Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/2 | Giants vs. Cardinals Preview

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0:24 What is going on? A bunch of crazed dogs. Have some fun. Hello again, everybody, and welcome to Friday's edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants. Paul Dottino, Matt Saitak with you for the next hour to talk New York Giants football. We come to you from the Giants podcast studio, presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better.

0:47 Our phone number, 201-939-4513, 201-939-4513. You can also catch us on the Simulcast on the New York Giants YouTube page, as well as the app. And an archive of this show is always available as part of the Giants Podcast Network, the Giants mobile app as well, and podcast platforms everywhere, the Giants YouTube channel, and at Giants.com slash podcasts. Folks, because it's Friday, you know what that means. It's preview day as we talk about Sunday's 1 o'clock kickoff at MetLife Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants looking for their first 3-0 home record since the 2009 season. Should they come away with that, they'll also be 3-1 on the year. And then a divisional game down in Washington

1:36 against the Commanders will be on deck. So it is a critical part of the schedule. I think also, Matt, to be honest with you, it's a critical part psychologically for this team because they've suffered some devastating season injuries to team leaders over the last two weeks. They've had some headlines made with some rather interesting transactions and roster gymnastics.

2:00 And so as I've talked about over the last 24 hours to people on another show I was on as well, this is an important week for the Giants to solidify the stability of this team and of this locker room and at the same time try to start to build a little bit of momentum because, again, to go 3-0 at home would be a really good sign.

2:22 One hundred percent.

2:23 I mean, we're only in week four and it feels like we've already dealt with like three seasons worth of.

2:32 Doesn't it?

2:33 I don't want to like drama, honestly. I agree. It's crazy.

2:36 You know, we're not even a month since the season opener, since that game against the Cowboys on Sunday night. But yeah, this I think this game is is got is pretty significant for a multitude of reasons.

2:46 You know, you just mentioned a lot of it.

2:49 Despite all of what's happened, despite the injury to Jackson Dart, despite the injury to Brian Burns, the Giants have a chance to start the season 3-1 in a game against an Arizona Cardinals team that, you know, as I said before the season started, there are no games that you can just chalk up as wins in the NFL by no means. But this certainly is a game that is winnable.

3:11 You know, it's not like the Cardinals are, despite them playing actually, I think, a lot better than people expected. It's not like they're considered one of the top contenders in the NFL. So this is a game that if the Giants do what they need to do and handle themselves and focus on themselves, this is a game that the Giants can win. And it is big for Jameis Winston, no doubt about it. There's been a lot of talk about his kind of struggles, at least against the Rams, and then his performance last week against the Titans that wasn't I guess it wasn't the Jameis Winston that people are used to seeing.

3:49 Okay.

3:50 But at the end of the day, and I know this has been talked about at length over the last four days, Jameis did what he needed to do to win the game.

3:59 He did. Period.

4:00 End of story. Coach said that. Matt Nagy said that. Everyone has been saying that. The players, he did what he needed to do to win. The Giants won the football game.

4:09 I don't know how many of you guys have played a football game in a Nor'easter, but it is not easy to throw the ball when there are wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour and consistent rain throughout all four quarters of a game. So this week, hopefully the weather is better. You know, I think there is at least a chance that it might rain again. I haven't seen the latest forecast. I know it's kind of changed.

4:31 It's now over 50%.

4:34 At one point, it was like, I think, 80% or 90%. Then it went down to look like zero.

4:38 It went down to like 25%.

4:40 And now it's back, I guess, to over 50%. There is a chance that this is another weather game. But no matter what, I do think this offense is going to look better than it has the last two weeks.

4:54 I really do. And it's going to start with Jameis.

4:57 I won't even talk about the weather last week. I'm going to make it even more simple than that. One of the basic reason, number one reason maybe. I don't know. It could have been. It was certainly one of the top reasons why they won the game. Jameis Winston, zero interceptions. Zero. There was one dropped by the Titans early, but zero interceptions.

5:23 And zero fumbles.

5:24 Cam Ward won at the very end of the game. And it turned out to be the deciding play of the afternoon. And what do we say about Jameis Winston? The spectral moment in him is wide. He can look really, really dangerous. And then on the other side, things can get awry. Well, last Sunday, Jameis Winston did not let things get awry. He did not throw a pick. Now, I will confess to you, folks, I have not gone back, and I'm going to do this. I promise you I will do this by Sunday's radio broadcast at 11 o'clock.

6:04 On the WFAN pregame. I want to go back and I want to look... At what... Jameis Winston's starting quarterback record is. And you guys know I'm not big on that stat. But... What it is in games when he doesn't throw a pick. And I bet you... It's a lot different winning percentage wise... Than in games when he does.

6:30 So.

6:31 It may be that simple, folks. It may be that simple. Just don't throw one. And that's how the Giants escaped. By scoring only 12 points on four field goals and still won the game. Because Jameis Winston did not turn the ball over. It's that simple. I think. I don't care about the weather. Don't give the ball away. Anyway, that's my thought. Jacoby Brissett. In case you guys did not know, about a third of the way through last season became the starting quarterback for the Cardinals. The interesting part about this is Winston throughout his career has an interception percentage of about 3.5% of his throws, which is one of the higher ones over the course of NFL history.

7:20 Brissette has one of the lowest interception percentages in NFL history. So this is all the more reason why I'm going to say to you once again, Matt, Jameis doesn't put the ball in harm's way. I feel really good about the Giants' chances because I will tell you this, Jacoby Brissett, he's got one pick he's thrown this year, and again, throughout his career, he doesn't give the ball away. That's about the best thing that he does do. He doesn't give it away.

7:48 Yeah, you said about Jacoby Brissett that he has one of the lowest interception rates.

7:53 He has the lowest.

7:54 In NFL history, Jacoby Brissett has a career 1.4 interception rate, 33 interceptions in 2,363.

8:02 Attempts.

8:04 That is the lowest in NFL history of quarterbacks with at least 1,500 pass attempts.

8:10 There's a qualification on the amount of attempts. For sure.

8:13 Guys that have actually started a decent amount of games. He has the lowest.

8:18 So you're right. He is not, most likely, he's not going to turn the ball over.

8:21 No.

