Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/21 I Turning the Page to Houston

0:04 It's time for a big blue kickoff live. Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it because you didn't. On Giants.com. You know what I saw? New York Giant pride. And the Giants mobile app. 17-14 is the final. One touchdown, we are world champions. Believe it and it will happen. Part of the Giants podcast network. Let's go out there like a bunch of crazy dogs and have some fun. Ah, good Wednesday, one and all. Happy hump day, as they say in the trade. Welcome to today's episode of Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York Giants. I'm Mark Malousis, alongside Super Bowl champion Sean O'Hara. Coming to you from the Giants podcast studio, presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better.

0:44 Phone number to call. We are interactive, 201-939-4513.

0:47 201-939-4513.

0:47 We got Johnny Mack off IR. on the controls across the way. He's a quick healer. He is a quick healer. Leg injury and all, no doubt about it. Good job. It's all individual. What I find out is that everybody's body heals a little bit differently.

1:06 Yeah, but he's also got youth on his side. He's young. So when you're young, you're a young stallion over there. Bounce back a lot quicker than us old geezers.

1:16 Yeah, that is true. Archive this show and our entire podcast network on the Giants mobile app, podcast platforms everywhere, the Giants YouTube channel, and at Giants.com slash podcast. And, Sean, I have to, you know, it's now reached, and hopefully it changes. The vibe changes this Sunday down in Houston for the Giants. But as you brought up last Wednesday on the show, I didn't do my part. I didn't follow through and eat the cookie. It led to a tie.

1:44 And then obviously we saw the performance against the New Orleans Saints, which is a loss. The Giants still in first place in the NFC East at 3-2-1. Now they're on the road in Houston. And I feel like, you know, as... A member here of the broadcast crew, I didn't do my job. I had one job to do and I failed miserably.

2:04 Yeah, but we buried that. That was last week. So just like the players, hey, you have a clunker of a game.

2:10 It bothers me, though.

2:12 You got to put it behind you. But yeah, I mean, there has been a trickle-down effect because of the lack of cookie eating. The lack of cookie consumption that led to the tie is now... that has spilled over into consecutive weeks because then there were no cookies this week. So now we're like, you know, we're trying to get.

2:33 Our, now we're trying to play catch up.

2:34 Above sea level. We're like underwater right now. We got, we got to get back up to sea level.

2:39 I guarantee you if, you know, victory this Sunday in Houston, I will do my part next week. Yeah.

2:45 And you know, the great thing about that too is like, there's a bi-week coming up after that.

2:50 So then you can, then it'd be two straight weeks of cookies.

2:53 Yeah.

2:53 So then you may need to set a new precedent. for like how we win and what you're allowed to eat because that's got to carry over for two weeks so you may have to eat the next.

3:04 Week's round of cookies too right so i'd have to do two you.

3:08 Have to double up because there won't be cookies the next week.

3:11 No there so would i have would i then have to do five cookies on tuesday i think four four because so i'd have to i'd eat four i think you gotta eat four okay All right.

3:21 You willing to jump on that grenade for the team?

3:24 For the team, yes.

3:25 For the team. You'll do it for the team.

3:26 No doubt. I'm a team player, Sean. I failed miserably, but yes, if the Giants are victorious on Sunday down in Houston, I'll make sure I eat my four cookies on Tuesday.

3:36 All right.

3:37 That sounds good.

3:38 I'll mix it up as well. Yeah, no doubt about it. We've obviously the big storyline for the Giants. And coming out, let's start here. Let's start with the Saints game on Sunday, Sean. because it's the first time you and I have been able to talk about it. We'll obviously preview the Texans game. We'll get into everything, and we'll get into your phone calls as well. But the Saints performance, you know, you jump out 10-0 early. You get the Charlie Jones fumble right before the end of the first half. Saints punch it in on fourth and goal. You're tied at 10.

4:13 March right down the field, New Orleans, to start the second half. They score 34 unanswered points. You see J.J. McCarthy step in in that fourth quarter. He throws for 243 yards. I think the only quarterback since 2000. that has thrown for more yards in the fourth quarter was Drew Brees, who threw for 249. So you think about what J.J. McCarthy was able to do. Obviously, you saw Kellen Moore pulling starters at that point in time. They thought the game was over. All of a sudden, a little magic, have an opportunity to potentially tie the game or take the lead on the final play ends up being– An incomplete pass where Isaiah likely was being held by the defensive back for the New Orleans Saints. So a

4:59 wave of emotion, Sean. But as you took that game in, you know, what was your kind of overall thought process, what you saw from this Giants? They couldn't stop New Orleans Saints on the ground defensively, and the Giants also struggled to run the football.

5:14 This team is, they're riveting in so many ways.

5:18 Yeah.

5:19 And the one thing that I think... on a macro level, you look at this team, like this team is finding a way to make this a game every single week. Like it's coming down to the fourth quarter. You know, here at MetLife, it was, I mean, there were a lot of people that left the stadium when it was 34 to 10. Correct.

5:38 But there were.

5:39 A lot of people that stayed and then they were rewarded with that because all of a sudden it became a game and it was a game that the Giants should have and could have tied right at the end. Um, And I think that's, as a Giants fan, that's what you want. You want a team that's in it every single game and every game they have an opportunity to win it at the end. So you have to give this team credit. They fight tooth and nail down to the wire. And the fact that they were able to come back from a 34 to 10 deficit, I think that speaks volumes about the team and about the way that they believe in themselves and what they could do. Now, This game was complete opposite of Washington. Washington, they started

6:22 out like they were zombies, and they stunk up the joint in the first half in Washington and then rallied back in the second half and had an amazing finish to that game despite the tie. So you're saying, all right, can they take that momentum and start it off, which they did against the Saints, and everybody I thought was feeling good in the stadium. Like, hey, this is the way it should be. We're up. Like, we feel like we got control of the game, and then all of a sudden, turnovers started happening, and it just, things went sideways really quick. And then you look up, and there was, you know, 24 unanswered points, and then it ends up being 34-10, and you're thinking, how did this get sideways

7:02 so quick? So, you know, I think it was.

7:05 Strange game.

7:06 It was very up and down. You know, hey, things are great, and then things got really bad, and then all of a sudden, they fought back into the game. So, you know, look, I think that They battled some adversity. Obviously, guys had to step up. Marcus Bowe was in a right tackle. We saw Andrew Thomas go down in that game, and J.C. Davis had to come in at left tackle. Now, obviously, J.J.

7:31 McCarthy comes in and starts slinging it all over the yard. It's funny. I was talking to Eli the other day, and I was like, hey, that was a pretty good And he was like, yeah, you just have to be careful when you're looking at those yards because defense is playing you differently. When you're up 24 points, the defense looks a little bit different. So some of that, you kind of have to take that into account, like what kind of defense were you going against and what kind of coverage were they playing because they're not trying to give up the big play.

8:02 They were playing a lot of zone, but they were willing to give up yards for time.

