.

39:37 He played it at the highest level.

39:39 And Carl's not going to pull any punches because I think he's– what he has seen here from Kayvon Thibodeau is disappointing. I would imagine– you know, having been around athletes, you know, at times, you know, whether it be NHL, NFL, MLB, whatever it might be, even now around with the Giants, the compete level of professional athletes is different than everybody, than anything.

39:59 You have to have the God-given ability of the compete level.

40:02 I would imagine Kayvon Thibodeau doesn't need the criticism to motivate him. I would think that he's motivated to begin with. Kayvon Thibodeau wants to get paid following this season, right? He's a professional athlete. So, you know, I I think just as you saw the Giants bring in J.J. McCarthy to that quarterback room, the Giants are going to, and I think John Harbaugh has sent a message loud and clear, is that he expects guys to make an impact.

40:29 If they don't, then they will look at other options as well.

40:33 But it's not surprising that Carl Banks is calling out Kayvon Thibodeau, John.

40:39 It really isn't.

40:40 I think we were all, when the Brian Burns news came out, that you were saying, okay, well, this is maybe a potential time for Kayvon to be able to take a step forward. And it has not looked, you know, he hasn't done that as of yet. Could he?

40:54 Yeah.

40:54 I don't think the story is written on the entire 2026 season. But for Carl, he's going to be open and honest and tell Giant fans.

41:01 That's why Giant fans love him. And they should.

41:04 He's going to be open and honest with you and tell you exactly what he's seeing on the field. whether criticism is justified or whether criticism is unjustified.

41:12 Yeah, I didn't hear what Carl said, so I don't want to comment on exactly what Carl said because I didn't hear it. Even though Bob records that in here, Bob's had headphones on, so I hear what Bob says. I don't hear what Carl says over the course of the show, and I did not listen to the episode.

41:24 Do you listen to Bob every time he records it?

41:29 I hear the Bob questions, but usually it's like the 15-second Bob question, then there's like two minutes of silence.

41:33 I got you.

41:34 And I have no idea what's going on in between the Bob questions.

41:36 Yeah.

41:38 So that's just the way he sits right where you're sitting right now. I'm sitting at my desk over there. Bob's got his headphones in. I hear Bob ask questions. I don't know what's Carl saying. But I thought Kayvon was a little bit better in this game. He did have three pressures in the game as a pass rusher, which is better than was the week before. I thought you had a couple better run defense snaps as well, setting the edge. That was better than the week before. Obviously, you'd like a little bit more. You always want a little bit more.

42:02 And we'll see how he can play.

42:03 Look, I think anyone you're picking on now is going to be somebody that you hope that can help you, but it's going to be in a situational role. Kayvon Thibodeau is here, and I think they're going to continue to play him a lot of snaps, and I think the expectation is that he's going to give them good play, and I think Kayvon thinks he's giving them good play.

42:18 So I think that that's where we are, and we'll see how he handles it moving forward.

42:22 201-939-4513.

42:23 Scotty in New Mexico. Scott, what's going on, pal?

42:28 Hi, guys.

42:28 You all right, Scott?

42:32 No, I'm about to collapse. Are you serious? No, I'm teasing.

42:37 Okay, good.

42:38 I don't know if that's something to tease about, Scott, but yeah, so glad you're okay. Thanks for making the call. What's on your mind?

42:45 It's just swimming with a manatee takes a lot out of you.

42:49 That's right.

42:50 You were the manatee call.

42:51 That's right. Forgot about that. Mating season. Interesting call. Call of the year.

42:58 I do send her a Valentine's Day card every year.

43:00 Oh, that's nice of you, Scott. Good for you.

43:02 That's the man it's his name.

43:04 Anyways, I don't know if either of you are aware of this, that Brian Hudson is now considered the number one center in the NFL against the pass. In 102 snaps, he's given up only one pressure at no sacks. And I'm wondering if there's maybe a correlation between the player of Winston and a new center who is, as I said, now the number one center in the league, which is surprising me because I never thought that change would happen that fast.

43:34 Well, again, Scott, I think you have to be careful of pressure sometimes.

43:36 Like next-gen sats, for example, had Brian Hudson for four pressures allowed in this last game.

43:41 So I think it depends.

43:42 On what service you want to depend on in terms of pressures and stuff like that. It changes from thing to thing. I think Brian Hudson's done a really nice job. Do I think he's the reason that Jameis Winston has had all the success the last two weeks?

43:54 No, I do not.

43:56 No, I would agree with you, but I think the change was a positive for the Giants, and I think the offensive line is better because they have Hudson now in the lineup.

44:05 Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, I mean, that's a fair assessment.

44:09 Yeah.