8:22 I mean, unless, obviously, he does have one interception this season. So could it happen? Yeah, but you can't depend on you know, a huge turnover and a flip to field like we've seen the Giants do at times over the first three weeks because Jacoby Brissett, most of the time, is not going to make those mistakes.

8:39 He will not.

8:39 And they do have a rookie running back where you would think, you know, oh, rookie running back, maybe that's where you can, you know, force a turnover. And obviously, it is possible, but this is a rookie running back who is the number three overall pick coming off of one of the best college football seasons we've ever seen in Jeremiah Love.

8:55 He is fantastic. I mean, obviously... Coach was asked about him.

9:00 Was it Wednesday, and raved about him. Basically was like, what is there not to like about this kid?

9:05 He's just special.

9:06 He really does everything. And the Cardinals, for the first time last week, seemed to finally unleash him.

9:12 He did have an ankle injury that caused him to miss a lot of time in the preseason. And towards the end of training camp, it seemed like Arizona kind of eased him in the first two weeks.

9:21 But last week, they fully unleashed him.

9:23 He had 26 total touches. I believe over 100 yards, scored a touchdown. Obviously, to be the number three overall pick, this kid is the real deal. I don't think he's your typical rookie running back that's going to make kind of rookie running back mistakes.

9:40 This guy is a special talent. They have talent up and down this offense. I mean, Marvin Harrison Jr., who's obviously struggled, I would say, to start his NFL career, is the third option in this passing game.

9:54 Behind Trey McBride, who's probably the most elite tight end.

9:58 Behind Michael Wilson, who had 17.

10:00 Targets last week, and going back to last year, had double digit targets in five of their last eight games, and now you have Jeremiah Love also able to catch the ball out of the backfield. Jacoby Brissett has a lot of options to throw the ball to in this passing game.

10:13 This is not an offense that can be taken lightly.

10:15 For those of you who don't play fantasy football, and I don't, but you will know that going into this season, between 24 and 25, Trey McBride has like 235 catches over two years.

10:28 He was second in the NFL in receptions last year, only behind Puka Nakua.

10:32 And this year, he's already got like two dozen. Already. Yep. This season. So, you know, there's no doubt where Brissette's throwing the ball. Now, he only averaged this year about eight yards a catch. Okay, that's a very paltry number. Let's not kid ourselves, all right? He's not going downfield. This is not a vertical threat. This is simply a guy who they're going to use as a bailout, an emergency, a dump-off, check-down. But the point is, Brissette's comfortable with him, and he's always going to be looking for him. It's one of the reasons why Brissette's completion percentage is at 70%, because he knows he can do dink and dunk and get the ball to McBride all day long. Because he's got terrific hands. He won't drop the ball. And he

11:18 runs good routes and he knows how to get open. He's not a dynamic tight end. This is why people don't usually talk about him in those terms. Because when you average eight yards a catch... that's not very dangerous. The point is, though, he will help them move the chains. So that's where we're at in terms of just a quick capsule. The Cardinals' defense leaves a lot to be desired.

11:41 In fact, Love is the only rookie on the offense that's starting this year, and they have no rookies on defense starting this year. They did not get much of an infusion of new talent compared to the 25.

11:52 No, in fact, they lost a couple of guys from their defense. I mean, the only kind of, I guess... Notable name on their defense is Buda Baker, eight-time Pro Bowl safety.

12:03 He's been around a long time.

12:04 He's been around a long time.

12:07 Still pretty dangerous, although he has struggled a bit in coverage, especially the last two weeks.

12:12 Two weeks ago, he.

12:15 Allowed, I believe it was over 100 yards and two touchdowns in coverage. Last week, only allowed one reception for one yard, but it also went for a touchdown. So he's given up three touchdowns in the last two weeks in coverage.

12:26 Yeah.

12:28 I agree. The defense certainly has left a lot to be desired.

12:33 They gave up 36 points last week and 31 points the week before. They gave up 14 points in the season opener, but that was against a struggling Los Angeles Chargers team.

12:45 Yes, I think that's a very fair word to use. They did come back and make it a game against San Francisco last week, 36-30, and the Niners prevailed, but the Cardinals were down deep and came roaring back and made it competitive. The one injury item, because the Cardinals have no players in their starting lineup that were held out of practice yesterday because of injury. None. The Giants had one who was held out yesterday, and that is Andrew Thomas because of a sore groin. Now, Folks, as I told you last week when we were doing the program, I guess, was it Monday when it was? It was Monday.

13:24 We sometimes, we get in the studio a couple of minutes before we start the show and we're sequestered in here. We really don't know what's going on outside that closed door. So the media is out there right now, at least maybe they might have been sent in a few minutes ago, watching practice. And so I don't have any reports. Did you see anything? Yes.

13:43 Obviously, the official injury report will be released at 4 o'clock. But according to the media members that are out there currently, Andrew Thomas is out there. He has been spotted at practice, which is more than you could say about the last two days.

13:58 Yes, yes. So anyway, that's where we're at. We do know that he worked through a groin injury last week. A lot of folks did not expect him to play. He did play, did allow one sack, but nonetheless, he gutted it through. And that's the kind of warrior that Andrew Thomas is. So he is the only gentleman on the Giants injury report who did not work yesterday at We'll have more on the injury report, 4 o'clock today, when the team releases that. And I invite you to go to Giants.com, and you will see that posted as soon as it becomes available. All right, I think it's probably time we get to the phone calls. And we remind you with one final promotional announcement. It is Mark Bovaro bobblehead day on Sunday. So if, in fact, you

14:43 have not gotten your tickets and you still want to pick up one of those, you could still do that. Go to Giants.com slash tickets. It's also the 40th anniversary celebration of the 1986 New York Giants World Championship Super Bowl team when Sims beat the Broncos in Super Bowl 21 out in Pasadena. For a lot of reasons, but I will tell you personally, it's going to be a special day for me. Look, I covered that team. I know all those guys. And I am really looking forward to seeing the 86 Giants back here in the Meadowlands.

15:16 All right. With that, I do think it is time we get to the phone calls. And we check on our first caller of the day. It is Coach Marvin in Delaware. And you're first on Big Blue Kickoff Live. Hello, Coach.