8:06 Yeah, I think if you look at what J.J. McArthur was able to do, coming in off the bench– and he provided a little bit of a spark for this offense. When everybody in the stadium knew they were throwing it, it was not like, hey, we're going to run the ball first down, second down, and then convert third down and go on a 14-play drive. This was aerial assault, and I thought he made some big-time throws. He definitely had some misses. I think his first two throws were way off, which I think everybody would expect. You're coming in cold from the sideline, and you're going out there and you're a little bit excited, a little bit jittery.

8:43 But he made some big-time throws to Malik Nabors. The touchdown throw to Isaiah Likely was sick.

8:48 It was a great throw.

8:48 It was a great throw, an even better catch. And then all the way down at the wire, that last play of the game, you were talking about the non-call against Isaiah Likely. He had Malik Nabors open.

9:01 Wide open.

9:02 For a touchdown. If he makes that throw, if he sees it, he never looked right. So that was the only thing that you would say. He was locked in to the left, and I don't blame him because Isaiah Likely, you know, he had already gone to him earlier on. Why wouldn't you go to Isaiah Likely with the game on the line? But if he had peaked right, Malik Nabors ran right through the coverage. He was open for like three seconds. And if he had saw that and got that ball out, we might be having a totally different conversation right now because they could have tied the game there, gone into overtime, and who knows, maybe won it.

9:35 Or a back-to-back tie. Yeah, and Coach Harbaugh, I think, talked about the fact that he would have went for two. I think he mentioned after the game as well.

9:42 Yeah, because you're at home. I think that makes sense.

9:44 And he had all the momentum in the world at that stage.

9:46 Yeah, so maybe they win the game right there.

9:48 I mean, and it would have been, you know, a MetLife miracle. I mean, when you think about it. And, you know, let's start with the quarterback room, you know, moving forward here. And obviously, you know, Sean and I, we we've seen the reports out there nothing has been confirmed uh John head coach John Harbaugh will address the media later on this afternoon uh let's go on the you know but let's look at you know that quarterback room in terms of what you saw from J.J. McCarthy that you think is repeatable, that is exciting, about what it would look like for this offense, especially taking on a Texans defense now that D'Amico Ryans has taken over play calling duties last two games. They've not been great

10:27 so far this year. You know they have two great edge rushers in Will Anderson, who is relentless, and Daniil Hunter. But let's look at what you saw from McCarthy. You mentioned you talked to Eli. What's repeatable? What do you like from a skill set perspective? And there's a reason why he was selected 10th overall coming from Michigan because he does have what you're looking for in the modern day NFL quarterback where he can make all the throws.

10:52 He can spin it. and he's got athleticism to where, and you saw it against the Saints on Sunday, where if he breaks containment, you can use his legs as a weapon as well to gain big chunk yardage.

11:03 What do you see from J.J.? I thought he made some big-time throws, and I thought the throws were, they came out on time. You know, you didn't see him, there was a couple times where he took some sacks and he was kind of moving around the pocket, but I think if you're looking at the comparison of J.J.

11:22 McCarthy to James Winston, there are things that J.J. McCarthy can do that James can't. And that goes with what you're talking about with his legs. We've already saw him come in for packages where it's quarterback design runs, it's RPOs, it's like option reads.

11:35 Yep.

11:35 But we also saw him run away from trouble. And one of his big run in the fourth quarter that really kind of sparked them going down for that, I think it was for the field goal on that drive, was he ran away from pressure. He had a will-free safety, two blitzers coming from the left side, One was picked up by the back. The other one was a free hitter.

11:53 And he felt that pressure, and he stepped up into the right side of the offensive line and broke through and ran for a big game. And that's something that he brings to the table, a lot like Jackson Dart when he was playing. Those are things that Jameis doesn't really have in his bag. Yes, he can run like that, but not to the extent that J.J. McCarthy did. I also thought J.J. McCarthy did a good job navigating the pocket, stepping up, sliding, moving left and right. So I think that pocket athleticism, I think that showed up. And I think those are all good things for JJ. And I think he was able to make quick decisions. I thought he was able to read the defenses and see the coverages.

12:34 They played a lot of cover one once JJ took over, which is basically man across the board with one single high safety to help for any deep throws. And I thought he did a good job of finding windows to throw the football and giving his receivers a chance to make big catches, which Malik Nabors and Isaiah likely both did.

12:53 So I thought J.J. did a great job in improving that. Look, I can make these throws and I can provide a spark to the offense. My question with J.J., and even last week when we were talking about, you know, hey, J.J. got a chance to get a couple of plays in there. It's how good is his grasp of this offense right now?

13:11 He's only been here for three weeks now. How much of the offense does he actually know? Does he handcuff us? in terms of how much of the offense can we actually use with him. Are we limited to certain run plays? Are we limited to certain pass protections and schemes? And that really is something that JJ's got to prove to them mentally. I can handle the whole workload. You don't have to trim the roster or trim the fat at all from a playbook standpoint. And if he can do that, then, you know, look, I think it's a very good possibility that you could see JJ McCarthy out there.

13:43 Um, let me ask you this, Sean, because I, you know, I'm curious if there's a connectivity and you would know this better than me. Um, and I was thinking about this as I was driving down here this morning. Um, the, you know, and, and obviously, you know, Jameis is a veteran quarterback. You look at JJ McCarthy where his skill set, very similar to Jackson dart giants ground game is yet to get going right. Consistently. If you put together an offense to where, uh, You had the threat of Dart's legs being a key component to getting the ground game going and playing a major role. Now all of a sudden, Jackson Dart suffers the knee injury. He's out for the season.

14:22 Everything you worked on is now no longer part of what you can do with Jameis Winston. Now that all of a sudden comes back into the fold if you move forward with J.J. McCarthy, and it would not only obviously help you do what you're looking to try and do, which is establish the run.

14:40 I think this is exactly why you go and trade for J.J. McCarthy, because of what you're saying. You know what? You can plug him in to a lot of those plays and get a lot of the same production that you would have gotten from Jackson Dart. So yeah, I think the fact that the run game is struggling, Maybe this helps the run game. Maybe now the availability of a guy like J.J. McCarthy.

15:01 Where a defense has to respect the quarterback.

15:03 They're going to play it differently.

15:04 Right.

15:05 And that could open things up. So that's probably, that could be another thing. I'm sure that's something they're discussing and they had discussed over the last 48 hours. You know, once that game ended and you saw the production, you know, I'm sure they came in on Monday as a coach staff and said, look, we got to really look at this and find out like what's the best interest of the team and what gives us the best chance to win. Um, so I, I think, you know, I, I think it's JJ has provided enough evidence to make a case for, you know, give me a shot. And you mentioned it, the Texas defense, you know, it's not been great this year.

15:40 I would have liked to have played them two weeks ago.

15:41 Yeah.

15:42 Before I've always had a saying, like, sometimes it's not who you play, but when you play them, um, you know, they, they all of a sudden just beat Jacksonville in London. Um, and now they're kind of seeming to kind of find themselves a little bit. Um, but I think, yeah, you, you would, you want to look at the defense and say, all right, Hey, is this a good week? The bye week is coming up after the Houston Texans game.

16:03 So.

16:04 Historically in the NFL, you've seen quarterback changes using the bye week because you have extra time to prepare.

