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00:00Can the Giants run the rock on their way to the fourth win of the season?
00:04And can the defense make the Saints offense shuck up?
00:08Breaking all of it on this Week 6 Blue Rush Preview Show.
00:19What's going on everybody? This is Blue Rush, your New York Post Sports Preview Show.
00:25Saints come marching into MetLife for some Week 6 action.
00:29Brandon London here alongside longtime Giants beat writer for the Post, Paul Schwartz.
00:34Paul, got a lot riding on this one.
00:38I mentioned Saints come marching into town.
00:41They are wounded 1-4.
00:43When we looked at the schedule earlier in the year,
00:46they looked like when they got that first win,
00:48it looked like the Giants may have their work cut out for them in Week 6,
00:53but this is a must win and should win.
00:56But for some reason, the Giants are a favor at home.
01:01Let's break down these storylines, my man.
01:04Yeah, yeah.
01:05Did you just say shuck up?
01:07What did you say?
01:08Yeah.
01:09Shuck up.
01:10Shuck up.
01:10Yeah, I just thought of that.
01:12I just thought.
01:13Yeah.
01:15I get it.
01:16I get it.
01:16Yes, I get it.
01:17I get it.
01:17That was the big thing coming out of the draft, right?
01:20We didn't know how to say his name, right?
01:21No one knew.
01:22You know, his name is not pronounced the way it's spelled.
01:25Yeah.
01:26But he's turned out to be a pretty good quarterback so far.
01:30Yeah.
01:30You know, the spreads and things, I don't get too hot and bothered with them.
01:35But, you know, sometimes you say, okay, I can figure out what's going on here with this.
01:39They want you to put the money on here.
01:40They want you to believe this.
01:41They want you to believe that.
01:42But Giants 3-1-1 against the Saints.
01:45The Saints have lost three straight games, three straight home games.
01:49You know, the home games.
01:50Remember when going into that dome was like a mission impossible?
01:53They lost three straight home games.
01:55And now they're coming onto the road.
01:57And they're one-point favorites against the Giants who just tied the Commanders,
02:01which wasn't great, but it wasn't a loss.
02:03So, yeah, I mean, Denard Wilson, the defensive coordinator,
02:06was talking about how big this game is and things like that.
02:09And he casually just threw in there.
02:11We love playing at MetLife Stadium and being underdogs.
02:14You know, and I know what he meant by that.
02:16Everyone knew what he meant by that.
02:17It's like, really?
02:19We're playing at home and we're 3-1-1 and we're underdogs to the one and four Saints?
02:25So there's not believers out there in the betting public, certainly.
02:29There's not believers in this Giants team.
02:31And, you know, let them have non-believers and keep on winning these games or tying them
02:37in this case.
02:37But obviously, this is a game they need to win.
02:40Well, this could transition into our first storyline.
02:43Do you think that the non-belief is more on Jameis or is it on the defense, Giants defense?
02:51Oh, I think it's a lot of Jameis still.
02:53You know, old habits are hard to break, right?
02:55It's his 12th year in the league.
02:58You know, and if you just turn on isolated, if you just turned on the first half of the
03:02game in Washington, you'd say, oh my God, Jameis is a disaster.
03:05If you turned on the game in L.A. when he had to come in to replace Jackson Dart, you'd
03:10say Jameis is a disaster.
03:13Playing in a Nor'easter against the Titans, there were long stretches where it looked like
03:16Jameis was a disaster.
03:18And he certainly was better against the Cardinals.
03:21But there are isolated moments where he doesn't look good.
03:24Now, the second half of the game in Washington, he looked like, you know, a Hall of Fame quarterback.
03:29So I think it's a lot of that.
03:31And it's also who they've played.
03:33Let's face it.
03:34They have not played.
03:35Look, we thought the Cowboys win was a great win.
03:38The Cowboys are under 500, right?
03:40The Titans are certainly under 500.
03:43The Rams are, well, the Rams are under 500.