15:27 How you doing, Paul and Matt?

15:28 We're good. How are you?

15:29 How are you, Coach?

15:30 I'm doing good. I'm doing good. We're 2-1, so I feel good. I was thinking about what Matt said, some very good things. You guys were talking about the way people feel about how they played last week. And I think. They did what they had to do to win that game, and it wasn't on the quarterback at all. It wasn't on Winston. If it's me and I'm coaching it, the first thing I have to do is apologize to them, to the team, because they got down in that red zone, and then I started changing what we were doing successful.

16:13 And instead of running forward, I started running sideways.

16:16 Yeah.

16:17 And maybe I thought I saw something that we could take advantage of and it didn't work. And I think that caused some of the issues with the team because we could have beat them by more than what we beat them by. It shouldn't have been 12-7.

16:34 Agreed. And the defense dropped two interceptions. On the play calling. Edmonds and Phillips both had their hands on the ball and should have picked it off. So it could have been a much more lopsided game. You're absolutely right. Right.

16:46 So it wasn't really the weather because the Titans was having issues also. I mean, they had their issues this season, but the weather played a part with them, too. So the weather did play a big part of it.

17:03 But.

17:06 The one thing I talked about about two weeks ago, I think, is still the defensive back play. And it's not just us. It's the NFL, the college level. I don't know since I talked about it if anybody actually paid attention to it. But there's a lot of PIs that.

17:22 Are going on.

17:23 Somehow we need to change those rules because I think eventually it's going to hurt us also somewhere in the game where these pass interference calls happen. are going to end up costing us a game. Um, so I hope the NFL look at something to help defensive backs. If you're going to allow, um, hand fighting, they should allow hand fighting, um, because they both are pushing, pushing off. Um, And as far as this week coming, I was listening to what Matt was saying about the game. You know, we do have a chance to win this game, but I'm more of a... I take the A student and the C student method. And what I mean by that, if a C student gets all Cs and all of a sudden they get one A... you always concentrate on

18:22 that A. You celebrate that they got an A. And if you take an A student and an A student gets a B, that A student concentrates on that B. Why didn't I get an A? So those methods I usually take, and I usually try to take the A student method. So That's why I would concentrate on what happened last week and not try to take, not Matt saying this, he didn't say this, but I would not take this game Sunday for granted. There's a good possibility we could lose this game. based on the stat you guys were saying about how they don't turn the ball over, that may play a role also. But we're going to have to play stout in this game because they got some young guys there that can play. So we're going to have to be aware of that and not take

19:14 it for granted because they're looking at us as a good right game too. So we have to come to play this Sunday because going 3-1 and And three and one and two and two, that's going to be a big difference for us. We have to realize that.

19:33 Sure is. Coach, before we let you go, I leave you with one stat. You just mentioned defensive pass interference calls. The Giants, the Cardinals, and the Seahawks are tied for the NFL lead with four defensive pass interference called against through the first three weeks. of the season. And the Giants are playing the Cardinals on Sunday. So you may see some flags. Right.

19:58 And do you remember, I think you mentioned something about it, Paul. I think it was the, I can't remember, was it the first game or the second game? Where we got some pass interference. That was the second game where you had some concerns about the P.I.

20:15 Calls. Yeah.

20:16 Where they was questionable.

20:18 I think you're right about the hand fighting. The officials are being a little tough in that regard. Look, as long as it's league-wide, you can't complain, right, because you want consistency. And if that's the way the game's going to be called, you have to deal with it. Now, whether or not you like that is another story entirely.

20:38 You know, I agree with you. I'd like to let more hand-fighting go. But if the league is going to, across the board, not tolerate it, well, then call it consistently, and then the players just have to adjust.

20:51 Well, it's not just the league. It's across all football. It's across in the college level also. I don't think that's a 15-yard penalty. It's because of the way.

21:03 The rules are.

21:06 Because once the ball is in the air, as I used to teach, the first thing I would ask my defensive backs, who ball is it once it's in the air?

21:14 Yeah.

21:15 And some people will believe, oh, it's the offensive ball.

21:18 No, no, no, no, no.

21:18 No, no, no. It doesn't belong to anyone.

21:22 That's right. It's mine, too.

21:24 You have just as much of a right to catch that ball as the offensive player.

21:29 I agree with you, Coach.

21:30 And if you can balance it out and say, okay, we're going to try to some way give some offensive PIs, then okay, then we're working with something. But I think they should let them hand fight. If the offensive player is fan fighting, let the defensive player defend himself and hand fight and let it go. If you're not pulling them, holding them, pulling them by his waist back or tackling them, okay, then you both are fighting for something that doesn't belong to anybody.

21:59 Coach, I'll give you Commissioner Goodell's phone number, and you can give him a call, okay? Appreciate it.

22:04 All right, guys.

22:05 Thank you. Have a good weekend.

22:06 Thank you, Coach.

22:07 You too. We go to Steven in Brooklyn. He's on line two. You're next on Big Blue Kickoff Live.

22:14 Gentlemen, how are you?

22:15 Hi.

22:16 Big time Giants fan. First time calling into the show, so very excited.

22:21 Thank you.

22:21 Appreciate the call.

22:22 Thank you. Got a couple of... thoughts regarding Jameis Winston. You know, I really do like the signing of J.J. McCarthy. I think that he fits the system very well. Obviously, he's younger. He's got a live arm.

22:44 He can move.

22:46 I'm excited for that move, and I understand right now that Jameis Winston is the.

22:52 You.

22:54 But, you know, you're asking, you know, I do have a question for you guys. But first, my statement is, like, you do have a quarterback who recently has been a backup quarterback for a couple of years now. And I don't think Jameis Winston could hold up for the whole season. You know, it's one of those situations where... He comes in early on in the season. And I do want to give him a chance. I actually have him in my fantasy league because Jackson Dogg got injured for the year.

23:27 So I'm starting him this week. But, you know, funny enough, I don't know if he's able to hold up for 15 games, 16 games. You know, when you look at a starting quarterback, excuse me, when you're looking at a backup quarterback, you know, they come in. occasionally, you know, a game or two, if your starters hurt and this and that. But I do eventually feel that JJ will be the starter, you know, going forward down the line.