16:10 Right.

16:10 If you were trying to bubble wrap things and be like, hey, when's the perfect situation for a quarterback to make a change at quarterback and have a guy start who's only been here for a couple weeks? If you can give them an extra week and a bye week, that would be ideal. But look, if you have a winnable game, you're still in first place, which is wild. I mean, the NFC East is wild. on fire right now.

16:34 It's wide open. Think about this. The NFC East went two straight weeks without winning a game.

16:40 Yeah, with the tie.

16:41 I mean, that is insane when you think about it because of the tie.

16:45 So you're looking at it like, hey, listen, let's focus. All right, the bye week is two weeks from now and the rest of the season.

16:52 We're trying to win this game.

16:53 This week right now. Who gives us the best chance to beat the Houston Texans? And that's what they're trying to figure out right now. Is it Jameis? Is it JJ? What kind of offense are we going to run? What are we going to do? Now, I will say this. We're talking so much about the quarterback. We've got to start blocking better. The blocking has to be better across the board. I'm not just talking about the offensive line.

17:16 The run game two weeks in a row now has been atrocious, and that's got to get better. Before you can ask your quarterback to go out and throw the ball all over the yard, we've got to be more functional on first and second down.

17:31 Yeah, there's no question about it. And you got to stay out of the third and long and the third and obvious because that's not going to be a quarterback's friend no matter who the quarterback is when it becomes obvious passing down, Sean, which you hit upon. And you mentioned the ground game and obviously the big storyline coming out of Sunday was the fact that Cam Scadaboo was on the field for six offensive possessions, did not get a touch. Obviously, he had four fumbles in the previous five games. You saw the head coach, John Harbaugh, address the media and talk about it and was open, honest, and clear. You saw Cam Scadaboo address the media and talked about that. He got the message. It was loud

18:10 and clear. It's been more of a punch-out league than anything else. You saw with Christian McCaffrey's Monday night against the Washington Commanders. where guys are just taking basically roundhouses to try and knock the football off. You almost saw Jim Nance break his wrist trying to knock it out of J.J.

18:25 Watt.

18:25 What was he thinking?

18:26 J.J. Watt is like Superman. J.J.

18:28 Watt is like bear hugging the football. And it's like, what are you? He's like, punch it, punch it. And it's like, no, no, don't do it.

18:37 That might be the first and last punch Jim Nance has ever thrown.

18:40 That's probably right. Probably 100%.

18:41 Yeah, what he was thinking.

18:43 You know, John Arbors talked about the fact that nobody has taken, you know, and taken the kind of the reins here in that running back room. Do you expect it to be Cam Scadaboo or what do you think the Giants head coach is looking for in that running back room besides holding on to the football?

18:57 Well, I think this is a great opportunity for Scadaboo now. Like, how do you respond? Okay. You're telling everybody that a message received.

19:04 Okay.

19:04 Guess what? If this pisses off Cam Scadaboo and he runs even angrier, I'm all for it.

19:09 Yeah.

19:10 Get your butt downhill and let's go and take care of the football. All right. Like that's, this could be, One of those moments that Cam Scadaboo looks back on three or four years from now and says, you know what? That was a great teaching moment for me. And that helped change my career. We've talked about Tiki Barber fumbling issues for every single year. And the Giants fans were ripping their hair out because he was coughing the ball up left and right because he was carrying it out here.

19:36 And Tom Coughlin came in and said, look, if you want to be my running back, you've got to fix it. And he put him on notice. And you know what he did? He fixed it. yeah he put in the time and he and all of a sudden like he was no longer a problem like it was no longer a liability he became reliable and he he it helped him become a better running back so I think this is one of those moments where it came scattered we were like okay you know what you kind of got it taken away from you a little bit kind of like last year when he got hurt football gets taken away from you you appreciate a little bit more so I'm looking forward to seeing how he responds And then obviously Najee Harris no longer being on the roster. I

20:15 think this is a good opportunity for Tyrone Tracy, who we saw score a couple touchdowns and have probably his best game, if not as a giant, certainly this season. We could end up seeing Tyrone Tracy have a lot more carries as well. So Tracy's gaining some ground, I think, for Cam. He's got to feel that. And look, I think that that's great. Competition is great for everybody. It's great to put a little pressure on people. He's a second-year player. He hasn't earned anything yet. So, and I think he would be the first one to tell you, like, I got to go out and earn it. And this is a great chance for him to do that.

20:46 You know, Sean, you mentioned about the offensive line because I want to ask you this question because you're great at it and you did it. You mentioned in terms of blocking up front, I was doing the show yesterday with John and he was saying that I think Tiki was pointed out on the radio side of things that they do a lot of different things up front, a lot of pulling. They run outside zone, inside zone. They're asking their offensive line to do a number of different things.

21:12 Does it come a point where you have to find what your line is good at and start to run that instead of trying to do everything because you might not be good at everything?

21:24 I definitely think as an offensive lineman, The more we run a play, like the more reps we get at a certain play, the better we get at it. And the better the back gets at it. Tiki Barber was one of the best at, you know, we could run, say, 36 or 37 bob or 36 or 37 power. We run it a couple times. And the first couple times, we maybe get two or three yards. And we come to the sidelines, and you look at the pictures, and you would say, okay, here's the front on the snap.

21:51 Are they moving? Are they stunting? What's going on? And there will be times where the conversation will be, okay, do we need to change the way we're blocking this? And Teague would say, don't change a thing. I see what they're doing now. Run it again, and we'll fix it. And sure enough, next time we run it, boom, pops up 15 yards. So there's a feel, and you feel every week. Defenses are different. Sometimes a linebacker will wrong arm a guy, and he's trying to spill everything to the outside because the middle linebacker is scraping over the top.

22:19 The next week you may play, that guy is going to use the other shoulder, and he's forcing everything back inside to the Mike who's not scraping, but now he's coming downhill. So every defense handles things differently, and it takes you a couple reps of a certain run play to kind of figure that out. And I think that's what's unique about this Giants offense and the run game that we're talking about, because they do have a lot of different kinds of runs out of different formations with different blocking. It's a similar play, but it's blocked completely different based on There's a tight end coming back to the backside or it's a fullback where the fullback's going frontside and the tight end's coming backside or vice versa.

22:59 And so now you are pulling the guard. Then the next time you're not pulling the guard. It's kind of one of those things where it is hard if you run the ball 15 times and 12 of them are different plays. It's hard to get that continuity. So I think, you know, obviously when the game gets away from you like it did against the Saints.

23:18 Oh, then you're not running the football.

23:20 Yeah, they were one dimensional, but. I think you have to find, you know, we used to call it the giant signature play back when I played was slant 36, 37 power. That was our signature play. And it was like, we're going to carry that every single week in our playbook, week to week, that's always in. Then there were other plays that would, based on who we were playing, all right, this is a 4-3 defense. So this week, 36, 37 slam is going to be a big part of our game plan. The next week, we're playing a 3-4 defense.