03:46But we think they're a good team.
03:48And they got, you know, blown out by the Rams.
03:50The Cardinals are way under 500.
03:52The Commanders are way under 500.
03:54So I think people look at them and say, we don't believe in Jameis.
03:57And they haven't beaten a team that's any good.
03:59But the Saints aren't supposed to really any good either at 1-4.
04:03So, like I said, this spread is, put it this way.
04:07I don't think John Harbaugh harps on a lot of this stuff.
04:11But I have a feeling the fact that they're underdogs at home is a point that has been brought
04:16home to this team.
04:18Well, I mean, that definitely brings me into my first point about how I feel as though
04:23the Giants should attack the Saints.
04:26So we can stay on the offense.
04:28Take the football out of Jameis Winston's hand.
04:30And I'm not saying that because, you know, Jameis has played awful.
04:33We've talked about the Jameis experience.
04:36He's coming off of a really strong second half of that Commanders game, as we talked about.
04:41But remember, we've been doing this blue rush for, what, a couple years now, right?
04:45Right. And former Giants, old Giants under old regimes.
04:51We would talk about the Giants being a get-right game for other teams.
04:58You're passing offense struggling.
05:00Oh, well, you play against the Giants who don't have a good passing defense.
05:04It's a get-right game for that squad.
05:06You want to run the football?
05:07Oh, play against the Giants' run defense who has been pretty bad.
05:11It could be a get-right game for them.
05:13I think this is the first time I'm doing Blue Rush with you where I'm looking at a game as
05:20a get-right game for the New York football Giants.
05:24And that's because the Saints' run defense couldn't stop me and you if I was Patrick Ricard and you were
05:32Cam Scatterboo running behind me.
05:34This is a 30th-ranked run defense in the NFL.
05:38They're giving up a buck 48.8 so I can round up.
05:42See, I like the Dewey Decimo system.
05:44I'll round up to a buck 49.
05:46I've talked about the microscope that is now on this Giants' run game because we haven't seen explosive plays and
05:54explosive runs for these guys.
05:55They're putting the football on the ground.
05:58And at the beginning of the year, we talked about who was going to be the RB1, who was going
06:03to snatch that RB1 title.
06:06No one snatched it.
06:07It's just been Cam Scatterboo by default.
06:10This is the game for this Giants' rushing offense, whether it's Cam Scatterboo, Tyrone Tracy Jr.,
06:18who I feel as though is going to get some extra carries this game, or Najee Harris.
06:23Paul, I need to see at least two explosive runs, runs over 20 yards.
06:29I need to see at least two of those from one of these backs in order for me to look
06:36at this Giants' running back room and rushing game,
06:40look at it and be like, okay, there's something there for me to say it with my chest out and
06:45for me to say it with confidence.
06:47This run game has to dominate this Saints' rush defense.
06:52Well, look, I mean, I don't disagree with your premise about the get-right game, but to me, you know,
06:57I've seen this many times with the Giants over the past few years.
07:00And you can only get right if you do it right.
07:03You know what I mean?
07:04If the Giants don't run block and the guys don't hit the right holes or hold on to the ball,
07:08it doesn't matter what run defense they're playing.
07:11You know what I'm saying?
07:11They need to do it right.
07:13And then if they do it right, they will get yards against this defense.
07:17But only if they do it right.
07:18We thought this was going to be a run-first, power-running, 300-pound fullback, you know,
07:26power-running game, and it just has not materialized.
07:29The offensive line has shown that it does not do that well.
07:33Now, they felt that they saw some things in the second half of the Commanders game
07:38where they went to tempo and they spread it out.
07:41There was more shotgun.
07:42Don't forget, this was not supposed to be this spread shotgun attack under John Harbaugh and Matt Nagy.
07:47And they, you know, out of necessity, because they're down by two scores, they had to do that.
07:52And they were able to run the ball better.
07:55You know, John Runyon Jr. told me, the box is a little lighter, so we were able to get some
08:00runs.
