Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/6 I Wrapping Up Win Over Cardinals

0:04 It's time for a big blue kickoff live.

0:06 Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it because you're dead.

0:10 On Giants.com.

0:10 You know what I saw? New York Giant Prime. And the Giants mobile app. 17-14 is the final. One touchdown, we are world champions.

0:19 Believe it, and it will happen.

0:21 Part of the Giants podcast network. Let's go out there like a bunch of crazed dogs.

0:27 Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Big Blue Kickoff Live on this Tuesday afternoon. Brought to you by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the Giants. I am John Schmelke, joined by Mark Malousis in the Hackensack Marine Health Podcast Studio.

0:38 Keep getting better. Moose, how you doing, man? I'm great.

0:41 It's a Tuesday. We're doing this. You got Johnny Mac across the way. It's going to be a fun next hour. Giants are 3-1, first place in the NFC East.

0:49 You and I saw a great movie last night. It's good times all the way around.

0:56 Yeah, no question about it. We were fortunate enough to see the screening of Mr.

1:00 Irrelevant.

1:01 I don't think we're supposed to give away too many details. No, it's just, it was great. It was really good. Really, really good.

1:06 You can't really, you know, but Phil Simms did a great job. The actors and actresses were there. And Paul Dettino got across the river. Paul Dettino was there. Imani Toomer was there. Leonard Marshall was there. But it is, it comes out Christmas Day.

1:22 Yes.

1:24 Very emotional. Great movie.

1:26 I really, honestly, for a football movie and... You know, it's not necessarily just a pure football movie, obviously. That's kind of in the background. But really enjoyable. It makes you think. It makes you feel all kinds of different emotions. And that's why you go to the theater sometimes. But we enjoyed a nice night out in the city. And Datino, who made it perfectly clear before as we were sitting there enjoying a little bit of popcorn that he does not like to travel. Datino actually came into the city.

1:55 and watched a movie last night, which was great.

1:57 Yes, it was good times. All right, I have a couple notes here, Moose, I want to get to about the game. From Sunday, just some things I want to hit on. I'm not sure exactly what Paul mad at yesterday, but I re-watched the game with all 22, looked at some of the advanced stats, and this is some of the stuff that's been out there a lot. Do you want to go defense or offense first? What do you want to hit?

2:15 Let's go defense. You want to go defense first?

2:17 All right.

2:19 Abdul Carter, even though he did not have a sack recently, was really, really good in this game. I put the stat out on Twitter yesterday. He had nine pressures according to NextGenStats. Eight of them were quick pressures. Really good get-off. What I really liked about it, though, is Moose, he really didn't win the same way. very much in that game.

2:36 He had a couple wins outside, but then he had one-on-one wins inside against the offensive tackle. Then he was lined up on the guard, beat him. Then he ran a little twist with the linebacker and he came around and he stunted in a bit and then beat in the center. So I liked how he won in different ways and he wasn't being used as kind of a one-trick pony. And I think we saw in the first half of the game where he was mostly just lined up on the right tackle on the edge, they were able to get a chip out on him a lot and really slow him down by getting extra bodies over there against him.

3:04 Yeah.

3:04 But I really think the way they started moving him around and then the way he altered his plan with trying to win in different ways, I think you really saw the impact he can have. And that's the type of impact they're going to need from him moving forward with Brian Burns out for the year.

3:17 Yeah, unquestioned.

3:18 And I think his greatest asset is his speed and that burst that he has. But you can line him up. We talked about it coming into the season where you can line him up inside that spin move over center, which you saw at times last year that Abdul Carter was able to use and Big expectations coming into the year.

3:36 You and I spoke glowingly of him coming out of training camp, as did others, not just you and I, John, about what kind of season Abdul Carter is going to have. And they're going to need guys to be able to rise up and meet the occasion with the news of a week ago, Brian Burns being lost for the season with that torn ACL. And meniscus injury. So that is a positive thing to see as the defense got better and better and better as the game went along. And really, after the initial two Arizona drives, they locked down. But that pressure rate had a lot to do with a couple of players and one of them being Abdul Carter.

4:10 Yeah, you mentioned those first two drives.

4:12 The Cardinals had 81 rushing yards in their first two drives, just 16 rushes and 42 yards after that.

4:17 It really got shut down. I don't know why the Cardinals didn't go back to some of those runs that worked earlier in the game. I was sitting up in the press box, John.

4:25 I know you were in the broadcast booth, but sitting up in the press box, I just didn't understand. Sometimes offenses get a little too cute, and I'm not going to tell you and pretend to tell you that I'm an offensive coordinator. I'm not, but You know, when things are working, why not stick to things that are working as compared to then let's all of a sudden try and do something a little bit different. The Cardinals were having great success running the football on those initial two drives.

4:48 They come out on that third drive.

4:50 Specifically outside the tackles, by the way.

4:52 Yeah, and they come out on that third drive and they throw the ball on the first two occasions. Two incompletions, all of a sudden they're in third and long or third and obvious and you know that they're not going to run it there. I just didn't understand that. what LeFleur was trying to do. But, yeah, I mean, we're not talking Cardinal football on this Tuesday. We're talking Giant football, and the Giants were able to take advantage.

5:14 Yeah, and the Giants did make some adjustments, as John Harbaugh said in his press conference yesterday, in terms of dealing with that. But they really never did go back to that kind of like pull lead thing where they pull a.

5:23 Couple linemen around the edge. And you've got a guy like Jeremiah Love, and it's like, well, let's minimize him. I know, it made no sense. It didn't make any sense.

5:46 They seem to really attack Carter's side a lot early in the game on some of those run plays. So I think he just needs to maybe shore up, setting the edge a little bit. A couple of times a tight end did block him. And I don't know if you're a defensive end or the outside linebacker, you never want to have a tight end block you.

6:00 So I think he would like a couple of those plays back.

6:02 But short things up later in the game, him and the rest of the team got a lot better as they went.

6:08 You mentioned the pressure. 38% pressure rate. These are next-gen stat numbers.

6:12 54% blitz rate and a 56% man defense rate. Both the blitz rate and the man defense rate, Moose, the highest we've seen all year. A 43% press coverage rate, which is also very, very high. I think Denard Wilson saw these Cardinals receivers. They're good players, but they're bigger. They're not super... Twitchy, they're not 4-3 guys, but they're also not 4-3 guys either. They're not going to beat you over the top. So I think he felt more comfortable really manning up with those guys outside on islands and saying, all right, if they beat me on a slant, if they beat me on a little in-cut, I'll deal with that because it's not going to be a huge monster play.

6:49 And I think that paid dividends.

6:50 If you look at that last goal line, Stan Moose, they just had guys manned up all across the field and combined with some other plays over the course of that second half and some of the pressure they brought. I thought the corners did a really nice job, and I thought Denard Wilson, the way he schemed up that second half, worked really well.

7:05 Well, and we said last week, if you're not going to get home with four, you've got to bring more, right? And I think we said on the FAN show on Saturday morning, John, and you saw that with Denard Wilson. I think that's a fair assessment when you're looking at the skill set of the Arizona Cardinals and saying, what can we do? It's also playing to some of the strengths of your cornerbacks as well when you're looking at Newsom and you're looking at Taye Banks and what they like to do, too.

7:27 So it's got to look different.

7:29 If you're not getting pressure on the quarterback, on the quarterback, I should say, you're not going to, your secondary is not going to hold up over the course of the game. So you want to be able to do that. And you saw Wilson, you saw him mix it up as the game went along. And I think that's probably, let's say it's not going to be what Flores is doing in Minnesota and the amount of times that the Minnesota Vikings are blitzing, which is historic, but I think you're going to have to see the Giants go out there and start to bring more if they're not getting home with the four.

7:58 And I think that's a matter of where.

7:59 We look at game planning for specific opponents that I think you saw after a sluggish start. the game plan starts, and the adjustments that were made over the course of the game really take effect.

8:09 Yeah, Moose, I wrote this for Cover 3 on the website yesterday, and I'm curious to see now, is this an opponent-specific change?

8:17 Right.

8:17 Or is this now going to be a continuing trend, no matter who the opponent is? So that's something I want to keep an eye on.

8:21 Yeah, and that's a good point, because it's something that I think, when you listen to Jackson Dart after Game 1, John, where he said that... That was the game plan for this week. And I think that's really kind of the mentality of this coaching staff to where what do we need to do to go as giant coaches and players who were wearing the t-shirts a week ago, 1-0.