23:56 You know, I hope the best for Winston. I hope he can turn around for us. But I wanted to know, like, your thoughts on what you feel, you know, do you guys actually feel that he could, you know, be a starter for, going forward for all these games, Jameis Winston?

24:15 Want to take it?

24:17 Yeah.

24:17 I mean, honestly, I do. I do believe he can be like, he has the potential to be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

24:24 Yes.

24:25 I mean, this is a guy that was the number one overall pick a little over a decade ago. Like, yes, he's, you know, not the youngest guy in the league. He's 32 years old, but how many veteran quarterbacks do we see across the NFL having a ton of success well into their thirties? So, I don't think he's incapable of holding up for a full season.

24:45 He's thrown for 5,000 yards. One of nine quarterbacks in league history to do that.

24:50 The last time he was a full-time starter, yes, he threw for over 5,000 yards. Now, he did also throw for 30 interceptions.

24:57 No doubt.

24:58 But as long as he keeps the interception rate down, which if he plays like he did last week in terms of protecting the football, then it looks like that could be the case, then Yeah, I do think he can. I do think he is capable of remaining the starter for the rest of the season.

25:16 I mean, there's a reason why he was.

25:17 Brought in to be the backup quarterback behind Jackson Dart and given that contract extension only a couple of weeks ago. Now, that doesn't mean, as Coach Harbaugh said earlier in the week, they are always looking for ways to improve the team. That is why they went and traded for J.J. McCarthy because they needed to add more to the quarterback room after Jackson Dart's injury.

25:38 If Jameis Winston.

25:40 struggles for a you know consistent amount of time week after week could there be a change at some point down the road of course that goes for any position and coach since coach Albra has stepped foot inside this building he's made it clear I don't care about where you came from what you did before all about it's all about what you're doing now how you're what you're doing to help this team win football games now So to answer your question, yes, I do think Jameis is capable of starting for the rest of the season.

26:11 You know, for most, I'd say if you break down his numbers, he's been in the league 12 years, right? I'm pretty sure it's 12, right, Matt? Yeah, it's 12. And for roughly half of his career, not necessarily broken down nicely into a year-by-year scenario, but for approximately half of his career, he has been a starter in this league.

26:31 So he has proven to the NFL that he has the skills, the tools, the ability to start a number of games in this league and win a number of games in this league. It's very simple. It's about the turnovers. If Jameis Winston were to do what he did last week, I will tell you this. Now, maybe Coach Harbaugh doesn't feel this way, and I'm not going to speak for him because that's not my position to do. But I will tell you this. If the Giants are able to win and he just manages the game and does whatever they need to do to have more points at the end of every Sunday, I could care less because I don't have him on my fantasy football team because I don't have a fantasy football team. Okay? So for me, I could give a horse's butt about Jameis Winston's stats

27:18 as long as the turnovers are zero because that means the Giants have a chance to win. That's my answer. I... I agree.

27:28 One last thing. With regards to him being a gunslinger in the past and taking chances and things of that nature, obviously we have a great head coach right now that knows that turnovers is an issue, interceptions are an issue, no matter what the position is, if it's a running back or if there's drops.

27:51 And with the running backs on this team, with this potentially strong running game, even less of a reason for them to throw wildly and allow interceptions to creep into the day.

28:05 And I understand, but also, too, now you're, you know, we're going up against a good, let's use this weekend, for example, we're going up against a very good offensive team. So if our defense does struggle, and especially with other teams going forward with better offenses, you know, last week you got to throw it out the window with the weather.

28:25 But, you know, now.

28:26 You're asking if our defense, we just lost Burns, if our defense is giving up. 18, 20, 25 points a game, then that's where, you know, you might be playing from behind. James Winston might have to take some more chances. So, you know, it's a story that we're going to see. It's going to take place. And we're going to have to see how he plays up to it. But, you know, I just feel with Alba being the head coach and being accountable, I hope that the offensive coordinators and keep them focused and understand, you know, not making those mistakes and playing smart. You know, I think, you know, it's a wait-and-see type of approach each game, and I get it.

29:06 You're right.

29:07 But I'm rooting for him. Yeah, I'm rooting for him. I just hope that, you know, he comes to an understanding that, you know, he doesn't need to throw that 35-yard.

29:17 You know, Oh, we lost you, Steven. We lost you. Your cell connection kind of filtered out there. But you've got you've got the idea, right? You don't want Jameis Winston to have to be a come from behind quarterback because that means he has to force more balls. He's got to throw more balls and the interception percentage will likely go up. So you want to control. the narrative of the game each and every week if you can the good news is the Giants have running backs who can potentially do that whether the defense can improve and hold up that is a wait and see proposition Yeah.

29:53 Look, Jameis, when he spoke to the media the other day, he touched on this exact subject. He was like, the only reason that I'm being asked these questions about my quote-unquote struggles is because of what I did in the past. He's like, if I threw for 300-plus yards and a couple of interceptions, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, which is true.

30:12 It's just because everyone's used to the.

30:13 Quote-unquote gunslinging Jameis Winston, and when he doesn't do that, they're like, oh, he's struggling mightily.

30:19 It's not the same guy. Again, I'm going to keep saying this, he did what he had to do to win the football game. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

30:29 The Giants will take a ugly 12-7 victory over a 36-30 loss where Jameis throws for 400 yards and four touchdowns without a question.

30:39 Look, I'll tell you this before we get to the next call. Go back to the 1997 Giants when Jim Fossil was a rookie head coach and the Giants won the division with 10 wins. That was Fossil's first year as head coach. Danny Connell, was the winning quarterback that season. Okay? Go back and look at Danny's stats. They are not very impressive. They won a lot of games ugly. They won a lot of games close to the vest. But they had a nice, strong running game. And they had a very solid and opportunistic defense. And good special teams. Well, you know what? That's the formula that this team would like to use. Especially now that Dart is down. If Jackson Dart was healthy, I'm sure they would do a lot more offensively. Take more aggression with their game plan.

31:26 But great coaches know how to adjust as the season progresses because there will be factors that will change your circumstances. That's what's happened with the Giants. The circumstances have now changed. And so if you thought that they were going to try to win bully ball and pound it out before, well, now multiply that by four because they've got to play the game much closer to the vest, given what they currently have on the roster. Fair enough?