44:10 My main point is what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and what both you and Moose had talked about, when you're not getting home with four, you need to change the defense. And that's happened to a degree I didn't believe was going to happen. In the game against, I guess it was the game prep in the Arizona Cardinals game, the Giants blitzed 53.8%. of the dropbacks.

44:42 And in the commander game, it went up to 62%. Yep. And what's really interesting, a defensive back blitzed on 41% of J.D. Daniels' dropbacks. And how did that equate? He went two for eight for 23 yards.

45:01 By the way, Scott, hold on.

45:04 That's not the blitz stat. That's under pressure stat. So that was.

45:09 Daniels when he faced pressure. His numbers against the blitz are different than that. They're a little bit better.

45:14 Right, that's true. But the change in strategy, I think, is extremely positive for that defense. And I think if they continue, this is sort of a little bit like the Wink-Martinville days, where If they continue this kind of strategy, I think the Giants are going to be one of the top defensive teams in the league because obviously missing Burns hurt them a lot. And as one of the callers said, they're not really getting the play out of Kimon Thibodeau, which I'm a little surprised at. But with the personnel they do have, if they continue this, I think they're going to be one of the top defenses once they get this whole straight. Now, I was wondering if you agree that the strategy of blitzing as much

45:58 as they're doing is going to pay off in the long run. In fact, there was an interesting statistic that a defensive back on 41% of Jaden Daniels' dropbacks was Blixen. So they're bringing a defensive back on 41% of the time. I think it's really kind of opponent-based.

46:20 To be honest.

46:22 I could be wrong. I mean, John, I don't know if we're necessarily going to get into.

46:26 They would never put that much against Matthew Stafford or Dak Prescott.

46:29 Not in a million years. I think it's really the game situation, trying to. You even heard it at the end of the Arizona game where there was the stuff that was put out on social media, the interaction between John Harbaugh and Denar Wilson right before that fourth down pass that was picked off by Taye Banks. What do you want to do here?

46:49 Yeah, bring the pressure. Let's get the ball out of his hands quick.

46:52 Like, so I think it's kind of, I don't think this is now all of a sudden the transformation. If you're not getting home with four, though, like you have to create pressure. Like John and I both have talked about it. So like you can't, You can't turn a blind eye to it. And the fact is, is that the Giants defensive coordinator, Denard Wilson, has made an adjustment as the game has gone along here.

47:14 But I don't think this is.

47:15 Going to be like when you go up against Flores and the Minnesota Vikings. he is going to blitz you the moment you step off the bus. I don't think that's really where the Giants are going here. I could be wrong, and maybe it ends up where we get to that route.

47:30 And we saw Shook did struggle against all the blitzes from Lionel Flores last year.

47:34 Yes, he did. Struggled mightily. And that led him.

47:37 And you say to yourself, well, what does the pressure do?

47:40 Well, there was one play where Tyler Shook was– I think Murphy made a play on the football and ended up with an interception for the Minnesota Vikings.

47:50 Yeah, the pass deep down the left sideline.

47:51 Yeah, where the Minnesota Vikings didn't blitz. They brought four, and he thought there was a blitz, and he bailed out and then was looking behind him for who was trailing him if there was a Viking player, and it led to a poor throw and a bad decision.

48:05 That's what pressure does.

48:06 Yeah, and I think that's the key, Moose.

48:08 Scott, I don't think blitzing is some ultimate panacea where you're like, oh, you blitz a lot, your defense is going to be good. The commanders blitz a ton. Do you think their defense is good?

48:17 No.

48:17 Do you know what other.

48:18 Defense blitzes a ton? The Detroit Lions. Do you think the Detroit Lions have a good defense?

48:23 No.

48:23 No, they do not.

48:25 So blitzing, but I think Moose's point is right. You want to be able to use your pressures and your fronts to create indecision in with the offense, right? All right, there's six and seven guys in the line. Are they coming or are they not? And then you're going to make an adjustment. If you think they're coming, then you pull back. So can you stagger your blitzes, your pressures, and your coverage snaps and make it an unknown for the offense what's coming? Because if they know what's coming, every offense is going to be able to beat you.

48:54 You know what I mean?

48:57 Right.

48:57 And I think that's the point. In other words, if you are a blitzing team, then by nature... then teams don't know when you're coming or you're not. But if you are coming more times than not, then they're going to concentrate thinking that you're going to be blitzing. And that's an important point, I think, defensively. So for me, I'm very, very happy with the way it's been organized.

49:20 Wilson is actually working this system out. I hope it continues the way it is. And I think I had one last point. As we go through the season... Can this be sustained? In other words, as you were talking about, there are teams like Josh Allen. Oh, I remember what my last point was. It had to do with what Moose was talking about earlier, and I'll end it here.

49:48 As far as fumbling, as was demonstrated last night, guys are just punching.

49:53 The ball out.

49:54 It was Lamin who punched the ball out twice last night.