8:42 What do we need to do to go 1-0 this week?

8:46 And I think the game plan might not look one and the same, but it's good to know that you've got that in the back pocket should you need to call upon it if the game situation calls for you to make that adjustment.

8:57 And I think having Deontay Banks back too as well. Oh, no doubt.

9:01 100%.

9:01 Than you are a rookie in Colton Hood. And Banks played a good game.

9:04 He gave that one touchdown early, but otherwise he was a little fortunate. Harrison, now he got called for the DPI in the play, and both of us think that was a bad call.

9:12 Harrison probably should have caught that pass regardless. Should have. It did hit him in both heads.

9:16 That's what's been Harrison's career in the National Football League, what he wasn't at Ohio State, which is he caught on to everything. In the NFL, unfortunately, he's been not exactly what Arizona expected.

9:28 No, I think that's probably a very kind way of putting it.

9:31 I'm trying to be kind. Kind, gentle, and nice on a Tuesday. I think that's very fair.

9:37 We don't want Ohio State alumni Dan Salamone crashing to the wall like the Kool-Aid man.

9:40 On us here.

9:42 Speaking of the Kool-Aid man, Orville Reese looked like the frickin' Kool-Aid man out there.

9:47 Just everywhere.

9:48 Blasting through offensive linemen, making plays all over the field. Nine solo tackles in the game, Moose. He had the pick on the deflection. He had two other passes defended. He had the play where he hit Brissette in the arm. that forced the interception to Greg Newsome. So he was involved in both those takeaways. Leads the NFL in solo tackles right now with 26. And I think you're just seeing what he can be as an outside linebacker. They use him as a bit of a pass rusher on downs as well. A couple times they'd line Carter up inside.

10:16 It was Reese that replaced him outside as the edge rusher on those plays. So he just continues to get better and better every week. He triggers so fast. It was the one play to the flat to Algier where they tried to beat him on a little running.

10:30 Back flare out. He got right to the sideline, had a great solo tackle. Four yards short of the chains. he's playing so well. He's just a really good player.

10:39 Yeah.

10:39 And it's kind of like when you're watching that game, I think when we go through all the analysis and everything when it comes to the draft process, I think the part of the NFL draft is the goal as any organization is.

10:54 To draft great players.

10:55 And I think the more you start to think about things, and I understand we're only four games into his career, but I think we have a tendency to overanalyze and then overthink and overjudge and then kind of nitpick and look at– Arvell Reese was, you know, last year going into his final year at Ohio, what turned out to be his final year at Ohio State, you know, was thought to be the number one– one or two top players in last spring's NFL draft. And I think– you know, people all of a sudden were saying to themselves, well, what else can we do? And you bring other names and other people into the equation.

11:28 You think it was just the fact that he was an off-ball linebacker?

11:30 I think that played into it. Because there were no weaknesses in the profile. I mean, athletically sized, the table was all great.

11:36 Right, it was the projection.

11:37 But here's the thing, John, is like the Giants, you know, didn't overthink it when he fell into their laps.

11:43 You just take the best player. You take the best player.

11:45 Player on the board that's the whole thing because if you draft enough great players and they're impactful you know what you're gonna be good you're gonna be a really good football team and you look at Reese what he provides to you number one he's a tackling machine number two is he loves the game number three is he's studious Having learned under Patricia out at Ohio State when he was an off-ball linebacker there, the Giants put him in a position to be successful early on by not saying, hey, we're going to take what you did in college and now we're going to transition you to someplace else. You're going to play off-ball linebacker, and that surprised some people, and you know what? But we can use you in

12:21 a variety of different ways, and you're just seeing a sliver of what Arvel Reese is going to be as an NFL player. I think he's going to be a great giant for years upon years to come.

12:31 And, Moosen, this will be a good way to transition to the offense then because I think the way the Giants are going to win games, the way any NFL team really wins games, right?

12:38 Let's be honest. Your best players have to be the best players in the field.

12:41 And you can make the argument the best three players on that field against the Cardinals on Sunday.

12:47 Were Abdul Carter, Arbo Reese, and then Malik Nabors.

12:51 Yeah.

12:52 Who were the Giants' last three top five picks. And when you have picks in the top five, you need to get difference-making players. And for the Giants, those three players were difference-making players. And let's jump to Nabors on offense now. The Giants with five completions, Moose, of 25 yards or more. They only had two in the first three weeks put together. Five in one week. Nabors had three of those plays.

13:18 So, just....

13:20 Much-needed jump ball to kind of shift the momentum back.

13:24 Yeah.

13:25 Was that after the Carlos or 14-3? I think it was, right? I think it was.

13:27 And then he left the field. You thought maybe he hurt his shoulder or dinged up his shoulder.

13:31 It was a third and long. I think it was.

13:32 Was that the third and 20 or third and 16 or third and 12? It was third and 10-plus.

13:36 Third and 20, I thought, was the completion of fields, wasn't it?

13:39 Yes.

13:40 So that might have been a third and 12. Deep down the right sideline, I'll look it up, and... Neighbors, right, the Winston got it there a little bit late to Neighbors, but he went up and he made the play and just completely shifted the momentum back to the Giants after it really did start slowly for the Giants in this game.

14:00 So I just thought a really important play. No, sorry, that was at 7-0. So it was after the first Cardinal score, and it was 3rd and 12. So I had the 3rd and 12 right. So it was the Giants' first drive of the game, third play of the game, on a third and 12 after the Cardinals had just scored that touchdown to go up 7-0. And they convert that third down, and they eventually go down there and kick the field goal.

14:20 Yeah, I think, and you and Tiki were talking about it on the pregame on the radio side of it, John, where, you know, and I think, you know, When was it, or maybe it was the postgame you guys were talking about it, that Tiki thought that it was going to be this game that was going to kind of be Malik Nabors' breakout game?

14:37 Well, Nabors had said it during, he said it, Nabors said it in the postgame press conference.

14:42 Gotcha.

14:42 That before the game and during the week, he kind of felt it. And that's kind of why he talked about it with the media prior to the game last week, that he felt like it was coming.

14:54 And so he was not wrong. He was right.

14:56 And that is going to be the chagrin of other defensive coordinators across the National Football League to Dan Quinn and the commanders this upcoming Sunday because of how many different ways that Malik Nabors can go out there and beat you. There's a reason why he was drafted sixth overall.

15:12 He's a dog. I mean, that's it.

15:13 And it's taken him a little while to come back off and resemble the form before his torn ACL.

15:20 And he resembled it.

15:21 And the ability to high point the football, the ability to go out there and create separation, beat guys at the line of scrimmage, beat all kinds of different coverages. There's nobody else, John. We've said it time and time again. There's nobody else in that receiver room, not trying to offend anybody, that has the skill set that Malik Neighbors does have. So it was refreshing to see him. be the wide out that we all anticipate him to be, and hopefully that's the wide receiver we see moving forward for the rest of the regular season.

15:47 Yeah, and look, we got the full Jameis Winston experience. Yeah, we did. We got some great throws.

15:51 He was 5 of 6 on throws, 20-plus yards down the field for 166 yards.

15:56 That was the good.

15:56 The throw to Nabors' little skinny post against the cover 2 was one of those throws. He also had the great throw to Theo Johnson. on that little skinny post with the linebacker's head turned. Great catch by Theo Johnson. Excellent hands catch by Theo Johnson on that play. But then, look, you had some bad, right? You had the airmail throw on the crosser to Mooney, I think.

16:16 It was, early in the game. Nice green sneakers on some. Green cleats. That should have been a catch and a big gain.

16:22 It turned out not to be because he airmailed the throw. You had what I think was a miscommunication to Likely on the pick by Burke, where I think it looked like he thought Likely was going to sit down, but instead Likely runs the out. He throws it over his head. That gets intercepted. The other pick as well. So that was the bad, but it was good. And then, you know, it was just kind of up and down, which is what you're going to get with him.

16:45 But he eventually turned it on, made some.

16:47 Big throws, and did enough to, again, the Giants were going to have to score some points in this game. We said it last week. Yeah, we said it on our Saturday show. You're going to have to get in the mid-20s. And look, I know they had finished with 34, right? 36, whatever it was.

16:59 36-24, yeah.

16:59 Yeah.

17:01 Seven of those were on defense, right?