23:51 That's not even in the game plan because that doesn't line up well against that defensive front. So I think I'm still trying to figure out what is the Giants' signature play? Like what is their run play? You know, with Tiki Barber, one of the other signature plays we had was we ran scissors. Not every running back can run a scissors play. And a scissors was basically we would, Tiki would start running to the left and then he would cut back to the right in the backfield before he even got the handoff. And we would pull a guard or two guards. from the front side and the backside guard. And they would start to the left and then come back to the right. That became one of our signature plays as well. But we set it up

24:28 by running a play to get the linebackers over committing to that. And then we would hit them with that. So they still, you know.

24:35 There's a rhythm to it.

24:36 There's a rhythm and there's like almost like a chemistry Sean.

24:41 Were there any plays that, you know, you don't have to, were there any run plays that would get called in where you're like, no, this is.

24:50 Well, we never scoffed at any run play. That goes against your badge of honor. You may not.

24:56 And you're not going to admit it right here.

24:59 There were plays where we liked better. You know, there were some plays.

25:03 No, but you were talking about signature plays like. You know, you used to always hear with Washington when they had Riggins in the backfield, the counter Trey.

25:10 Right.

25:11 And they were, regardless of opponent at some point in time, like they were, that was a staple of their ground game. That was something that they were going to run.

25:19 I think that depended week on week to week. Like, all right, if you're running a three, four defense and you got a 335 pound nose guard, like, it was like, all right, what run plays? I like outside run plays with a big nose guard like that. Cause now I could just reach him. I can use my quickness. If you're asking me to run downhill on this guy, like, all right, now I'm groaning in the huddle. Or if you, if you're running a play where the guard has to like trap the defensive end and pull out or kick out the Sam and that Sam's like, he's a bad-ass.

25:47 Like you, you'll hear the play called in the huddle and you may hear the pulling guard, like sneer, sort of be like, Oh, what the heck? You know, like, like, We're running this play again? My shoulder's going to be blown out by the time this game's over. We've run this play 15 times. So you get those kind of groans, but those are like good groans. But I think for this offense, Greg Roman, I had a chance to talk to him a little bit in training camp and just talking to players too. They're like, man, we have so many run plays. Like 50 run plays where maybe a lot of offenses have 20. So there is a huge.

26:25 You know, there's a huge content of run games, of running plays. And sometimes it's hard when you have so many of them. You know, you may run that play five times in a game, and then you may get five different looks defensively. So you're not kind of getting into rhythm as opposed to if you ran a certain play 15 times. Now you probably got to run that play against the same defense three or four times.

26:50 So you get an expectation.

26:51 You're used to it a little bit.

26:52 Yeah.

26:52 You kind of recognize, all right, Here are the pitfalls. Here are the challenges. Here's how we're going to handle that.

26:57 Well, the continuity aspect, and we'll get to your calls, 201-939-4513. Mark Malusa, Sean O'Hara, Wednesday edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live. How about the continuity aspect where you had Bowen at right tackle for Illuminor, right? Hudson has been in at center. Andrew Thomas has been dealing with a groin. We know that.

27:17 You've got Runyon. You've got a rookie at the other guard spot in CeCe Mayanoa. Your group, Sean, that you anchored, you guys had great continuity. You guys were together for a while, right? And you guys kind of were able to play off one another well. When you have, and I'm not knocking talent, it's not that, but there is a continuity aspect to the offensive line. Does that, can that hurt the blocking up front? Or can that have an impact on your ability to go out there and impact or run the football?

27:45 Yeah, that absolutely is a huge factor in that continuity. And look, there's been a lot of change with this Giants offensive line in the last couple weeks. I mean, Brian Hudson has been in for JMS. You know, Luminor's down. So Marcus Bowe is back in there, right tackle. We saw J.C. Davis. step in at left tackle for Andrew Thomas.

28:05 So anytime you have the changing of the guards or you have new guys come in there, now it's kind of like you're doing a dance routine with your footwork. And all of a sudden you put in a new dancer, he may have a different rhythm. You've got to make sure you're not stepping on each other. The combo blocks, you don't have as many reps together. So those things, sometimes you're not as in sync as you should be.

28:30 shoulder to shoulder. So those are all things that definitely take time. I always talk about offensive linemen. It's like putting stuff in a slow cooker. You've got to put it in a slow cooker. It's got to get braised. You want the meat to fall off the bone.

28:41 No doubt, 100%.

28:42 So that takes time. You can't put a pork shoulder in a microwave and try to cook it in an hour.

28:51 Well, my wife can.

28:52 And think that it's going to fall off the bone and be edible. It's going to be chewy.

28:57 It's going to be I say that lovingly because my wife can't really cook. I cook at the household. And she admits it. She can bake. She just can't cook. That's the whole thing. But, yes, you're 100% right when you look at the slow cook. It's delicious, but you've got to be patient.

29:11 Yeah, you can't microwave it.

29:12 You've got to be patient.

29:13 But it makes things harder when guys are rotating in there. And defenses know it, too. As soon as they see, oh, you've got somebody new in there, guess what? Run and twist. Because twists are one of the toughest things to pass off. When you've been together for, you know, 45 games in a row. It's hard to pass those off. When it's your first time together as a right guard and right tackle, so like CC Maui, Noah and Marcus Bo now all of a sudden they're kind of figuring each other out.

29:41 Whereas Illuminor and CC had all that time in training camp, so they knew hey, if I see something, I'm going to have a little call. And so it definitely takes time.

29:49 And the other aspect of it, when you see a team have success by doing that stuff up front, like you saw the Los Angeles Rams have success, other teams are going to mimic it. Like you look at what the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores are doing defensively, right? And you're seeing other defensive coordinators across the National Football League doing similar to what now. They might not be as successful. You've seen Dallas do it. Dallas is not being successful trying to do it. But you've seen other teams go out there and mimic it. So until you figure it out as an offensive line, other teams are going to replicate. If this team had success doing it, well, then we're going to do it until they figure it out.

30:22 Once they figure it out, then we won't do it anymore, but you've got to figure it out.

30:25 Yeah, you've got to put the fire out. That's what we say all the time. Hey, man, this blitz got home. This twist got home. This beat us. They got three quarterback hits on this exact stunt or twist or blitz. we've got to put that fire out because we're going to see it. We're going to see it next week.

30:38 And usually that's what you'll see on the first third down is whatever you, whatever fire you created the week before. And they want to know like, all right, can you put that fire out?

30:46 Let's head out to Florida. It's Roberto. It's big blue kickoff live. Happy Wednesday, Roberto. What's on your mind?

30:51 Roberto.

30:53 Hey fellas. How you doing? First of all, my heart thoughts and prayer for getting hurt. And, um, also, um, Shout out to Donnie Mack for his kindness and Paulie and Matt. Listen, Mr. O'Hara, I was in 82, 83. I was a volunteer at Rutgers because I lived in New Brunswick for 40 years. Did you ever eat from those gut trucks they had over there, all 30 of them?

31:27 I love that you call them gut trucks. We used to call them grease trucks. But you're right. That grease went right to the gut.

31:34 I was there a lot.

31:35 Are you kidding me? I put on the freshman 40 because of those grease trucks. The fat cat. The fat cat sandwich.

31:44 Yeah.