31:56 Fair enough.

31:57 All right. Back to the calls. Scott from New Jersey, you're next on the show.

32:01 Hello.

32:01 Good afternoon, Paul. How are you guys doing?

32:05 Good to talk to you. How are you?

32:07 Good to talk to you. So, basically, I just want to touch back to last week's game a little bit. I don't know if it's been talked about at all this week. I've been listening to the show most of the week, but I want to go back to the forecast for the game was going to be a Nor'easter with rain.

32:21 Now, you have two of your.

32:23 Best players coming off of injuries in the game against the Rams, with Burns with the ankle and Thomas with the groin. Now, Burns didn't practice Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but he was on the field Sunday, and Thomas was limited twice and did not pass him in the game. I felt it would have been best to rest those guys because we're in the early part of the season. As we say in my job, and you've said it on the show before.

32:46 This is not a sprint.

32:48 This is a marathon.

32:49 We've got a long season ahead of us. We're playing one of the teams that's supposed to be one of the lower teams in the NFL. I thought it would have been the best decision to maybe rest those guys, get them up to 100%, because I saw Andrew Thomas coming off the field off a change of possession. He was very gimpy walking to the sideline, and I know it had to affect Burns with the wet turf. So in my head, I thought it would have been best to rest them for another week.

33:17 Your thoughts on that?

33:19 All right. All right. I'm going to actually knock you down on this one. Andrew Thomas, I can only say this. He did give up one sack, but I thought he did what he had to do to get through the game. And apparently he's out on the practice field, according to the media today. So perhaps all systems will go anyway.

33:36 But the Burns one, I'm going to have to knock you down on it. I'll tell you why. Not only would it take 15 Clydesdales to keep Brian Burns out of a game. And I'm talking about full strength running in the other direction because that's how badly Brian Burns wants to play. He'd only missed three games in his career and was incredibly proud of his durability record. So as a co-captain team leader here, there's no way he was going to not play. The other item about Burns is up until the time he came out of the game, the Giants had sent either a five-man line or extra pressure on half of the snaps that the Titans had taken to that point. And they had totally been neutralized offensively.

34:21 After Burns left, the Giants did not have a lot of five-man lines and a lot of pressure. And what happened? It was in the middle of the next-to-last drive. The last two Titans drives were 70-something yards and I think 90 yards. Is that what the last two drives were?

34:39 Something like that.

34:39 Check on that, Matt, for me, please. But their most effective two drives at the end of the game, which wound up giving the Giants the heebie-jeebies, right? Because they needed Javon Holland to intercept a pass in the end zone to seal it. But the last two Titans drives... driving a half, were done after Burns came out of the game. And you could see the difference in the defense.

35:03 It made a big difference. They were not the same team. So I'm not going to tell you that had Burns not played at all, the Giants would have lost the game. I don't want to say that. but it is quite clear that the Titans' offense's effectiveness was dramatically impacted because when Burns came out of the game, they really started moving the ball big time.

35:27 Yeah, their second-to-last drive, which is the one they scored a touchdown on, went 91 yards, which started two minutes into the fourth quarter. And then the last drive, which obviously ended in the Holland interception, went 70 yards prior to the interception.

35:43 And up to that point, they had just had one decent drive all day. So when Brian Burns was in the game, it made a huge difference.

35:52 I understand that the Machismo part, he wants to play, he wants to be out there. But seeing the fact the way the Jets pretty much steamrolled the Titans in week one, I thought we were going to go basically that kind of game plan. Unfortunately, when we got down to the red zone, they got a little too creative.

36:07 Rather than just smashing it right up the middle, they're going wide, they're trying these option things. Rather than just, you know.

36:13 Put all your guys and push everything forward.

36:15 I didn't like the game plan down there. I thought we should have been ahead a lot more than.

36:19 What we were. That's true. I agree with that. I agree with that.

36:23 They kept the Titans in the game, which was basically, if there was a better quarterback, I don't want to say Cam was a terrible quarterback, but if there was a better quarterback in that game, we'd probably lose that game the way we left them in at the end of the game.

36:37 Well, like I say, I think that it's quite clear that when Burns came out, it made a difference in the Giants' effectiveness on defense. So if he had not been there from the beginning, I don't know. What do you think Tennessee might have been able to do if he had not played at all? True.

36:55 It's a media that says hindsight is 20-20.

36:59 That's why I can't let you get away with the statement because we really don't know the answer to that. And I will say this, the bad news is that he's lost for the season now. That's the shame of it. But also, to your point, and this goes back to what Matt said a few minutes ago, you can't take any game for granted. And to go into a game saying, well, Tennessee's weak, we don't have to play our best defensive player, boy, what kind of signal does that send to the rest of you guys?

37:27 Yeah, I'm with you. That's why the same exact thing with this week.

37:30 If Andrew Thomas gets medically clear to play, I'm pretty confident in saying he'll be out there. If he gets clear to play medically, obviously, that's a whole other story. If he doesn't, then that's that. But Just because, you know, we spoke about how the Cardinals leave a lot to be desired on defense, that doesn't mean you just completely overlook them. Like, you still want your best players out there if they are clear to be out there.

37:53 Every single week. It doesn't matter who you're lining up against.

37:57 Okay?

37:57 Well, let's just hope for sunny skies Sunday long enough for us. I want to see Jameis with a sunny day out there, and I want to see how effective he can be with Good conditions. And let's hope for a 3-1 record come Sunday night.

38:11 I'm with you, Scott. And by the way, if you're going to be at the game, bring a giant can of pesticides so you can spray the injury bug away from the giant sideline. That would be a really good thing to do. Have a great day.

38:24 I will tell him to bring it.

38:25 Okay. Thanks a lot.

38:26 So I went back and I looked at when Coach Harbaugh was with the Ravens. Because there were a few seasons where Lamar Jackson missed some time.

38:35 Yes.

38:35 Since becoming this MVP level quarterback.

38:37 Almost every season, actually.