17:03 So the offense got them into the mid-to-upper 20s, and that's what they were going to have to do to win this game.

17:07 Yes.

17:07 I mean, I think, you know, I think I said the score at one point in time, 27-24 last week. It almost ended up being that, ended up being the final score. You know what pass I really loved? I loved the fact of him having the defender for Arizona happen to make a decision, either when he was rolling out to the right and he hit fields for the touchdown, and the defender was caught up in no man's land.

17:28 I think it was a linebacker. It might have been a safety for Arizona. and the defender made the choice to go out there and attack Jameis Winston, and then he tossed it to Fields, and he got inside the pylon for the touchdown.

17:40 That's what you want to see.

17:41 Listen, we talk about it, and he jokes around about the Jameis Winston experience. As long as his feet are set and you go back and watch the game film, he can still throw it. He can still spin it. There's no doubt about it. He's different, doesn't have the same skill set. As Jackson Dart, no one said he can.

17:58 Can you win football games with Jameis Winston? Well, the Giants have already showed you that they can. So he's going to get better. The chemistry is going to get better. And he was thrown into a really difficult spot on that Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams and didn't.

18:11 Look particularly good. He's looked better and better as.

18:13 We've moved along here. The thing is, you'd like him to cut down on. on the turnovers, the interceptions, but that's been an Achilles heel for Winston throughout the course.

18:21 Of his NFL career.

18:22 Yeah, I'd still rather have this version of Jameis Winston where he's trying to make some big plays down the field.

18:27 And look, might he throw you out of a couple games playing that way? No doubt.

18:31 Sure, but I'd rather have the backup that'll give you a chance to win every game you're playing than the guy that you have to basically do everything defensively perfectly around him just to give you a chance to win the game.

18:45 I'd much rather have this. Right.

18:46 I'd rather have the backup quarterback that's capable than a backup quarterback that's limited.

18:52 Right.

18:52 And Jameis is capable. I mean, it's got to look a certain way. You can't run the same offensive sets that you did with Jackson Dart, but he's capable. of being able to attack down the field. And, John, we've talked about it, and Phil Simms has talked about it time and time again. If you're not pushing the ball down the field, you're doing your offense a massive disservice.

19:14 So Winston's capable of doing that. And you've got the playmakers now with Fields and Likely, and obviously you throw in Malik Neighbors, and he would be at the top of the list. The weapons are there to be able for the Giants and Winston to be successful offensively.

19:29 Yeah, and I thought he did a great job navigating the pocket in this game, Moose, because, look, he did get pressure in this game he did and he had to evade pressure he evaded a few different times he did take some sacks in the game and i thought the offensive line had some shaky moments at times in this game where they gave up some pressure andrew thomas still doesn't look quite right to me no he does not he's given up more pressures than you usually see him give up. Francis Maminola had a couple plays in this game that I'm sure he would like back. Runyon got pushed back a couple times. But I thought Jameis did a good job navigating the pocket and creating more time.

19:58 You mentioned that play to Malachi Fields. That's a perfect example where he used his legs to get outside. Maybe not the running threat that Dard is, but if he can use those legs a little bit to extend extend plays, evade some pressure, prevent some sacks, that can make a difference for the Giants.

20:13 And there was one play, I forget, and John, maybe you remember, there was one play where he got outside the pocket and it was a third and like five or six where he had an opportunity to run for the first down and he had.

20:24 A 15 or 16 yard completion.

20:27 I think everybody in the stadium was screaming for him to run, but That's the difference. Winston's going to keep his eyes down the field.

20:33 I think that was so likely on a crosser, if I remember right. Yes, I think you're right. I think you're right.

20:37 But Winston, that's where you see the limitations of where he is at this stage of his career. Jameis Winston doesn't want to run the ball, unless it's the last option. He's not looking to put his head down and run. He's looking to try and make a play downfield, and he did in that instance. So, listen, the Giants are a 3-1 football team. With an opportunity to get to 4-1 this Sunday against the Washington Commanders, And they're in first place in the NFC East.

21:01 All of that is refreshing.

21:03 Everything that you've seen from the two goal line stands, the past two home games, refreshing. The fact that they're 3-0 at home this year, refreshing. That the buy-in from the players for John Harbaugh and his coaching staff, refreshing. And that's what winning coaches do. You know, they find ways to win football games, whether it be the timeout that Harbaugh called right before the Cam Ward pick against the Tennessee Titans, or whether it be this team showing the mental tenacity and toughness after what was a questionable pass interference call on Taye Banks to bow their back and be able to withstand that pressure with first and goal at, what was it, the three or four yard line and be able to keep Arizona out of the

21:45 end zone. Even that They end up with an interception, and Taye Banks takes it all the way back to the house.

21:49 Yeah, no question about it. They did a really nice job. And now the Commanders coming up next week. You'll start to turn the page with O'Hara on that game tomorrow. We need to get too far into it, but we'll keep an eye on Jaden Daniels all week, obviously. It sounds like he's got a chance to play. Yeah, or get ready to pronounce Ethan Kaliakmanis. Zach Galifianakis?

22:06 What? Say that again? Ethan Kaliakmanis. Kaliakmanis. Manis. Yeah. So Kaliakmanis.

22:17 Yes.

22:17 His nickname at Rutgers was the Greek rifle.

22:20 That doesn't rhyme?

22:21 No.

22:23 I don't know.

22:24 But he's Greek. I don't know. That's what his nickname was, yeah. I feel like we need to come up with something more like Greek rifle. It doesn't have like a ring to it or anything like that.

22:34 I know, but that was it.

22:34 Yes, that was it.

22:35 We didn't use it a lot, but that was it. It was a good college quarterback at Rutgers.

22:39 Good guy, nice guy.

22:40 Maybe go back, find some kind of Greek weapon that they used back in the day and you can kind.

22:44 Of use it. Maybe we can do that, yeah. I don't think they had crossbows back then. Maybe, I don't know. I'm going to do some research. The Greek spear? I don't know. Something like that. We'll figure it out. All right.

22:57 201-939-4513.

22:58 John Soto Podcast, by the way. Brian Baldinger. My interview with him.

23:00 That is up there. We recap Giants and Cardinals. And he goes through all the tough stuff that we just talked about here. And he gives his take on watching his tape.

23:08 And his three.

23:08 Videos are up, too. He did one on Carter and Reese, one on Newsom and Banks, and then one on Malik Neighbors. I think all three are up there. If they're not, they should be up there shortly on all the Giants social media platforms, YouTube, Giants.com. So make sure you check out Baldi's breakdown videos and the podcast on the Giants Huddle podcast. You can find that, again, on the YouTube channel, Giants app, Giants.com slash podcast. Or go to your favorite podcast platform, search for Giants Huddle, search for Giants Podcast Network.

23:33 It should both bring you to the same feed. And click that subscribe button. All right, let's go to the phones at 201-939-4513. Let's go to Jonathan Westchester first, Johnny Mac. Jonathan, what's going on, pal?

23:46 Hey, how are you guys?

23:47 We're good.

23:47 Good.

23:49 Two kind of under-the-radar guys I wanted to bring up today. Both are interior line players who I thought played well on Sunday. One is Brian Hudson at center.

24:02 He did play well.

24:03 And the other is.

24:04 Yeah, and then C.J. Okoye at defensive tackle. So correct me if I'm wrong on this. My understanding is that each of these guys... will be an exclusive rights free agent after this season.

24:18 Honestly, I'm not sure what their free agents are. I would have to look that up. I'm not sure where they're at in terms of what their situation is. But Hudson's a young player, so I imagine the Giants still have rights to him, whether it's an exclusive rights free agent deal or whatever, or whether he's that or a restricted free agent.

24:34 Hudson, I'm sure they can bring back. Akoya, I'm not sure about. I have to check that.

24:39 Yeah, I did a quick search, and, you know, I think each will still have less than three qualifying seasons. But, again, definitely check me on that.

24:46 I might be wrong.

24:48 But, anyway, you know, I saw Jordan on Unposted. Hudson had a 91.3% pass block win rate against the Cardinals and allowed just one pressure. And, you know, McCoy is just a force. I mean, you know, just watching him, you know, on the sidelines, you know, at the game and just– You know, you look at the guy, I think he's like 6'6, 370. You know, his mere presence just seemed to open up lanes for other, you know, defenders when he got.

25:16 In the game.

25:17 So, you know, definitely excited to see more of both of those guys.