49:57 Yep.

49:58 As far as Skadable or any of the other guys, the defensive players are being trained that way. So I don't think, to be honest with you, that they're going to solve the problem on being able to carry the football because they're not going after... the player, they're going after the football. So I don't think unless the NFL makes a rule against that, I think it's going to remain the same.

50:17 No, but Scott, if you're holding the ball... No, but Scott, I appreciate the call. If you're holding the ball correctly, and Tiki has talked about this on the postgame and pregame show a million times because he lived this life. And I joked in the postgame, Tiki, the reason I love sports is that it's such a time capsule thing.

50:31 Because you weren't the fan when I was in 2002. Yeah. Right?

50:35 If you go back to 2002 and you were told giant fans that.

50:39 25 years later, people will be calling up the station asking for Tiki Barber to go to the Giants to teach their running backs how not to fumble.

50:47 You've been laughed off the radio station.

50:48 Right.

50:49 Well, yeah, no doubt.

50:50 100%. And listen, I mean, Tiki, I mean, the, you know, Tom Coughlin and company, you know, helped Tiki Barber with everything that went on and Tiki himself in terms of that scenario, hold on to the football. But Let me ask you, if it's not preventable, then why at times has Kyron Williams with the Rams had bad fumbles?

51:12 Why has Cook with the Buffalo Bills at times had bad fumbles?

51:15 And why do some guys never fumble?

51:16 And why do guys then never fumble? And it's being taught. John and I don't disagree with you. The Giants teach it. The Jets teach it. Every team in the NFL goes out there and teaches it. You see guys when they're all trying to hit the football and not get free before a runner's down. I get it, but there are some running backs that do a significantly better job understanding and holding on to the football. And there are other guys that get a little, quote-unquote, loose with the football and provide that opportunity for it to get punched out.

51:48 That's what you don't want to do if you're an NFL running back.

51:51 All right, let's go to our buddy Roberto in Florida. Roberto, what's happening, man?

51:54 Hey, fellas. What's going on? John Moose.

51:58 Roberto.

51:59 Good, Roberto.

51:59 How are you?

51:59 First of all, I want to thank... Paulie and Matt for their support on my firstborn's passing. It is, you know, they.

52:12 I'm sorry to hear that, Roberto.

52:13 That's awful. I'm sorry.

52:14 That's terrible.

52:15 Yeah, their words were beyond... I also, real briefly, I wanted to thank James for his words, encouraging words, because his Christianity, how he implemented it in... every booth talk he has, it's just amazing. It's soothing. Now, I talked to Paulie before the Washington game, and I knew the weather was going to be kind of a factor, but I've just been waiting for Winston to have that, I don't know, that catchiness, that, you know, that ego's, For him to sit in and start ripping it downfield, and in the second half it finally happened, we need to see more of that from him. Also, I cannot say enough about the secondary, how you see their positioning, and when you see the play replay, how everybody is just

53:18 cuddling a man. Like, we are not all over the place with this defense. You know, kudos to them.

53:25 Now, Roberto, you know what?

53:26 I think you hit it, by the way. I don't think the secondary has gotten enough credit. Deontay Bay is coming back the last couple of weeks. Newsom, I think, has done a really nice job. Drew Phillips has done a nice job the last couple of weeks. They haven't been committing those penalties down the field in terms of defensive pass interference, equal contact, defensive holding. And Moose, even when guys have caught balls on them, the coverage has been tight. There are no free runners back there at all.

53:48 No doubt. We're a long way away from Tay Banks a year ago.

53:51 Or two years ago.

53:52 Yeah, or two years ago. I mean, there's a night and day difference when you look at the player on the field. And then you look at Phillips had himself a game. Newsome, obviously, was a free agent brought in the offseason. The coverage in the back end, no confusion, no broken plays, no guys running free. I mean, it's all been distinctly different here through the first five weeks of the season.

54:12 Correct. Absolutely. And listen, guys, I know there's other callers out. I want to thank you for your support, and I don't know how to thank Winston personally for his words, but tell him I take great comfort in listening to his Christian way of speaking. God bless you both, and yesterday was my son's Walk of Honor, so I'm still a little bit, you know, on a.

54:37 Understandable.

54:39 So I love you guys.

54:40 Well, Roberto, we love you too. We're praying for you.

54:42 Absolutely. And hang in there, okay? And anything you need, don't hesitate.

54:46 Thank you for the call, man. Don't be a stranger. Call whenever you want.

54:49 But, yeah, you have obviously all our condolences and the condolences from the organization on the loss of your son.

54:54 No question.

54:54 That's awful.

54:55 Awful.

54:57 All right, let's do a couple YouTube comments here, Moose, before we say goodbye. A & M Think, are there half cookies in the cafeteria today?