38:38 So I went back to the 2022 season. Lamar Jackson got hurt and missed the final five games of the season. The Ravens still made the playoffs that year. And that was with Snoop Huntley at quarterback, or Tyler Huntley. And I went back and looked. The five games that Lamar Jackson was out for at the end of the season, they went 2-3, which was enough to get a wild card spot. They did not score more than 17 points in any of those games. They did what they had to do to win and to clinch their playoff spot.

39:08 It obviously involved playing a lot of good defense. I mean, they had one game where they gave up more than 16 points.

39:14 The Ravens defense, you know, from, was it 2022? Obviously, very good defense, but the point being, they did what they had to do.

39:21 So, Coach Harbaugh, this coaching staff, everyone here in this building, they don't care if it's a pretty win or not.

39:28 All that matters is emerging victorious. When the fourth quarter gets, the clock gets to zero, having more points than your opponent, that is all that matters. It doesn't matter how it happens. Just win the game.

39:41 Now, I will say this. There's no doubt that injuries to your starting quarterback, your franchise QB, and your best defensive player right? Those things impact your team. And if it means that the Giants have to slow things down to a tortoise pace and play the game in the mud and turn it into a crawl the whole season, it leaves them a lot less margin for error. That is true. It makes it a much more stressful campaign from the start to the finish. I don't disagree with that.

40:15 There's going to be a lot of games that where you're going to be biting your nails because these things are going to be razor thin and you didn't want them to be. Or they're going to be games where a better team that just has an incredibly explosive offense, they may take it to the Giants a few times.

40:31 That may happen a few times before the season's over, where a team just has so much firepower on offense, the defense can't hold up, and the Giants don't have enough of weaponry on offense to necessarily keep up. That could happen too. I'm not going to sit here and say it can't. Of course it could. So, yeah, yeah, it's all about winning. And Coach Harbaugh is going to do everything he can to win as many games as possible.

40:56 And if that means you've got to go through consternation and agita to get there, well, then so be it. That's it.

41:04 Yeah, I'm with you.

41:04 And since we just talked about Burns' injury a couple of times now, we have yet to mention that officially the Giants.

41:12 Have brought back a pretty familiar face.

41:15 My guy, Hadi, Jihad Ward, one of my favorite players, they signed off the Vikings practice squad officially yesterday. This obviously in the wake of Burns' injury. Ward has experience playing on the edge, on the interior of the defensive line.

41:32 He's one of those.

41:33 I would say similar to Golston in terms of his just versatility to line up in several different spots.

41:39 This coaching staff, who obviously.

41:41 Was not here when Jihad Ward was last year, they still have plenty of familiarity with him because he was with the Baltimore Ravens for parts of two different seasons.

41:51 I believe it was 2019 and 2020. And then more recently, he spent last year with the Tennessee Titans, where Denard Wilson was the defensive coordinator. And Hottie had perhaps his best season yet playing for Denard Wilson last year. A career– matched his career high of five sacks.

42:07 Was all over the field, good in the run defense. So it's good to have a familiar face back and someone who not only could fill– at least attempt to fill some of the void left by Brian Burns' injury, but as we know– Gian Ward is also a pretty big personality and is just another guy that is going to make sure that that.

42:27 Locker room is, you know, juiced up every week.

42:30 He's a glue guy. He's a glue guy.

42:32 He is a glue guy. He's a locker room guy that fires everyone else up. So I just wanted to, you know.

42:38 Mentioned brian burns's injury a few times just wanted to bring back that hottie has been officially resigned to the giants.

42:44 And ward by the way had a career high 22 quarterback hits last season and i've always said that one of your gauges when you look at quarterback hits because that's a stat that a lot of people don't pay attention to but they should anything over 20 is a really nice number That shows effectiveness. That means you had over one a game. Yep. That's effectiveness. Career high, 22.

43:06 And it was by far his career high, too. Yeah.

43:09 His previous career high was the year before at 14.

43:13 So, you know what? I don't know why he wound up on Minnesota's practice squad. Obviously, Coach Flores, their defensive coordinator, knows defense and really liked what Heidi Ward brought to the table and must have convinced them to get him over there in the building to I honestly don't know why he was not on a 53 opening day. Maybe there were some circumstances involved, injury or something. I don't know.

43:35 I don't know the answer to that. I'm anxious to see him and talk to him now that he's back here. But if you strictly look at his stat line last season, that was a productive year. 100%.

43:45 So we will see.

43:46 It's good to have him back. Lawrence from Florida, you're next on the show. Hello.

43:51 Hello.

43:53 Hi, thanks for having me.

43:54 Sure.

43:55 I'm still nervous with this Winston. I mean, they have all these excuses for him because, well, the game, everyone was demoralized. But I remember they had Joe Theismann. He got knocked out of the game that time. He broke his leg, and they still beat the Giants. It depends how many times the Giants knocked the starting quarterback out, and the second guy comes in and looks like Johnny Unitas.

44:20 And he looked like he was all nervous. His eyes were bugging out of his head. He looked like Jackie Gleason from the Honeymoon TV show. But the... I just wish we could bring... Before I go any further, look, I just saw Doug Flutie go by. He lives up the street from me. He drives around town in a Batmobile.

44:41 But anyway, besides... I wish we could bring.

44:44 Back Earl Morrow.

44:46 Remember Earl Morrow?

44:47 He was... Yeah, Earl Morrow at one point did play for the Giants in the late 60s. Those were some mean years. And we thank you very much for your phone call. And a little bit of humor mixed in. So we can always use a little bit of a chuckle and a smirk. So thank you for that. A couple quick items. The Giants huddle is up. And I believe DJ Reader, Giants starting nose tackle. is going to be part of the huddle if you click on it earlier or during the course of the day. He will also be part of the Giants radio pregame. The extended interview is on the huddle. John was able to do that.

45:21 Did you have something else that went up you wanted to mention?

45:24 Well, the weekly Coach Harbaugh show is now up. Posted that right before coming down here for the show. I believe, Pearson, I believe that is it in terms.

45:35 Of podcasts yeah we did uh have bob glober on the show earlier in the week talking about the 1986 season so that that was a really good interview with him and then the hangout and draft season and cardinals preview we got tons of stuff up on all the podcast platforms All right.