25:23 Yeah, I would just say real quick on Hudson. You just have to keep in mind a lot of times the center, depending on how the other team lines up, and the Cardinals, I think they were a nickel for most of the game. I'd have to look it up in terms of what their fronts look like. But he didn't have a nose tackle lined up over his face a ton in this game. You saw that a lot the prior week against the Titans with JMS. So I don't think Hudson had a ton of pure one-on-one blocks.

25:51 Over the course of the game. I'd have to look at that again, to be honest with you.

25:54 But how much the center actually has to block one-on-one does have a lot to do with how the other team is attacking you.

26:01 You know what I mean?

26:02 But I thought in the run game, he did a nice job. And look, the best thing you can say about a center... is that you don't notice him when he's out there during the game.

26:10 I thought he played well. Exactly right.

26:12 And John Harbaugh talked about the fact that he played well. He said the Giants have got two centers that they really like in Hudson and obviously in JMS. So, you know, we'll see exactly where, you know, that all develops moving forward.

26:25 But John hit upon it. I mean, not every.

26:27 You can look at the stats. They can tell you some things. They don't necessarily tell you everything because you don't necessarily know what the defensive alignment or what the defensive line alignment is up front.

26:38 And are those real or is it not real? But Hudson played well. Yep.

26:43 All right.

26:44 That's all I have today.

26:45 Thank you, guys. Akoye is a mountain of a man. Yeah, he's a large fella. He's a huge human being.

26:51 I do wonder now, and we talked about this last week with the loss of Burns Moose, and I really think he's the Giants' best run defender on the edge as well. Our teams, look, Shelby Harris and Deej Reader keep playing well inside.

27:04 Yes.

27:04 And teams have not had a lot of success running between the tackles against the Giants. I wonder if more teams are going to really try to start attacking the perimeter more and more, given, and then he mentioned Okoye, he played well too, how well the interior defensive line is doing against some of those run concepts.

27:20 Yeah, that's fair.

27:22 I mean, and then you'll have to make an adjustment defensively. I think you probably would. I mean, but we talked about a little bit earlier. I was surprised by some of the play calling by the Arizona Cardinals after the initial success that, you know, Arizona did have. Now the Giants and Denard Wilson did make adjustments, but you're not wrong when you look at how the Giants interior defensive players have been winning defensively. So maybe that's an attack on the outside a little bit, and it's also dependent on the running back that you have as well, if they're capable of being able to get the edge and be able to exploit that edge.

27:51 Good point. Let's go to Al in Minnesota. Al, what's going on, pal?

27:55 Yeah, hi, guys.

27:57 First, I want to tell you that I'm at the gym working out, so if I sound breathless, that's why.

28:01 Are you curls? What are you doing? A treadmill? Make sure you have a spotter.

28:08 No, I'm doing the machine thing.

28:10 Oh, the cardio.

28:11 Nice.

28:12 Get it in. Work out that heart.

28:14 But anyway, three things I should be able to cover in two minutes. The first one, I want your opinion. I think, do you guys agree with me that James, you know, is predictable when he tries to exit the pocket every time he leans to the left? And actually, last game on Sunday, when he tried going to the right, that's when he was able to make more throws. So if he can diversify, he makes himself less predictable, which makes it harder for the offense, for the defense to get him.

28:41 Well, I think generally speaking, right-handed quarterbacks are always going to prefer to escape to their right hand.

28:47 It's a lot easier to throw with your right hand when you're rolling to your right. Rather than cross your body. Yeah, I don't think Jameis wants to escape to his left.

28:54 I just think he escapes to his left because that's away from whatever pressure he's feeling.

28:58 Yes.

29:00 But when he escaped to the left, almost every time he got almost sacked, he could not make a good throw. When he went to the right, he was able to complete more throws.

29:08 That's what I noticed.

29:10 The second point, before the season started, I predicted that the Giants would blitz more. And you guys kind of disagreed with me. Well, look at what happened in the second half on Sunday. When they blitzed, they dominated. And I think if they keep doing that, they're going to prevail. They're going to be dominant. I don't know if you guys agree with me on that.

29:30 But I think we're looking at a healthy roster. The Giants lost their best edge rusher in Brian Burns, who had 60 and a half sacks a year ago for the season. So there are adjustments when injuries to game plans and what your thoughts are of a team. And John and I both articulated before this game against Arizona is that if you don't get pressure with what you're looking to try and do, you have to make an adjustment.

29:56 And Denard Wilson and the Giants did. And to the success of the Giants defense, really for the better part of, you know, two and a half, three quarters on Sunday against Arizona.

30:05 And now we'll have to see if this is a trend that continues and the second half of that game looks like what the rest of the season is going to look like. Or are they going to revert to more what we saw in the first three games of the year? We'll have to wait and find out.

30:16 Well, and here's the other aspect.

30:18 The other aspect is, say if you go on the argument, I know we're not looking ahead, but if you go on the argument, it's Jays and Daniels, right? Jaden Daniels is not a statue in the pocket. Jacoby Brissett is. That's a good point, too. And now, listen, he's got an elbow injury. I get it. I don't know what kind of brace they're going to have on that elbow.

30:35 I don't know if he has any fear of scrambling it. But then the goal is not only to create pressure, but you also want to maintain and have good rush lanes because you don't want to give him an avenue to be able to use his legs and run downfield because that's something that Jaden Daniels does to a great, successful degree.

30:51 All right, point three, Al.

30:53 Point three is I made a bold prediction before the season. You guys kind of ridiculed my prediction. I said that the Giants will lose to the Vikings in the second round of the playoffs. And look at the standing now. Who is ahead in each division? Minnesota and the Giants. If the playoffs is to start now, there's a good chance that they're going to face each other in the second round.

31:15 Of the playoffs.

31:16 Well, Al... As Cam Scadaboo said after the game on.

31:20 Sunday, it's early, I know that, but what I'm saying is their record now, that's quite possible if that trend persists towards the end of the season.

31:32 Thank you, Al.

31:33 Anyway, these are the three points. Thank you, guys, and good luck.

31:36 Have a good electrical work.

31:38 Have a good workout, Al. Al, I told you so after four weeks.

31:41 Well, no, not just that. Ridiculed.

31:43 Ridiculed is a strong word. I don't think I've ridiculed anybody. I don't think John ridicules anyone. We might disagree, politely disagree. We appreciate everybody that calls Big Blue Kickoff live. We're four games into the year. Yeah, Minnesota's done a lot. They don't really have much of an offense. Flores and the defense have been carrying the Vikings, and The Giants are off to a great 3-1 start. A lot can change and a lot can over the course of an NFL season. As we've seen here in New York with Big Blue is that they're 3-1, but if we took a straw poll at the start of training camp, John, two most important players on the team.

32:21 Coming into the year, you'd say Dart and Burns. Yeah, probably. Probably, right?

32:25 And they're both done for the year. And the Giants are a 3-1 football team.

32:29 Neighbors maybe would have been in that mix too, but yes. Yeah, right.

32:32 So, I mean, two of the top three, wherever you want to go. I mean, it's right there.

32:36 Correct. And they are, and they're both done for the season.

32:39 So adjustments have to be made, and we've seen them be made offensively. And obviously you saw an adjustment throughout the course of that game against Arizona.

32:46 Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's a good start.

32:48 Yeah.

32:49 You can only play the teams that are on your schedule.

32:51 No doubt.

32:51 But it's literally last play victories against the Titans and the Cardinals, both of which have not exactly, you know, won a lot of games this year.

32:59 No, right. But you've got to beat the teams that are on the schedule. Exactly right. That's it.

33:04 I mean, as the New England Patriots were in the Super Bowl last year, were they apologizing for the schedule they played?

33:09 No. Absolutely not.

33:10 No.

33:10 100%. You look back, they got boat raced in the game, but still, that's it.

33:14 And now we get to all enjoy victory cookies.

33:17 Yes. That's it. John was eating one before the show today. We have nothing to do with.

33:21 The Giants' victory other than covering the team, but we all get to enjoy chocolate chip cookies.

33:26 On a Tuesday. Which is great. It puts a smile on my face. That was the s'mores cookie over there. Oh, was it good? It was delicious.

33:34 Really?

33:35 How many cookies will you eat today? There's still some left. I only like it.

33:39 It's one of the bigger ones, so I like two bites, and then I'm going to have the rest after lunch at the end of the show.