31:45 You know what?

31:45 They were a ripoff because they were just loaded with french fries.

31:49 What's in the fat cat sandwich?

31:50 Hold up, hold up, hold up, Roberto. I'm going to give you a chance to take that comment back. Because there is nothing wrong with a sandwich loaded with French fries. If there's French fries involved, I will never call it a ripoff because fries are awesome.

32:05 I love fries.

32:06 Fries are like my kryptonite. That's like, I love French fries. But yes, it was basically like the whole sandwich. So for those of you that don't know, the grease trucks at Rutgers on the New Brunswick campus.

32:16 It's a beautiful thing.

32:17 It was this parking lot and it was like these grease trucks that all kind of came together in like a U. And they would line up like head to toe. Three chairs. at the end of the night, you know, 1.30 in the morning, 2 a.m., you know, you've been hydrating and you're like, all right, I'm kind of hungry.

32:33 You'd go there and you'd get a fat cat. What's a fat cat? Fat cat is like a hoagie, like a sub roll, right, that you would get from Wawa. And it has two cheeseburgers on it, has lettuce, tomato, onion, french fries. That's like the basic fat cat.

32:49 Okay.

32:49 With ketchup, mayo, whatever else you want to put in there.

32:52 Yeah.

32:52 And you can kind of add lib and add things to it. But That's like the original Fat Cat. And I'm telling you, at 2 a.m., that's the best damn thing you've ever eaten.

32:59 That sounds delicious.

33:00 Now, then they became different versions, right, Roberto? You may have different versions. So I remember my offensive lineman buddies and I, we came up with our own sandwich. Which was? There were sandwiches called the Fat Coco, the Fat Daryl, and some would be like chicken cheesesteaks. People would change up different things. The Fat Swinger we came up with, which is basically a Fat Cat. So it's two cheeseburgers.

33:24 with bacon, egg, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, French fries, hot sauce. Oh my God. All rolled up in one. When they handed you this bag, it felt like a 10-pound kettlebell. Like, it was so heavy when they handed that to you. But that was the best $ 5 you could ever spend.

33:43 Now, of all those toppings, Sean, which one did you add to the mix? Like, you came up with the fat swinger.

33:49 We came up with the fat swinger.

33:50 Okay, but what was your addition? Was it the mozzarella sticks?

33:53 Was it the chicken fingers? I think it was the chicken fingers.

33:56 The chicken fingers.

33:56 Yeah.

33:56 That's solid.

33:57 That'll get you home on a Saturday night.

34:00 I mean, listen, we called it, like I said, we called it the grease trucks. Roberto called it the gut truck because the decision you thought was a good idea at 2 a.m. was not a good idea at 7.30 in the morning.

34:12 Yeah, yeah.

34:13 And I'm sure you also made it to Greasy Tony's. Everybody went to Greasy Tony's.

34:17 Oh, yes. Yeah. Well, I also, I was a fan of RU Grill. And then there was Abdul. I'm trying to think of the name of his truck. But, yeah, they shut all that down now. There's no more fun there anymore. But they all started their own stores right there on Easton Ave. So we're giving them a major shout-out.

34:34 No doubt.

34:36 I was a volunteer for Rutgers, though, in 82 or 83. I used to do the cleanup in the aisles and sometimes work with the snow. Also, a shout-out to Jonathan, Mr. Casilla. You know, he went to the school, Paul Robinson, he went to the school, like– seven, eight years before my three boys went there, including the ones I just passed away.

35:01 And my shout-out to him because he went back not long ago, you know, to represent. And I also heard his name a lot in high school, New Brunswick High School. I lived in New Brunswick for 40 years. But let me get to this divisional thing. Everybody is a little hung up on that thing. on that tie. You know, that tie, the only thing I see the tie is the glass half full, half empty. We don't have a loss in the division.

35:31 Nope.

35:32 That's big. Big, big, big, right? And you know what? I know Scottie Boone's got problems with the fumble, which is not, you know, it's not a character of him, but he needs to get that Kiki Barber, um, technique of holding the ball, right? Because when you bring scatterball into the game, it is nothing but excitement, right? And let me tell you, the J.J. McCarthy, you remember the success they had with Drew Brees and Hill in New Orleans? Yes.

36:09 Maybe we could do something like that and then the bye week, they can add like 10, 12, 15 more plays to JJ's repertoire, and then he may be ready to run the whole show, right? Because he was super excited, right? So listen, I love you guys. Again, thank you for your thoughts, for your prayers, for your kind words on my son's passing. You know, I'm never going to feel better about this, but you know what? I'm accepting it a little more now. better than what it is.

36:41 Well, Roberto, we love you.

36:43 His funeral was Monday. I love you guys. Thank you for your kindness. I love you guys, and I take it up here.

36:51 You got it, Roberto. Well, our thoughts and prayers are going to you, obviously, continuously, and sending you all of our love and support here from New Jersey, and we appreciate the call, and sorry for your loss. As far as two quarterbacks, Sean... I think there's– Taysom Hill was being used down in New Orleans when Drew Brees couldn't necessarily do what he once did, throwing the ball down the field. They were looking at other options. You saw that.

37:25 I'm a believer that– and you've seen two quarterback systems in college. I think it's– you have a quarterback. You have your starting quarterback.

37:32 Yeah.

37:33 And I get maybe you mix something else in. At one point in time, you had the Wildcat that was the flavor of the day in the National Football League until defenses figured that out. I just think it's, well, this is our quarterback. This is who we're going to use. This is going to be our starter moving forward. I don't think you can, you know, bring guys in, bring guys out, do anything like that as your starter.

37:52 Yeah, I'll just piggyback your sentiments. Roberto, thanks for calling in and really sorry to hear about your loss. You know, no parent should ever have to go through that. So Godspeed to you and your family. The Taysom Hill comparison, I think the interesting thing with Taysom Hill was his package was really more like to run.

38:11 Yes.

38:12 He did throw the ball a couple times, but it wasn't like when he was in there at quarterback, he wasn't reading cover three and going through all these progressions. It was like a one-shot throw, but it was really more to get him running and to get him into space, which is what you saw from J.J. against Washington until he came into the game last week and he all of a sudden was running the full offense. But I agree with you, Moose, on this. I think quarterbacks, it's like, hey, look, I want to know if I'm going in there, I'm going to get some of the rhythm. I'm going to get into the flow of the game. It takes a few plays to really kind of feel that. And, you know, look, sometimes it could take a quarter or maybe even a half.

38:53 You can go on the first half and it's like, man, everything just feels like I feel like I'm standing in the middle of the New Jersey Turnpike dodging traffic and cars are whipping by me. And then you go into halftime and you come out and you're like, all right, you know what? I've seen some pictures like things kind of slow down for you a little bit and you settle down a little bit. And that game speed, your mental game speed processes things a little bit better. So I think that there is something to that. I don't think you want to be rotating quarterbacks series or, you know, hey, you get a drive, you get a drive. I think that that hurts them more than it helps them um so i'll be curious to see how they handle it.

39:30 Let's head down to west palm beach it's true it's big blue kickoff live what's going on drew.