45:52 Good stuff. And don't forget, if you still want to get a hold of single game tickets or 2026 season tickets, you can go right over to the website Giants dot com slash tickets to learn more. You get access to member only events and exclusive accents on game days and all kinds of really great stuff. So don't be afraid to do that. As well as the Giants Foundation, we remind you they're going to host a 5K racing kids run presented by Quest on Sunday, November 8th at 9 a.m.

46:20 at MetLife Stadium. Net proceeds will benefit the Giants Foundation. You get a commemorative T-shirt after the race. There'll be Giants legends, a live DJ. You can register now at Giants.com slash 5K. The Giants Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. We've got some comments on Twitter today. that we can get to as well as the youtube channel dark simi 2572 says i can't believe they gave me work to do while i'm at work don't they know bbkl is on and that is the best comment of the year scotty young 1669 i'd like to see the jamis winston that played for the new orleans saints come out and play that way on sunday well winston had a short time with the saints And, you know, to be frank with you, he was pretty effective in his very limited opportunities.

47:08 Yeah, I believe– who was it?

47:11 I'm sorry.

47:11 I forgot who.

47:12 Scotty.

47:12 Scotty Young.

47:13 Yes.

47:14 Is mostly referring to that 2021 season when he started seven games and ended up leading the Saints to a 5-2 record and had 14 touchdowns, only three interceptions.

47:25 Right.

47:26 That's probably the best that Jameis Winston has looked since, you know, he, I guess– was no longer an annually starting quarterback. The last time he started a full season was 2019, obviously seven years ago. So since then, that stretch in 2021 probably was the best Jameis Winston that the NFL has seen.

47:45 I will say he looked pretty good when he came in and relieved two games last year for Jackson Dart.

47:51 The Detroit game, he was terrific.

47:52 I mean, the Detroit game, he literally did everything.

47:55 And then interception wound up, you know, coming back to bite the offense.

47:59 For sure, so... I hear what you're saying, Scotty. All I'll say is have some faith in Jameis. Again, hopefully the weather is not as much of a factor this Sunday. Again, it might be a bit of a factor. It won't be as bad as last week. We know that because they're not going to be playing through a nor'easter. Let's just give Jameis a chance. It's also another week removed from the league neighbors from the injury and him just knocking the rust off. We haven't really seen him look like his complete normal self yet. As we get a little further along, I think the whole offense will start gelling a lot more. You know, it may not look exactly like it did week one, obviously, with Jackson at quarterback,

48:41 but it will improve.

48:42 By the way, and I don't want the special ceremony for the 86 Giants to get rained on. I do not. Let me make that very, very, very clear. But if it does rain on Sunday, and if it does require another close-to-the-vest game, relying on the running back rooms, don't you think the Giants have a better and deeper running back room than the Cardinals? Especially with Love coming off that sprained ankle. Even though he ran for 90 yards last week against San Fran, he's only four games into his NFL career. He was being weaved into the lineup over the first two games of the season. I'll take the Giants' depth and quality of their running back room over the Cardinals any day.

49:22 I will say, the Cardinals, they do have a really good running back room because in addition... To Jeremiah Love, who we already talked about. They also have Tyler Algier, who, you know, is not the flashiest running back in the NFL.

49:34 No, and he hasn't done much so far.

49:35 But he's the type of guy where you put him in and say, go get us three, four yards. He's going to do it almost every time. He's a tough cookie.

49:44 I would say that, you know, Jeremiah Love obviously is a very special talent, the number three overall pick.

49:51 The running back rooms are definitely different. Very close, I will say.

49:55 I don't think they are as much as you.

49:56 Jeremiah Love and Tyler LG are, I would say, a pretty talented one-two punch.

50:01 But Love isn't himself yet. He's not fully ingrained into their offense yet.

50:05 He started to look like himself last year.

50:06 He started to. He started to.

50:08 He averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Started to. Had 26 total touches.

50:13 I'm taking Scataboo and Najee Harris in single carry.

50:15 That's no slight towards Scat and Najee Harris because we all know what Scat can do, including his abilities in the past game. I mean, last week he caught a career-high 30-yard reception, and Najee was fantastic.

50:28 Nine for 52 on the ground.

50:30 Exactly. I think it was over 5.5 yards per carry.

50:33 He looked great.

50:34 It is nothing against them.

50:35 It's just the number three overall pick who's considered one of the best running back prospects of all time.

50:41 I understand. Yeah. Talk to me in a couple years and then I'll give you the nod. But right now, I'm not so sure.

50:46 I'm not putting Jeremiah Love in the Hall of Fame.

50:48 I'm just saying he's a special talent.

50:50 A couple items from Coach Brian Callahan. You know the Giants earlier today had the assistant coaches' availabilities to the media. And it's probably important that we give you a couple of those comments because... After all, the quarterback situation is something that's been in the headlines recently. Callahan did talk about McCarthy. He said he's been good. A lot to learn in the short period of time. He is picking up things quickly. And there is some carryover to stuff he knows because obviously he's a running quarterback. And he came from Michigan where they run a lot of the kinds of plays, the RPOs and stuff that the Giants have implemented into their playbook. So that gives him at least an opportunity to pick up some of the stuff.

51:31 Here's what I thought was interesting. Callahan mentioned he was asked about the crash course, about how do you get him ready? Because to this point, Coach Harbaugh said they don't know if he's going to be the two or the three. They don't know that yet.

51:42 Which makes sense. He's been here less than a week.

51:44 Right. So Coach Callahan was asked about the crash course. What is the crash course? How do you do it to see where he's at? And he said the operation stuff is basic and he already knows that stuff because he's already played in the NFL before. He's been through an NFL playbook. He's already got that. Then he says, then we took him through the entire run game and they separated that as the next segment that they went through with him. OK, then they went through the protections and what he's got to call the line in terms of for the blitz packages and the pass protections. Then he said each day while we're going through this, we're also trying to feed him some of the actual game plan that we're going to use for the Cardinals game.

52:26 This was I found this fascinating.

52:28 Oh, yeah.