33:43 You will have more than one cookie. I'll have two cookies.

33:45 All right, nice.

33:45 I'm going to have one sugar cookie, and I'm going to have the one s'mores cookie. Good for you. You do a great job. We all earn cookies in some way, shape, or form. I don't know if we earn cookies, but I'm sure we enjoy cookies. No, we didn't earn strong. We celebrate the success of everyone. Gil de Jesus did point out in the YouTube chat, victory cookies with the little cookie emoji. Yes, Gil, you're paying attention, no doubt.

34:05 Yes, he is.

34:05 He is paying attention. No doubt. I got my cup of coffee right before the show. I looked over. I saw Schmelke there looking over. And then he walked by. He was eating a cookie. I was like, good for John. That's awesome. I love a nice cookie. Yeah, no doubt. And so do I. I'm driving down to Garden State Park.

34:24 As you can tell. What should I try? Should I go chocolate chip, red velvet today? What should I go with? I think there was red velvet in there today. There was there last week. I didn't look at them yet. I'll peruse later. Yes. To an uncomfortable level. Let's go to Big. Speaking of uncomfortable, Big Ed is in Maryland.

34:42 Big Ed, what's going on, pal? What's going on, Ed?

34:46 Hey, guys. What's up? How y'all doing?

34:48 We're good, Ed. What's going on, man?

34:52 I'm still pinching myself. That's what's going on with me. Oh, my gosh, man. We lose our starting quarterback. We think we're going to be in such a bad place. But we turn it all around and just keep winning.

35:05 Yeah.

35:05 Oh, no, this is so great.

35:07 Big Ed, you do whatever it takes to win the next game. And I don't care how ugly it is. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care if it's on two goal line stands. You do what it takes to win.

35:16 Yes, you do. How you doing, John?

35:18 I'm great.

35:20 How are you, Ed?

35:23 I'm doing great, Ed. Good to hear your voice, man.

35:26 Look, man, are you coming down here to the game Sunday?

35:30 I will not, because we have our post-game show. I do miss traveling to the games, but we have our post-game show, which is two hours long, and the team is usually on the buses getting out of there about an hour and ten minutes.

35:40 After the game.

35:41 So someone has to host the second half of that post-game show. And by the way, we do take calls on the post-game show, so if Big Blue Kickoff callers want to listen to that post-game show, you can stream it on the WFN stream on Odyssey, and you guys can call in as well.

35:54 To our post-game show on the Giants legends are listening to the postgame show. Leonard Marshall called into the postgame this past Sunday.

36:01 It was great for like 10, 12 minutes. It was awesome.

36:05 Man, that sounds so great.

36:07 And Big Ed Tiki's with me, so you don't have to talk to me. And that's what happens on most of these calls. Ed loves you. He wants to talk to you. It's very funny.

36:15 And I'll give you John's number, and you can call him whenever you want. People call in to the postgame show.

36:21 See, hold up. No, see, I know John be busy a lot.

36:24 Well, no.

36:25 He did with the great ball dinger, right? So John be busy.

36:29 It is funny, though, because on the postgame show. Big shout out.

36:32 To John, man. John, I am so proud and so happy, man.

36:35 Thank you, Big Ed. I appreciate that.

36:36 I'm so happy you got your baby girl to all the resources, too.

36:40 It hasn't shown up yet.

36:42 December.

36:42 It's coming in December.

36:43 It's the rookie of the year.

36:45 That will be the defense.

36:46 I'm still waiting for that to ship, so that'll now be a Christmas present because now she has her dark jersey.

36:51 Yeah, it's official.

36:52 By the way, I'm.

36:54 Not sure fans want that jersey to come. R.

36:55 Bill Reese is the new coming of Lawrence Taylor. I said it.

36:59 He showed it in the game.

37:02 On our championship crowd, our championship team that won. Oh, my gosh, man. I'm just so overwhelmed. I've got to keep making sure I pinch myself. Pinch Paulie. Make sure Paulie gets pinched, too.

37:13 I'm not touching Paul Dettino.

37:14 Paulie's been going through it.

37:16 Paul would not react well. Thank you, Big A. Appreciate the call, man. Good stuff. No. He would not react well. I don't think I want to pinch Paul Dettino. That is not on my bucket list, Paul.

37:24 No, but Ed's smiling ear to ear, and he should on this Tuesday. And John, the pop from the fans in the stadium after the pick by Taye Banks.

37:36 The excitement. This is what.

37:38 And someone, I think, is drilling right around us.

37:41 Oh, yeah.

37:41 By the way, folks, there's actually a good segue. I should warn you. Over the next, like, I don't know, two years, they're going to start doing a lot of construction. Now, they finished tearing the building down. And then was that a mean to interrupt? I'm sorry.

37:53 No, no.

37:53 People will probably hear the drilling. I was like, what's going on? They're doing work on that side of the building, building the whole new football half of the building. Well, now they're also adding an addition to this side of the building.

38:04 So starting at four o'clock each day, they're apparently going to be pounding pylons into the ground because we're both on a swamp. And if you just built the building, it would sink into the ground. You got to put the pylons in and build on top of the pylon. So now they're tearing stuff down to try to get this half of the building ready. So there's a good chance over the course of the next couple months, you're going to be hearing some background construction work happening on our live shows and our podcast.

38:28 I thought it was.

38:28 Just be warm. Yeah, but we were talking. Listen, this is why John and I talked about it. Everybody did. Coaching matters in the National Football League. To get by, and you see it. There's a reason why great coaches find ways to win games and bad coaches find ways to lose games.

38:46 I mean, that's it.

38:47 So however way you want to look at it, the Giants are a 3-1 football team to build off of to get ready for Washington down in Maryland this Sunday. And John Harbaugh set a tone, a temperament, expectations for this organization. And if you see it, guys are developing before your very eyes. Taye Banks was a guy that Giant fans were extremely frustrated with over the course of his early Giant career. Look at the way Taye Banks has played when he's been healthy and has been.

39:14 On the field. He's been a different player, right? That's what good coaches do. I mean, that's it.

39:19 And so you're seeing that here. It's refreshing to see. It's great to see. And it's awesome to see the Giants get off to this really good start. Now it's a question of what do they do with it moving forward.

39:29 Two or three things.

39:30 I want to bring up. I thought you brought up a couple good points that I wanted to build on. One, You talk about Jacoby Bristet being a statue in the pocket, right?

39:36 Yeah.

39:36 That might have something to do with all the man defense too, right? That's true.

39:39 Because when you play man defense, those scrambling quarterbacks will murder you. Because you've got no one with eyes on the quarterback, they can run, then you give up a lot of quarterback runs. But if the guy can't run, then you can play a lot more man defense.

39:49 That's a good point.

39:50 So another thing game plan-wise week to week with Jaden Daniels next week, guess what?

39:55 Pardon me. You're probably not playing man a lot. No, probably not. Because he's going to be able to run the ball. So that's one.

40:00 Two.

40:01 I was going to bring this up with Ed, but he just kept going.

40:04 Whenever people call up the post-game show, I welcome them in, and then most of the, I'd say 50% of the callers, and I don't care, this is not me complaining, I think it's funny. They just talk to Tiki, and they basically make-believe Paul and I are there.

40:19 So they address Tiki and not you and Paul? Or the question's just directed toward Tiki?

40:23 No, it's basically, alright, let's welcome in Tom in Connecticut. Tom, you're on the fan. And Tom's like, Hey, Tiki, how you doing? It's very funny. But, you know, I think about it.

40:34 If I was a fan and I was calling a postgame show and a member of my team's ring of honor was there to take my call.

40:40 Yeah.

40:41 That's who I would want to talk to, too. Yeah, for sure. I don't blame you. I just find it funny. Yeah, but no, no, that's fair. But the giant fan, like, yes. No, it's Tiki Barber. Right. I would agree with that. I would understand what you're saying.

40:53 And I think that they want to get the player's perspective.

40:56 And by the way, that's why Tiki's there. That's why we have him on the post-game show.

40:59 Absolutely.

41:00 Because he's an expert. And he's great at what he does, by the way.

41:02 He's so good.

41:02 Yeah, no doubt. But I just thought that was funny. Let's go to... But Ed loves you.

41:06 Oh.

41:06 And Ed, I will... That's my guy. I will get your number and I will send you Schmelk's cell. No, you will not. No, you will not. Let's go to.