55:04 Oh, that's a good question.

55:05 No, they are victory cookies.

55:07 Oh, there are?

55:07 No, no, no.

55:08 They are called victory cookies. They are not called didn't lose cookies.

55:11 Oh, there's no cookies.

55:12 I'm not looked, but I would assume that there are no cookies.

55:15 Yeah, I would assume. I just ran in and got a coffee because it's 17. I'd even see and look over, peer over.

55:21 I feel like you need to have high standards for Victory Cookies.

55:23 I would agree with that. They're Victory Cookies. Once I came into a tie, you know, I was like, ah, no cookies, no chocolate chip. And they're delicious. I had the s'mores last week.

55:33 S'mores is good, right?

55:33 Based on your recommendation.

55:35 Good?

55:35 It was awesome. Yes.

55:36 I mean, it was like a campfire. I feel like. Honestly, you know what you do?

55:43 What do you do?

55:44 You get it in the microwave for like 15 seconds.

55:46 Yeah, you got to be careful. If you put it in too much, then all of a sudden it becomes like a pool.

55:50 10 or 15 seconds.

55:51 That's it.

55:51 Okay, that's it.

55:52 Warms it up. It melts the chocolate a little bit. Oh, I like that. And you get the soft marshmallow in there.

55:56 Yes.

55:57 Oh, that's delicious.

55:57 But, yes, their victory cookies, they did not lose or tie cookies. So we have to keep the standards of the cookies high.

56:05 That's true, 100%.

56:06 JCNY718, the scatterboot pancake block on the league touchdown was amazing.

56:10 He actually had another one earlier in the game, too. His pass pro has actually been really.

56:14 Really good. Oh, really good. Yeah, he's a physical player. You expect that. And I think Antiki was pointed out on the, I heard the postgame, John, Um, Tiki was pointing out about, uh, if he, if he's a little bit more patient as a runner, when you're looking at Cam Scadaboo and allow the hole to develop, um, that he's going to, and he said, he's going to be a wonderful running back, a really impactful running back. He's just going to be a little bit more patient and let the play develop in front of them instead of basically hitting it at hitting the hole with like, uh, you know, force, um, you know, hitting a hole really quickly.

56:49 So we'll see exactly, but there's no doubt.

56:51 Skadaboo. And that's where, you know, you talk about the phases of a running back is not only being able to run and catch the ball out of the backfield, but being able to pick up blitzes as well. And Skadaboo has shown his propensity to be able to do that.

57:03 Yeah, no question about it. Let's go to our next comment. DarkSimi2572, I think we need to stick to the Flores philosophy as well. Blitz till the cows come home.

57:12 Guys, be careful. Be careful. This is not like a universal, this works every time for every team. Otherwise, you know what? Every team would do it all the time.

57:20 And the other thing is, and I don't know how many people, but he is doing some crazy interesting things.

57:27 With his coverage in the back end of that secondary as well. So it's not just bringing the heat up front.

57:33 And that is a team that understands, and they've added to that defensive line, added to the rotation.

57:39 I mean, that Vikings defense understands.

57:41 Here's what's impressive about Minnesota is, given the limitations that you look at what they are right now offensively, is that Minnesota team goes into every single week understanding that that defense needs to be dominant, and they are.

57:53 And that's impressive.

57:54 Finally, Scott Young, 1669, wants to know about Dwayne Smoot. The Giants reported the time to the practice squad yesterday. 27 career sacks. He started 21 games. A lot of games for the Jaguars. Drafted originally in 2017. Again, he's a guy you bring in. He's going to help you on the edge. He's 6'3, 275, a bigger body. Maybe stop the run on early downs a little bit. Maybe help you on your early down run defense.

58:16 Yeah, and so we'll see exactly. I think the Giants are going to kind of look at all options here moving forward, see how they can continue to go out there and improve the team. And here's for the other thing that hits you, John, is we know the first month of the NFL season is such a week-to-week league.

58:32 It ends up still being such a week-to-week league. The one thing, the New England Patriots used to always say this under Belichick, continue to find ways to win football games. We'll figure out exactly what we are as a team when we get to Thanksgiving. And that's really kind of the mindset you need to have. Nothing is perfect. Nothing is not without improvement. But you want to still continue to find ways to win a game. And on Sunday, it wasn't a win. It wasn't a loss. It was a tie. So you don't know exactly how necessarily to feel.

58:59 But now hopefully this Sunday, you know, stealing the line from John Harbaugh. But now this Sunday, hopefully the Giants find a way to win a game against the New Orleans Saints team.

59:07 There are things that the Giants should be able to take advantage of.

59:10 That's Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the Giants. From the Hackensack Marine Health Podcast, you'll keep getting better. For Mark Malousis, I'm John Schmelke. We'll see you next time, everybody.