52:29 And quite frankly, Herculean in terms of the efforts of everybody trying to make this thing flow correctly. And then he said, after that, now you give him some of the past game terminology. So, They're doing what they can. And apparently to this point, they've been very impressed with how McCarthy has adapted and come in really with his nose to the grindstone, doing everything he can to try to get caught up as quickly as possible. But again, let's understand something. There is no requirement that he's the number two this week. If they don't think he's got enough of a grasp, he'll be the three. It's just that simple.

53:10 Jake Hayner, who was waived on, I believe, Monday, just in terms of the roster gymnastics.

53:17 He's back on the practice squad.

53:18 So the Giants could easily elevate Jake Hayner to be the backup quarterback on game day if they choose to.

53:25 So that remains up in the air, I would say. But yeah, this whole week with J.J.

53:30 McCarthy, it seems like the coaching staff has sort of been walking the the fine line between trying to get him up to speed as quickly as possible without completely overwhelming him at the same time, which anytime you add a player, on a Monday or a Tuesday it's that guy's gonna feel overwhelmed to be ready by Sunday of course but then you talk about it the quarterback position where obviously you have the most responsibility of anyone on the field it's you know exponentially tougher yeah so it's you know trying to walk the fine line and everything that all the coaches have said between coach Harbaugh Matt Nagy Brian Callahan even Jameis as you mentioned J.J. McCarthy has you know sort of hit the ground running, so

54:13 to speak, and done everything they possibly could have asked.

54:16 Him to do in the, you know, less than four days that he's been here. So, so far, so good. But, you know, again, it's walking the fine line. You don't want him to feel like he's.

54:26 Completely drowning less than a week in. But at the same time, you want him to try to get up to.

54:32 Speed as quickly as possible.

54:33 Two other items from Coach Callahan about the quarterback situation with McCarthy. He said, remember when Jay Kaner came in and they had picked him up. They had brought him in during the preseason. And he said he had to do the same thing during his week of preparation. And he was able to get in there and play the whole second half against the Jets and really look good doing it. He did. And so according to Coach Callahan, he said they're doing the same thing they did with Hainer with McCarthy. And he said it looks like McCarthy, he's been impressive. They're pleased where he's at. And it looks like he's on the same track. So I think there's some optimism and some hope that he could be the two. But they're not going to decide that right now.

55:13 They don't have to. They have a few days to go.

55:15 For sure.

55:16 All right. The other item that I thought Coach Callahan said that was interesting regarding McCarthy and Hainer both. He said that when they're running scout team, and this was a really good question, and I appreciated him being forthright with it. He said when they're running scout team, they're using the Giants language and the Giants play calls for the scout team. They try to find a match between what the other team's play is and how the Giants would call it. And the reason they do that is because they're trying to get the scout team quarterbacks familiar with the Giants terminology. So if I'm explaining this maybe a little convoluted, I'm going to try it one more time to make it clear. The scout team quarterbacks are

56:01 running the other team's offense. They're running their plays, they're running their scheme, and they're using what would be Giants language to call those plays. They're trying to match up the plays that the other team's offense uses with the Giants playbook so they can use the Giants terminology to call the plays. Does that make sense? Yeah. No, I gotcha.

56:26 So Coach Callahan said that's how they're saying to these backup quarterbacks, you need to understand, you're getting real reps and you're making our calls with our language out of our playbook. Yes, you're running plays that the other team would want to play, but you're using as close to our language and as close to our plays as we can get you to do because we're trying to get you coached up in our system. I tell you what, I didn't realize that before. I never knew that.

57:01 Maybe it's not something.

57:02 That every coach... team does or every coaching staff does. But that's the way Coach Callahan and the Giants are working it right now. And I thought that was rather fascinating. No, it definitely is.

57:12 And I think one thing just in terms of that part of it that I guess slightly works to the Giants' advantage is that they're facing this Carlos team, obviously coached by Michael Flohr. who comes from the Rams, where he was the offensive coordinator for three years. Their offense, obviously with very different talent, but is built similarly to how Sean McVay has built the Rams. And obviously the Giants just faced the Rams less than two weeks ago. And so Coach Harbaugh mentioned this, I think it was on Wednesday, talked to the media that they kind of expect the Cardinals offense to look and be run the same way or similarly as.

57:48 To how the Rams have run their offense.

57:50 So the fact that the Giants just faced that offense two weeks ago, I think will help them in terms of all of this game planning, both for their defense, but also for the scout team, you know, to try to everything you were just saying about simulating the opposing team's offense while working in the Giants language.

58:05 That certainly helps.

58:07 JCNY718 adds our final comment of the day. Javon Holland about to change that interception percentage on Jacoby Brissett. I hope so. He was the NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

58:19 Well deserved.

58:20 Three interceptions and a fumble recovery. That's four takeaways. Count them. Four.

58:24 And two forced fumbles.

58:25 In three weeks. Crazy. Man, he is playing out of his mind these days.

58:30 He is playing, obviously.

58:32 Given the award, like one of the best defensive players in the entire NFL right now.

58:36 Well, this is why they brought him here before last season. He knows he had a subpar year, and man, he is coming out of the box like a house of fire in 2026. Programming note, once again, folks, let's remember, the kickoff is at 1 o'clock on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Giants-Cardinals, radio pregame on WFAN beginning at 11 o'clock. Then also the halftime ceremony for the 86 Super Bowl champs. After the game is over, immediately following, you go to MSG for one hour live postgame show, a player reaction from the field and from the locker room. Also, there'll be the WFAN postgame show, which runs for two hours after the game. And so we've got Giants coverage for you, as always, throughout the course of the day as the

59:20 Giants try to improve to 3-1.

59:22 And the archives of both of those shows will be posted. The Giants postgame show, The TV one gets posted on Giants.com and Giants YouTube. And the radio postgame show can be found on any of your podcast platforms. So if you miss it immediately after but a few hours later want to tune in to the postgame show, you will.

59:42 Find them there.

59:43 Yeah, you know, Chris, we don't want you driving home from the game trying to look at the MSG postgame on your cell phone while you're driving. That's a really bad idea.

59:51 Yeah, don't do that.

59:51 Yeah, yeah. Just go get it on the archive if you have to. All right, folks, that'll do it for this edition of the show. For Matt Sytek, I'm Paul Dottino. We'll see you next time on Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York football giants. And we have come to you from the Giants podcast studio, presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better. So long, everybody.