41:16 So you can get a game-by-game breakdown after it goes final.

41:19 Let's go to... I'll tell you what, though.

41:23 I wouldn't mind getting the Ed voicemail so I could listen to the voicemail.

41:27 Oh, that would be great. Without having to do the phone call. Yeah, you know what? That would be awesome.

41:31 If we could create a voicemail line where Giant fans could call up after that game on Sunday.

41:37 We would have to do that.

41:38 And be able to kind of give their celebratory. That would be awesome audio. Like it really would be like, I talk about my son, Gregory, who's a huge giant fan. And, you know, I was at, we were, I was at the game on Sunday and, um, he was at his grandfather's house.

41:54 I was like, what were you doing when Tate Banks picked it off?

41:56 He's like, I was screaming, running around the house, celebrating.

41:59 This and that. Like, that would be awesome to be able to see.

42:02 I've actually been trying to get a voicemail created for our show, too, over the past two years.

42:05 Yeah, I think that would be great.

42:06 For people that can't listen live, they can leave voicemails and we can play them back on the show.

42:10 Yeah, I think that would be great. I'm going to have to try.

42:13 I have pitched that, as Johnny Mac can attest to.

42:15 I have tried to pitch that over the last two years. I love that idea.

42:18 And there's actually.

42:19 There's been some.

42:19 Technological hurdles that apparently have not been able to get gotten over.

42:22 But I will once again try to go to the... I think that's a great idea. I love that.

42:26 I will try to go to the folks upstairs and try to make that happen once again. Let's go to Ken in Louisville. Ken, what's going on, man?

42:31 By the way, we also.

42:32 And I have not checked the email in a while, so you guys can yell at me if you've been sending them. BigBlueKickoff at gmail.com. If you guys want to send in voice memos from your... phone oh you could do that oh yes so i think that's a good kind of backup method right now so it's big blue kickoff at gmail.com you can record a voice memo on your phone and just email it in and that's something we can obviously get up on the uh that'd be easy get up on the show and play it back so that is one way if you want to send your reaction or a question or comment you can send them in again big blue kickoff at gmail.com ken what's going on man sorry about that bud Hey, no problem, John and Moose.

43:06 I can see you guys are on a cookie sugar high.

43:10 That's later, Ken.

43:12 Ken, there is no bigger high than coming off a win and being 3-1 in the first place in the NFC East, baby.

43:17 That is all the high you need.

43:19 I used to think Football Sunday was the best day of the week, but Victory Monday is so much better.

43:25 I don't know what it's all about.

43:26 Isn't it great when you look at the standings and the Giants are in first place?

43:30 It's incredible. I took a picture of it and sent it to my entire family. And everybody's like, let's frame this puppy.

43:39 And again, by the way, we aren't rooting for injuries, obviously, and you want to see everyone stay healthy. Then you look at the Eagles. Devontae Smith's probably going to be out again. Saquon pulls the hamstring. There's rumors Lane Johnson might retire based on how he missed a game last week.

43:53 So things are not going well in Philadelphia either.

43:56 Well, I had a couple points, and sorry to focus on a negative one, but I see this in the chat as well. Other than looking at Arvel and Abdul running around the field, if you focus in on Thibodeau, the guy is getting blocked single, and he stops every play. And I'm frustrated because this is a meritocracy, and Kayvon had a lot of promise coming out of training camp, and he took the brace off. I really like to hear your guys' opinion. Is Denard Wilson, is there some way to reach now that Hottie's on the team to put someone else in that spot?

44:37 They don't have another, like, pure edge. I think Hottie's kind of more that.

44:43 Kind of a.

44:45 Halfway in between guy, kind of like Chauncey Golston, who can play a little bit on the end and then play a little bit as an outside linebacker. You have Trace Ford off the practice squad. Look, you did not get a lot of production out of Kayvon Thibodeau in the last game. No.

44:57 Just look at the stat line. You'll see it there. The pressure numbers aren't there either. And you would like to see more? from there in terms of general production.

45:06 But again, much like I said with Jameis the last two weeks, it's his first game starting. So I'd like to give him a little bit more time before you make a very, very quick change because the last couple years, he has been really good as an edge setter against the run. So I would like to give him a little bit more time here. And you're just not going to find... productive edge players sitting around. That's such a high value position in the National Football League. I don't think you're going to plug anyone else in, Ken, and get significantly better pass rush production than what you're going to get out of Kayvon Thibodeau, to be honest with you.

45:41 I don't.

45:41 I actually thought he was better when in the NASCAR where they moved him inside because, you know, it's a Carl Banks thing. He thinks setting the edge is a player.

45:51 It's an area.

45:52 And he doesn't do that. You know, so it's, I'd rather have him plug the middle, and I don't know if Colston's still hurt, but he looked better on the outside. So, anyway, that's the thought there.

46:04 Well, listen, you know, and Kayvon's always going to be a talking point amongst Giant fans. He is not, and listen, is he a starting linebacker in the NFL?

46:12 I believe he is.

46:13 Do I think he is the player that you anticipated that he was going to be coming out of Oregon?

46:18 No, he is not.

46:19 And, you know, he's shown flashes of it. He's also been injured a lot. And this is a big year for Kayvon Thibodeau. So he wants to get paid following this season. It's a contract year. So whether it be the Giants or somebody else, now, and I agree with John's assessment, that just give him a little bit of time.

46:37 But I think what you've learned here from John Harbaugh and the staff, regardless of your reputation, that competition is king. If you're not doing the job on the field that you're being asked to do, you are no longer going to.

46:50 Be on the field. Yeah, I agree with Moose on that too.

46:53 So I think you just got to give Thibodeau a little bit more time.

46:58 Well, I'm just hoping, I know Carl Banks, not directly like Dexie last year, but he's called him out a little bit, and I'm hoping that's something he can respond to. A second point, and I'm going to, I think it's week seven, the Houston game that they're playing, and I'm sort of wishing, I have a little anxiety issue with the Jameis Winston experience. I'm sorry, I don't know. I don't like trading off the good and the bad on that.

47:27 I'd really like to see McCarthy step in. What do you think the odds are that he'll be the starter week seven, by week seven?

47:35 The bye week is right after week seven. So, again, we have to see how– I think if Jameis plays well enough and they keep winning games, he's not going anywhere, first and foremost. I think he's going to control his destiny there. But I think after the bye week– is something that makes a little bit more sense. And even though Moose, the Houston defense, and Ken, thanks for the call.

47:52 We appreciate it.

47:54 The Houston defense has not been the same unit this year as it was last year.

47:57 And I still really don't know why because their personnel is almost identical and they have the same coach.

48:00 It's very weird.

48:02 I'm not sure Houston is where you want to plug in the quarterback for the first time in the first game he's going to be on the field.

48:09 I think you could probably find a little bit of a softer landing.

48:11 Yeah, on the road in Houston. And listen, they're 0-4 right now. And they were able to turn their season around a year ago. I don't know if Houston's going to be able to turn their season around this year. So the defense has been handed leads late. They've given up those leads. It's been surprising at how bad that defense has been in big-time spots. Just look what happened on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. And Stroud's been pretty good.

48:36 I mean, he's been really good at times. So it's not been the quarterback. It's been the defense, which is the surprise of everybody. John, Jameis controls the narrative. If he plays well and continues to win and the Giants continue to win, and even if he plays well and the Giants end up losing a game, but he plays well and does everything he needs to do with the quarterback position, he's going to remain the starter here for the Giants. I think John Harbaugh and the Giants and Joe Shane brought in McCarthy here and said depreciated asset in Minnesota. a guy that was drafted in the top 10.

49:07 He's got talent to play the position. John is familiar with him because he played for his brother Jim out in Michigan with the Wolverines. So let's bring him aboard and we've got to add another quarterback into this room, and he gave up a fifth-round pick. So it makes sense, but I don't think there's a rush to get him into the game as a starter here as long as Jameis continues to play well. Now, they might use him, as they hinted upon after the game, John, and we talked about it last week. We talked about it Saturday morning on the fan. Is there– A way to get him into the game because you have a package of plays to make use of his physical attributes.

49:42 Right.

49:42 Yeah.

49:43 And John Harbaugh basically admitted as much after the win on Sunday against Arizona that there was, but they never got to the point where they felt they needed to go to it.

49:51 Antonio is in Delaware. He joins us next. What's up, Antonio? Hey, good afternoon, guys. What's up, Antonio? I just want to make two quick points and.