39:36 How you guys doing i'm glad to be with you.

39:38 Both pleasures are what's on your mind.

39:42 So, Mr. O'Hara, I know you played some left tackle in college, and I know you played some center as well, but you then transitioned into more of a center. What do you think is the sense of urgency? Obviously, Francis Maui Noah has not played this position before, but do you think with Jermaine Illuminor out, do you think that it wouldn't be the worst thing to go back to his primary position at right tackle?

40:09 You're saying move CeCe Maui Noah out to right tackle? Yeah. I wouldn't do that. No, I wouldn't do that. Marcus Bowe played great. Jermaine Illuminor went down, and he jumped right in there against Washington. And then I thought this past game, he was going against Cam Jordan, who is a savvy veteran. Cam Jordan has been abusing tackles his whole career. And Marcus Bowe, I mean, he more than held his own against Cam Jordan. So I think I've always been a fan of if a player gets hurt, Put one guy in, and now you're not moving two guys around. So now if Luminor's out, if you move CeCe out to right tackle, now you're putting somebody in at right guard. Now you've got a new right guard and technically a new right tackle because you moved CeCe.

40:53 So I think CeCe, look, I don't think he's played great. For the two weeks in a row now, he's really struggled. He's gotten beat a couple times. And I think he needs to kind of figure out his footwork a little bit. He's getting kind of pulled around a little bit. He can play better, but I would not want to move him right now, especially given how well Marcus Bowe has done in Jermaine Illuminor's place.

41:19 Yeah, that's great. Looking at Maui Noah and the grades, he's right now 72 out of the 76 guards and is in the high 60s for both the run and pass game. It's not like I don't think Bowe is a bad player.

41:34 Right tackle.

41:34 I think he's actually done really well. It's just how can Maui Noah improve at his own position?

41:39 Yeah, I think the way for him to improve is to stay there and to get more reps and to get more confidence. I will say this. If you're struggling at guard, it's not getting easier at tackle.

41:52 Yeah, completely agree.

41:54 Well, Drew, thanks a lot for the call. And listen, you expect a player coming, even playing at Miami, going from right tackle playing inside now where it is going to be a little bit of a work in progress, Sean. There's no doubt he has the physical attributes to be able to play the position. You mentioned a couple weeks that he has struggled a little bit, and I'm sure the fact that he will get better from these struggles, because I think that's where growth lies when you look at it, right? It's a matter of learning what you're doing wrong, figuring it out, and not repeating it. And so he's going to get better and better, but I totally agree with you. I don't know if I necessarily think, look at it and say, well, I'm going to now

42:34 move him back out to right tackle because he's more of a natural right tackle because he's struggling at guard.

42:39 Yeah, well, one of the differences when you're playing in college, now to the NFL, when you're in college, those guys watch a little film and you know, they're not watching film like they are in the NFL. So now you're at a different level now. And now he's got tape. So defensive linemen are looking at tape of CeCe Van O and they're saying, all right, what is he susceptible to? Like, what does he struggle with? Okay, when he's lined up like this, this is what he's doing. This is, you know, I can notice tendencies about him. So now they're studying you and they're looking at little tendencies that you have.

43:13 So now you've got defensive linemen that are attacking you and they're looking at all this stuff. So Those are things that you have to really be aware of as an offensive lineman.

43:24 That's a good point.

43:24 Am I giving stuff away? Like, okay, if every third down, now two, three weeks in a row now, these guys are doing this same move. Maybe I'm putting something on tape that I've got to figure out.

43:34 Outside the physical nature of going from playing at Rutgers to the National Football League, right, and just the jump in athleticism, is it the studying– that is just as big of a leap in terms of what you have to do in that film room and breaking down film and understanding tendencies? Is that even as big of a jump as it is, the physical nature of it?

43:56 Yeah, it is. I remember talking to my dad a couple weeks into training camp, and I was like, man, I wish I could go back to college and just bring the information that I've learned here in the last 7 to 10 days back with me. I feel like I'm looking at defenses totally differently. So, yeah, you get a totally different education once you get to the NFL and you start really honing in on techniques and fundamentals because this is what you're doing all day long.

44:21 Right.

44:21 You know, like when you're in college, you're a student half the time. You're going to class. You're figuring all this other stuff out. And then you have dedicated times during the day where you're working on football. But it's like working out. You're not spending time. You're not spending hours of the day watching film on yourself, watching film on defenses. When you're in the NFL, this is it.

44:39 This is what you do. Yeah, this is your job. It's like, I'm going to become a professional at this. I'm going to master my craft. Coach Kevin Gilbert used to always say, hey, hone your craft. Like, be the best at your position at what you do. And I literally, that's all I do. From the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I go to bed, I'm thinking about how can I be the best offensive lineman and what can I do to get better? So it just, it definitely, you know, the trajectory, once you get to the NFL, from a physical and mental standpoint, but the mental is the biggest part, And for the way that I played too, there were times I would watch film moves on guys and I'd be like, all right,

45:15 I can't do what he can do. Like that guy's 335 pounds. Like Larry Allen, like he would just, a body bag guy, throwing guys left and right. So you never watch film on Larry Allen because he can't, you can't do what he does. So I would always try to watch centers and linemen that were my same size and the kind of same technique to see like what worked for them. And what I realized was, I've got to be great. I've got to anticipate things. I've got to be able to see. I started learning defenses, so I knew when a blitz was coming. I knew it before I snapped the ball. This guy's moving. He's stunting.

45:49 I could tell by the safety rotation where the linebackers were, and you kind of notice little tells. If this linebacker's lined up in this A-gap on a certain defensive alignment, they're bringing a blitz. He's cheating over there for a reason. Once you see that, that anticipation sets you up for success.

46:03 Now it's like, boom. I'm not oversetting on this defensive tackle because I know he's looping, So now I take a shorter set, and I'm already in position to block him. So there's mental things and mental life hacks that you can use to make yourself better.

46:16 Let's head up to Cape Cod. It's John. It's Big Blue Kickoff Live. What's going on, Johnny?

46:21 Yeah, good afternoon, Moose, Sean.

46:23 What's up, John?

46:24 Listen, I have a couple of questions for Sean. But first, my take on the game is that I think the Giants lost the game and found a quarterback, right? I know there's going to be a whole controversy, but I think that Harbaugh is just being Harbaugh and taking a page from Belichick.

46:43 He's not going to give.

46:45 any information to the next opponent about who the starting quarterback is. I think they found the diamond in the rough because he came out of a chaos system at the Vikings with coach changes and quarterback rotations and all the things you can't do with a rookie quarterback. So it's on the coaches now to make this guy into what he's capable of being. I thought that fourth quarter comeback was phenomenal. For you, John, thanks for the memories.

47:18 You know, we've had season tickets in my family since the Giants played.

47:23 In the polo grounds.

47:24 I love it.

47:25 And I got to watch most of your games from my home in Cape Cod, where I moved instead of at the 40-yard line in the old Giants stadium. But I wanted to ask you, you guys... From your perspective, because you haven't been out of the game a long time, what changes do you see in the game since you retired, number one? Number two, you played on a line that was very infrequently injured. What's going on today, not only with the Giants, but offensive linemen seem to be getting rolled up all the time.