50:20 I can get to my main point here. First of all, I live in Delaware. I work in Philly. It's kind of amazing how in Philly they're celebrating a win over the New York Knicks in a preseason game.

50:35 Are they really? Yes, they are. That's what I would call embarrassing behavior.

50:43 Yes.

50:45 I'm surprised the Philly fans were at the game.

50:53 That's funny.

51:00 In fairness, it's probably the only name they can get into when the Knicks play down there because the Knicks fans take all the tickets.

51:04 That's a good line, Boos.

51:10 That's a good line. That's a good line. All right, Antonio. What's your other two points?

51:17 I'd also like to pass all my condolences to Mr.

51:21 Excitement.

51:22 He called yesterday. He said his son is in a coma with head trauma. So I want to pass all my prayers and.

51:31 Condolences to him and his family.

51:36 Hello?

51:37 Yes, we're with you, Antonio. And I want to make your major point, correct? What do you got?

51:43 My one major concern is this running game. I'm kind of worried about it because right now it's hard to sustain this type of running game for the duration of the season because you have multiple running backs who are of the same stature. They both need to have the ball constantly to be successful. And I don't know what it is, if they're not following the block Or they're just not getting to the holes as quickly as possible.

52:25 And they do need to have a scat back, a home run. the edge and break it off.

52:34 We don't have that guy.

52:36 I think you want Tyrone Tracy to be that guy, right? I think so. I appreciate the call. Thank you very much. Enjoy the birdhouse. Birds and the birds. Very peaceful. I was getting into a trance. Look, you aren't getting.

52:52 That many explosive plays. You did not have a 10-yard run in the game yesterday. But I will give the Giants offensive coordinators credit.

53:00 They stuck with the run, man. A lot of times teams will get away from that when you don't have to.

53:04 But Again, not a lot of explosives, but they were steadily getting positive yards over the course of the game. Only averaged about three yards a carry over the course of the contest. Would you like it to be better than that?

53:14 Absolutely.

53:15 But I do think, too, you have to understand when you have a backup quarterback in, teams are going to lock your run game down. And they're going to make your backup quarterback try to make plays to beat you. So I think until Jameis can throw you out of those looks and those approaches, though the Cardinals did play a lot of two safeties deep over the course of that game, Teams Moose, I think, are going to try to say, look, the Giants are going to want to run the ball.

53:34 We're going to stop that first. And then we'll try to figure out how to stop James Winston.

53:37 Yeah, they're averaging 110 yards a game on the ground on average, right, through the first four games of the season. Only 3.7 yards a carry. They've lost four or they fumbled the ball four times. I mean, that's something that's got to come to an end. I think Harris and Scadaboo are a little bit different. You know, Harris is that one cut, got a little bit more jump to him.

53:55 and you saw it, and obviously you can't cough up the football as he did.

53:59 I agree with your assessment.

54:01 I think Tyrone Tracy would be that guy if you're looking for that game-breaker as compared to the other running backs in that room right now. But mind you is John Horvath is trying to instill a mindset. We want to run the football. We're going to stay committed to running the football, and if we execute, we will be successful.

54:21 So they're not going to shy away from it. I would imagine that this ground game is going to get even more, I would say, prolific or, you know, be a little bit stronger as the season goes along than what you've seen right now.

54:34 But the commitment is real.

54:36 Yeah.

54:36 No, I think the commitment is absolutely real.

54:37 And I think with Skadaboo, too, we've seen some times where I think he gets a little bit too excited in there and he tries to make one too many cuts where if he just finds the hole and is a little bit patient and goes.

54:47 Yeah.

54:47 Yeah.

54:48 I think there's some more yardage there that could be had.

54:52 Especially for a young man that runs like he does.

54:54 Correct.

54:54 He's running to contact.

54:56 Oh, yeah. He wants to take on the linebacker. He wants to take on the safety. And he's running over guys left and right. No doubt.

55:02 I'm not sure if you saw the one pass pro rep that everyone was throwing up on Twitter the other day. And I saw it when I was re-watching the game yesterday where he meets, I think it was Mack Wilson in the hole.

55:11 Basically pancakes him on his back.

55:13 Yeah, it's great. But that's the mentality that you have. I mean, he's crazy in every possible positive way that you can say.

55:20 You love him.

55:21 You love the mentality that he has on this team. And the Giants are going to remain committed to him. The big key is for everybody in that room is, as we've seen here, John, is you've got to hold on.

55:31 To the football.

55:32 I mean, ball security is key. Parcells would talk about it. Any great coach, you've got to be able to protect the football. And that's something that if you don't do, regardless of how well you're running the football, you will find yourself with a lack of reps and a lack of touches.

55:47 All right, let's go to Len in Columbia, Maryland. He will wrap us up today.

55:50 Hi, Len.

55:51 Hey, guys. How you doing?

55:52 What's up, Len?

55:54 Boy, resiliency, mental toughness, tenacity. For all four games, not just Sunday. But this team gets better. They're better in the fourth quarter than they are in the first quarter. This is a tough-minded group of people. And that's the way I read it. It was nice to see. Shout-out to the Giants. I'm looking forward to the game. As soon as it came out and the Giants announced that they were going to use it as a celebration of that 86 Super Bowl team, which I remember very well, and actually was in the stadium, was in the Rose Bowl for that Super Bowl, and it was just great to see the guys. I know it was rather simple.

56:48 They're just announcing a bunch of names, but Just to hear those names and see those guys walk out, it was a wonderful moment. It lived up to my expectations. I'm glad I could get to this particular game. Great show.

57:03 And then just real quick, fans have to realize they'd love to do more, but the NFL really only allows you to extend halftime by a minute.

57:10 Or two, so you're very limited.

57:12 So quickly... And, uh, you know, these guys took their, it took them a little time to come out the.

57:18 Tunnel 40 years ago, man.

57:20 Okay. Include the coaches. It was, it was over 40. I was sorry that, uh, you know, we didn't see Parcells. I, you know, probably, uh, I'm not in the best of shape at this point.

57:34 No, no, Len. He's fine. He caught a flu or something. Yes, correct.

57:38 Parcells is actually doing okay. Remember, Bob Papa and I did an interview three weeks ago. He was super sharp. He was great when we talked to him. So he just happened to catch something over the course of the last few days, so he couldn't make it down.

57:50 So that's it.

57:52 Yeah, I was sorry. Yeah, sorry about that. Obviously, he's one of the great members.

57:57 Yeah, I mean, during the summer, he's up at Saratoga basically every race day.

58:01 But, you know, they had enough of them out there. It was just a great day. They did a nice show, and I'm appreciative of them doing that.

58:10 Well, okay.

58:11 Hey, listen, you know, tenacious, resilient, you know, tough, mental toughness. Down the stretch, I got a play I want to slip into the playbook, although I suspect it might be in there. But I'll start with my play by asking you who you think the fastest player on the Giants is.

58:36 I'd say probably Deontay Banks.

58:39 Put it in the playbook, John. Play him on offense. Run one play this year with Tay Banks at wide receiver. I saw it for the first time in 1961, John. Giants, Rams, Yankee Stadium.

59:01 Uh.

59:02 irish basically response on the field for one play toward the end of the first half. Tittle hit him with a touchdown pass, surprised the hell out of the Rams. Banks can fly. Man can run. Man can run.

59:16 Yeah, he can run.

59:16 I don't know if we're at a point here, Len, where you have to get cute with that.

59:21 Let's not try to give Deontay Banks too much.

59:23 Let him enjoy the improved play at cornerback before you start throwing a lot more on his plate is the way.

59:28 I would look at it. Okay, okay, okay.

59:29 Go run a fly pack.

59:30 I'd love to know if you guys get a chance to even tell me.

59:33 Ask him if.

59:35 They've got a play in the playbook for you, Banks.

59:37 And, Len, if I asked them, they wouldn't tell me if they did. Yeah, exactly.