48:05 And lastly, do you.

48:08 See improvement from game to game with the Giants offensive line since the season started?

48:15 Thank you. Thank you, Johnny. Appreciate the call.

48:18 All right, Johnny from Cape Cod. You know what's wicked awesome up there? There's this, I think it's called Dell's Shandy.

48:28 Okay.

48:31 Happened to be up there one summer. with the wife and the kids. And I'm like pushing the kid in the stroller. And I see this guy walk out of this place. I think we were down like near watch Hill or whatever. Um, but like, it was a beer with like a scoop of frozen lemonade in the beer, in the, in the beer. Oh, and I, and I saw him walk by and I was like, where'd you get that bro? And he's like, Oh, right in there.

48:53 So I went in there. That was the best beer I think I've ever had in my life. I had, I had a kid in the stroller and I My wife's shopping and that's where she comes out.

49:03 So there you are up in Cape Cod.

49:05 Up in the cottage.

49:06 So you had a pint with a frozen lemon sherbet.

49:09 I think it's called Dell's Shandy. I know there's another beer up there, Narragansett beer, which I think maybe they produce it. I'm not sure. Yeah.

49:18 Whenever I hear it. Wicked, I have basically whiplash. Because when I was going to school up in Syracuse, two of my roommates were from Boston. Oh, yeah.

49:29 So you heard that all the time.

49:30 All the time. And to where I came home one time, like right around Thanksgiving, and I said Wicked, and my dad was like, Wicked?

49:36 Wicked?

49:38 Who are you?

49:39 Why are you saying that?

49:40 What kind of education are you getting up there? What is this tuition money going to?

49:45 Exactly right. What are you doing? All right.

49:50 So back to what Johnny was saying. Listen, I think the offensive line, it's hard to say like, hey, they're getting better every single week. Like, I'm not going to say that. You know, every week is different. And I've seen some good things week in and week out. And then I've seen some things that have, I feel like the run blocking has actually regressed a little bit. But you also have to factor in, like, who are you playing?

50:11 So the first couple weeks of the season, nobody in the NFL was playing defense. I call it sloppy September for a reason. Like those first couple weeks, defensive guys are running all over the place, missing tackles. They're misaligned. So the football is getting better as the season goes along. And the defenses were better. I mean, Washington's defensive front was really good. I think this last game was very disappointing because the Saints' run defense has been awful defensively.

50:34 for the majority of the season, and the Giants just couldn't get that going. But there are some good things going on, and there are some positives that you always want to hang your hat on. He was talking about the injuries and what I see, what's different about the game since I retired. You know, look, the game has morphed. Like, as I started in the NFL in 2000 and then towards the end of my career, we did a lot more at the line. There was a lot more audibles, there was a lot more change, there was a lot of things. We would call three plays in the huddle and then go up to the line and you had to decipher. There was a lot more things to decide at the line based on what the defense was doing.

51:20 So I think that was a change. That was something that we didn't really do a lot of in college. When they come in the NFL, I learned a little bit more about that. I think that that is still what's going on. I think What has changed defensively is it used to be more like, okay, this defense, their base defense is a 4-3 defense. And that was kind of what they ran on first and second down throughout the whole game. And then on third down, you may get some sort of hybrid kind of defense. And then the next week, it would be a 3-4 defense. And that was their base defense. What to me is transition now is it's much more of a hybrid. Like there aren't a lot of teams that run true 4-3s now anymore.

52:00 Like more teams run a 3-4 on first or second down, but it's like a hybrid. It looks like sometimes it might be like a four down look, but more defensive coordinators have adopted that 3-4 look on first and second down and gone to a four down look on third down. So that's changed a little bit. But on a macro level, I think the biggest thing that's changed is the lack of practice time. And, you know, we've talked before, Moose, about injuries. And, you know, we've seen an unbelievable amount of injuries in these first six weeks of the NFL season.

52:33 Some of them to quarterbacks, which they're the most protected player on the field. I don't know how they're still getting hurt, but they are. You know, even Jalen Hurts, you know, and that was obviously not a football necessarily injury, although it may have stemmed from that.

52:47 Yeah, scary.

52:48 I think you're just looking at it. The league is different because– they don't train as much as we used to. The off-season program is shortened. I think that was always how you got yourself ready for the season. And I always felt like, you know, when I was in great shape coming into training camp, it's funny how you get hurt less. Like the better shape you're in, the less time you miss typically. Now there's always, you know, freak accidents and things happen and injuries, but you know, when you're in great shape, you're not missing time due to soft tissue. You're not missing time due to, hamstrings and calves and all these other things. So I think that's a big part of it. And then the lack of

53:27 full padded practices in training camp, the bodies are not callous enough. When you are playing the real games, your body is not conditioned and calloused enough.

53:38 To take those hits.

53:39 To withstand all of that. So that's why I feel like we're seeing some of that. I mean, look, we're in a data-driven world. I don't know if there's data that you can provide to do that, but that's the way that it looks and that's the way that it feels. when I watch the game.

53:52 Yeah.

53:52 And everyone bigger, faster, stronger too.

53:55 Yeah. And coaches will tell you too, like the hardest thing right now for a coach is, okay, I have less time to get these kids ready, but there's more pressure to play the drafted players now more than ever. It used to be you draft, like we had a draft class of seven players. Maybe one of those guys would play a significant amount or two guys would play a significant amount of plays that year. But we weren't asking rookies to come in and, and be integral factors of our team in year one. That was very rare.

54:24 All right, we're going to go a couple minutes over. Let's get to some YouTube comments, Sean. Abu Hadia9403. I completely mispronounced that. But Giants in first place no matter what happens on Sunday. JCNY718, cookie talk. Brought to you by Hackensack Meridian Health.

54:42 Oh, I like it.

54:42 That's it.

54:43 Keep getting better.

54:43 That was the next.

54:45 One with a couple of cookies.

54:47 All right, Jammin'. I'll be at the game this week with my wife and six-month-old son. Any tips for making the most of an away game experience as a family?

54:56 Away game?

54:57 Yeah. Well, you're down in Houston. You got to check out some barbecue.

55:02 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The barbecue down there for sure. I mean, the good thing about, I think it's NRG stadiums.

55:06 Yeah.

55:07 Um, you know, it's indoors. So, um, what I will say is if you're bringing a six month old, you may want to think about some headphones.

55:14 That's a good point.

55:15 For the baby, because unless you're in a suite, you know, if you're outside and it starts getting loud, like that might not be conducive for the six month old. Um, But that's great. I love that you're starting them off on the right foot and raising them right.

55:29 It's great to get on the road, especially watching your team play.

55:32 Yeah, I guess my question for him would be like, are you going with the baby Bjorn? Are you going with like the.

55:39 Oh, yes.

55:40 You know, like Zach Galifianakis from Hangover, like when he had Carlos. Like, are you going to baby Bjorn it and then walk into the stadium?

55:47 Did you do that as a dad?

55:48 The only reason to do it is so you can hold two beers.