59:42 Let me throw out one other name. People are throwing out names of others than the obvious ones that had a great game on Sunday. Man, Edmonds is a tough player. He is a good player. That dude, I mean, there were a couple of plays where he just slid down the line of scrimmage. The guy came through that hole, and Edmonds met them straight up in the hole. That's a good play. I mean, I turn to my... So my son-in-law was with me, and I said, guy, that's the way to play middle linebacker. It was just a beautiful play, beautiful play. Hey, look, you know, we got a chance here the next two or three weeks. You know, we can fatten up on this schedule. A little worried about the run game, this interior with the commanders, you know,

1:00:29 Kinlaw and Payne. They're going to be tough. I'm a little worried about the run game. It's not quite where it was earlier in the season. I'm not sure what the situation is, but hey, first place at this point, and let's just try to build on it. I never want to hear anybody ever say coaching doesn't count.

1:00:53 No, you're right, Len. Appreciate the comment. Good stuff. It does matter.

1:00:57 I'd just be concerned of Daniels. I think he's just like, you know, he makes everyone. He's one of the quarterbacks that just make everyone.

1:01:05 Around him better. He can win a game on his own. No doubt.

1:01:08 And he's going to be a much different guy to handle as compared to what you've seen. But you've got Washington.

1:01:16 You've got the Saints. at home.

1:01:18 The Saints just got absolutely lambasted last night by the Atlanta Falcons.

1:01:22 Couldn't stop the run, couldn't run the ball. Couldn't do anything.

1:01:24 I mean, and that's the keys we talk about week in and week out, John.

1:01:27 You know, you got to be able to stop the run. You got to be able to run it. The Saints could do neither one of those two.

1:01:31 And they, you know, limited Olave, even though he had over 100 yards receiving, did the Atlanta Falcons. But And then you've got the Houston Texans, who are a mess right now, who are 0-4. I mean, think about that, where this schedule plays out. And Giants aren't looking ahead. Teams aren't looking ahead. They're thinking about and focusing on this Sunday against Washington, which should be a fun scene.

1:01:53 Down there in Maryland. Yeah, no question about it.

1:01:54 I should point out, too, I know all fans saw was the halftime, but they did have an event for the 86 team on Friday night. and on Saturday night. Some of the guys even went to the practice on Saturday here at the facility. Apparently a lot of the guys from the 86 team went here and Harbaugh brought them onto the field.

1:02:08 They did a whole thing with the team.

1:02:09 It was really cool.

1:02:09 Didn't they ring in the bell down in Wall Street? Friday morning. They did that Friday morning. That's right.

1:02:14 And apparently Scadaboo and Winston came over, introduced themselves to a lot of the guys on Saturday at the practice, which was cool. And then Bob was telling the story at the dinner on Saturday night after his game against Notre.

1:02:26 Dame, Bill Belichick came out on the private jet. Yes. On Saturday night. And went to the dinner. The last guy there. And hung out with everybody. Which is great.

1:02:35 And Belichick loves this organization.

1:02:37 He does.

1:02:39 Anytime that he has been asked about it, about the Giants organization, he has a great affinity for his time here and what he was able to accomplish. And he was a brilliant defensive mastermind that turned out to be a brilliant head coach with the New England Patriots and now at Carolina. But He adored that team, as did every Giant fan and all the adulation. Listen, halftime goes really quick, but every single... every single applause, every single celebration, that team deserved it for what they were able to accomplish in 86.

1:03:10 All right, I got a bunch of YouTube messages. I'm going to try to motor through these, Johnny Max. We'll go get our cookies. Aloha, 226T7Q, Schmelke Moose, who makes the cookies? Please show us.

1:03:23 Thanks. You know what? That would be Jade in the cafeteria. It was an excellent job. You know what? But that's another great idea. That's another great idea.

1:03:32 We should have do something on social where we on Victory Cookie Tuesday, where we're shooting them making the cookies.

1:03:42 If you go back, we did a big feature on the kitchen staff. I know, which was great. And if you go in there, I think Jade is on camera on that for a bunch. So go find Jade, and that's who makes the cookies.

1:03:53 She does a great job.

1:03:53 Jade does a great, yeah. The cookies are delicious. I asked John last week, do they get them shipped in?

1:03:58 No, no. The batter is brought in, but the cookies are cooked here.

1:04:02 I really like to read negative comments, but I'll read this anyway. Abu Hadia 9403, Moose makes the shows 100 times.

1:04:07 Better, man. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. There isn't a but either. That's it. Checks it. I'm waiting for the but.

1:04:15 A lot of scars in radio.

1:04:17 There's always a but. There's always but. Exactly right.

1:04:23 Eric in Virginia. Reese, the new LT. The Tino Wood State Sacrilege. Yeah, I don't think anyone here has said anything about Arvo Reese and Lawrence Taylor. I think he's much more of a Carl Banks type of player, to be honest with you.

1:04:34 Didn't we get into that with Micah and the Cowboys with the comparisons to LT?

1:04:37 Listen, there's only one Lawrence Taylor. Correct. Dark Simi 2572.

1:04:41 I think Arvo Reese needs to endorse Reese's pieces.

1:04:46 All right.

1:04:47 Oh, yes. I can see that. Aloha. Not a fan of Reese's Pieces.

1:04:52 Interesting that Charlie has been MIA. By the way, Charlie's okay. He has sent me a message. It's his personal choice right now not to call on, and he told me that before the season started. So it has nothing to do with the fact that the Giants are winning, and he's only happy when it seems to call when the Giants lose.

1:05:07 He just has decided not to call on for the time being.

1:05:09 Do you think the reason why the Giants are winning is because Charlie's not called?

1:05:12 Very possible. Ha ha ha! Absolutely possible.

1:05:18 Jambogaki6134, all caps for the dub. Eric in Virginia, again, victory Tuesday, first place G-Men. Chuckisbahena3134 tells Zavada to keep working. That man is going to be a kicking legend, my goodness. Guys, kicking can be very volatile.

1:05:34 It can. Perfect so far. Love what I see. Let's not start throwing the word legend around quite yet. Right. Don't do that.

1:05:41 But I would say, John, and you know this better than anybody, special teams was too big of a talking point over the last three or four years to the negative.

1:05:49 100%. And it's an asset now.

1:05:51 Yes.

1:05:51 Every week.

1:05:52 The special teams every week is whether it be the return game. whether it be Zavada, Punt, I mean, it is.

1:05:58 They gave up one long return this week, which I'm sure John Harbaugh was not happy about.

1:06:01 No.

1:06:01 But other than that, fantastic. But they've been great.

1:06:04 Yes.

1:06:05 Lunix, 42.

1:06:05 Abdul, the last four plays, was in the backfield on every play. And for much of the second half, too, Lunix. Just really, really good rush in the passer. And then Dark Simi, 25-72. How come we can't find the postgame show on YouTube? I see the postgame with Amani Tumor, but not the one with Shmel Kintiki. Because it's Radio Dark Simi.

1:06:19 It's not on video. But you can find it. Oh, wait. You can find it on the Giants Podcast Network. There it is.

1:06:26 If you go to the Giants Media Pass Podcast feed or the Giants Huddle Podcast feed, you can find the Giants radio postgame show in its entirety. It's like two hours of postgame goodness. We got like the Harbaugh presser. We got the player interviews, calls from fans, Tiki, Datino.

1:06:39 Papa, me. Leonard Marshall. Leonard Marshall this week. Exactly right.

1:06:43 So I'm going to start pointing that out to a lot of folks. I'll tweet about it later today. But we are putting that up on the Media Pass Podcast feed and on the Giants Huddle Podcast feed to make sure– You guys go check that out every week. And it really is a good show. So I think you guys will enjoy it.

1:06:56 Oh, you guys do a great job. If you check it out. But guys, see, the problem is that we're in the radio booth.

1:07:00 And literally, where we sit right here is the window. So there's nowhere to set up a camera to shoot the post-game show. It's just not possible.

1:07:11 Yeah. It's just hard. So it is up on the podcast feed, though, if you want to listen to the audio. So make sure you go check that out.

1:07:17 There have been times where I've done a radio show like literally in a closet that I don't think you'd want to shoot in a video.

1:07:22 Are you ready to go stuff our faces with some cookies?

1:07:27 I'm excited. Yes, I am. I got to watch myself. But yes, I'm excited.

1:07:32 Chocolate chip cookie, no doubt.

1:07:33 100%. Thanks for being with us on Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac. Victory Tuesday.

1:07:36 The official luxury vehicle of the New York football Giants in the Hackensack. Meridian on the podcast studio. Keep getting better. For Mark Milosas, I'm John Schmelke. Moose is back tomorrow with Shawnee O'Hara at 12 as we.

1:07:47 Get you ready for the Giants and the Commanders. We'll see you then.