55:51 No, but did you do it?

55:53 I did the Baby Bjorn. You did? We went on like a couple of hikes.

55:57 Oh, okay.

55:57 And so I had, you know, we had the baby and it's like, the Baby Bjorn saved your back actually, because otherwise you're like carrying it on one side or the other and the back would always lock up. So the Baby Bjorn was great because it kept it right there and they would always fall asleep. Yeah, it was.

56:11 So then it was great, and you're hands-free. So that part was great. It's not a great visual.

56:15 No, it's not. Especially, well, for you, it's different. You're a former professional athlete, and you're in, you know, you got through your soup, three days of soup. You've dropped another additional five to seven pounds. You've reset your system. But at that point, like, I was, think about this. Like, me, 60 pounds heavier than I am right now, wearing a baby, that's not a good look.

56:35 Yeah, you were wearing a weighted vest.

56:37 Yeah.

56:39 Everybody's out there buying weighted vests.

56:42 But that's not like walking into the grocery store with that. That's not on a hike. On a hike, I feel like the baby Bjorn is acceptable. Wearing it just to like... randomly walking around. It definitely feels weird.

56:57 All right. Aloha26-T7Q. Sean, are the O-line issues lack of strength, lack of ability, scheme? Your thoughts, please. Thanks. One more on the offensive line. Is it possible that the O-line issues over the last four weeks are more due to having to learn a new offense post-start than actual ability?

57:16 No, it's not a new offense post-start. I mean, the running plays didn't change. It's not a lack of strength. It's not a lack of talent. Because we've seen them do it. We saw them do it week one against Dallas. We've seen them do it sporadically throughout the season. It's really just a lack of execution. And I think, you know, reps are a big part of that. We talked about how, you know, when you have new offensive linemen in there, things change. So, you know, look, going from John Michael Schmitz to Brian Hudson, some things have changed. But we've seen some good run blocking out of Hudson and Luminor being out and then with Marcus Bowe in there. We've seen some good things, but yeah, there are some pitfalls

57:53 that come with rotating offensive linemen. It's not a lack of talent. I think this group is good enough. They've just got to put it together. And the run game is not just the offensive lineman. There's times when the offensive lineman blocked everything great and a tight end misses this guy or he gets beat on the backside and now that guy makes a tackle for a loss. There's times when you block it great, you only get three yards because the wide receiver didn't come in and dig out the safety and the safety beat him to the B-gap.

58:21 And if that receiver had blocked that safety, maybe it goes for 20 yards. So there's a lot of people that are involved in the run game. And when they're not all working in concert, then that's when you have negative runs.

58:34 Abu Hadiyah, 9403 Harps, keeping this team strong without dart and burns. This is not simple. No, it's not. And on Sunday, Sean, we'll close it out here. They get a big-time test in the Houston Texans, who, as you meant, they've won two straight. He'd rather have taken on this Houston team probably three, four weeks ago than right now.

58:53 Stroud's playing at an unbelievable level at the quarterback position. They're spreading defenses out. He's making a lot of solid decisions. Defensively, there's still a little bit of a work in progress. We'll see exactly who the starter is at quarterback for the New York Giants, whether it be McCarthy or whether it be Jameis Winston. But this is going to be a different test than the previous two weeks, what you saw in Washington, what you saw at home against New Orleans.

59:17 Yeah, you know what? Last week when we were kind of talking about the Saints and you were asking me what I thought about this game against the Saints, and one of the things I was kind of a little bit worried about was the the Saints red zone offense. They went three for three in the red zone. And that's how you find yourself down 24 to 10, 34 to 10. They did not do a good job stopping the Saints in the red zone. And I talked about Tyler Shuck. I think he had nine of his 10 touchdowns or all nine of his touchdowns coming into the game were in the red zone. He was phenomenal at that.

59:51 I think when you look at this Texas defense, this is really where the game's going to come down to. You could end up having J.J. McCarthy could end up starting this game. And now you're on the road. You're in silent count. So now you've got Daniil Hunter. You mentioned Will Anderson.

1:00:07 Yep.

1:00:07 Will Anderson's got, I think, seven and a half sacks. Daniil Hunter has three. I assume he's healthy. But that guy's a stud. And so now you've got two stud edge rushers. So the tackles, you know, you've got to bring it. And you're in silent count. It gets loud down there. I'm sure the place is going to be rocking.

1:00:26 They just had back-to-back wins. So that's going to be a big challenge for them defensively. And their linebacker, Aziz Al-Shahir, I mean, he runs. He is sideline to sideline. That guy is a tackling machine. So this is a very good defense for the Giants, and it's going to be tough sledding on the road.

1:00:43 Yeah, no question about it. And for the Giant fan out there that's going with his wife and his six-month-old, safe travels down in Houston. Enjoy a nice beef rib. I enjoy, like, those— like Flintstone beef ribs. Those are amazing.

1:00:56 Yeah, and you just get, you eat it with your hands.

1:00:58 Yeah, that's it.

1:00:58 You get the sauce all over your face. No doubt, 100%. Well, what's great is if you have the baby Bjorn, then you've got the ribs. You can handle the ribs. And then you've got the bib. The bib's right there for the baby. You just wipe it on your face. That's when the baby Bjorn comes in handy.

1:01:13 No doubt, 100%. The Giants Foundation will host a 5K race and kids run presented by Quest on Sunday, November 8th at 9 a.m. at MetLife Stadium. Net proceeds will benefit the Giants Foundation. All participants will receive a commemorative T-shirt after the race day for a post-race festival with appearances by Giants legends and a live DJ. Register now at Giants.com slash 5K. The Giants Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. So that puts a bow on this one. Sean, great job as always.

1:01:41 All right, buddy.

1:01:42 Love you, brother. Enjoy working with you every Wednesday. Johnny Mack, good job playing hurt. Back off the IR.

1:01:47 So just kind of looking forward.

1:01:50 Yes.

1:01:50 Next week is a bye week.

1:01:52 Bye week.

1:01:52 So we will not be together.

1:01:54 We will not be together next Wednesday.

1:01:56 So it will be two weeks.

1:01:57 Two weeks. So does that mean, so the Giants victorious Sunday against Houston. Next Tuesday, that's four cookies.

1:02:06 Yeah.

1:02:07 The following week, there'll be no games, so I'd imagine there'd be no cookies.

1:02:10 But if they have cookies, then you've got to eat them.

1:02:12 Then I've got to eat them.

1:02:13 But, yeah, I think you've got to go four. Four. Just thinking ahead that they're not going to have cookies after the bye week. Okay.

1:02:19 All right.

1:02:19 I think that's a plan. That's a plan. Or you could eat two and I could eat two, but then that starts us down a whole other trajectory.

1:02:27 Yeah, we could do that.

1:02:29 All right. We'll start out with you eating four.

1:02:31 Okay.

1:02:35 You're going to have that weighted vest back on in no time.

1:02:38 I can. I can. I love you, Sean. Johnny Mac, great job. Thanks for being with us. We'll be back with you tomorrow. Big Blue Kickoff Live at high noon. Enjoy your Wednesday, everybody. We'll see you soon.