08:00Don't forget, before Cam Scadaboo's fumble, he had a run of 19 and a run of 9 and a run
08:05of 5.
08:05And he was feeling himself, which is why he got a little sloppy and fumbled the ball.
08:10You know, that was the first success they had.
08:12Okay, now here's some stats, Brandon.
08:14The Giants are 16th in rushing offense, 109 yards a game, right?
08:18You say, okay, that's not terrible, right?
08:20They're 16th, they're mid-level.
08:22That is not really accurate, because their 147 rushes is tied to the 7th most.
08:29If you run the ball more, you are going to get more rushing yards.
08:33And so that 16th, to me, is misleading.
08:36You know, they're one of the worst rushing teams in the league,
08:38because they run it more than most teams, and they're only middling there.
08:42Their 3.7 yard per carry average is tied for 25th.
08:47Bad.
08:47One rushing touchdown, okay?
08:50One.
08:50Cam Scadaboo.
08:51One rushing touchdown is tied with the Steelers for last, okay?
08:56One run of 20 or more yards is tied for 29th.
09:02And, you know, it's just not good enough.
09:06So the Saints are bad, but it'll be interesting to see, you know,
09:09does Cam Scadaboo start the game, and does he get the first carry after that fumble?
09:15Maybe they want to send a message, and they let Najee Harris get the first carry.
09:20We'll see.
09:21I agree with you about Tyrone Tracy.
09:23Here's one thing.
09:25The last three games have been in rain.
09:28The Titans game was at Nor'Easter.
09:30The next game was the Cardinals was not, you know, was rain, not heavy rain,
09:34and Washington was the remnants of a hurricane.
09:36It was really bad rain.
09:37It is going to be a picture-perfect 50-something degree, no rain.
09:44So this is a perfect game for everybody.
09:47I agree with you.
09:48They got to run the ball.
09:51That brings us to the pass game.
09:53Malik Neighbors, I don't, you know, everyone always texts me like,
09:57well, what's Malik going to do this week?
09:59What's Malik going to do this week?
10:01Like, I'm happy hour at Applebee's with Matt Nagy asking him the game plan
10:06and how he wants to get the ball to Malik Neighbors.
10:09I don't know.
10:10I know, I'm hoping that Malik Neighbors' targets is under 10 this week
10:15and not because I don't want them to get the rock and people to do well in their fantasies
10:19because, like we're saying, you got to be able to run the football,
10:22control the clock, run the football, get to this team,
10:25and get your explosive plays through the run.
10:27Do you feel, is this a Jameis game to win
10:31or is this a Jameis game to not lose,
10:34especially when he's showing that he can get the ball to his weapons on the perimeter
10:39and in the slot, in the eyes, they are likely.
10:43You know, a quarterback, I know we say, though,
10:46let's take the quarterback out of the game a little bit, right?
10:48You know, you can do that sometimes, but very rarely.
10:53The quarterback is going to have to make plays at some point.
10:56He just is going to have to.
10:57The Saints are not going to line up and just let the Giants run the ball down their throats.
11:01You know, I don't expect that.
11:02I don't even know if the Giants are capable of doing that.
11:05So, you know, Jameis has to play his game.
11:08Now, I agree, 20 targets to Neighbors is too many.
11:11It's too many.
11:12Now, they were in complete pass mode.
11:15You know, the Giants do not want to throw it over 50 times.
11:18I would suggest that they probably, and, you know, expect they won't run it that much.
11:23But if the Saints get a lead, if it's a problem,
11:25then you have to do what, you know, is necessary.
11:27The good thing is that Malik Neighbors looks,
11:30he said he's got like 20% to 30% more in him.
11:33But he is, you know, five games into the season looking better than I think most of us thought he
11:41would have coming off the ACL.
11:43So that's very encouraging.
11:44And that he could withstand all those snaps and all those targets.
11:49You know, don't forget, he caught 11 passes, which is tremendous.
11:52But, you know, catching half your targets is not the kind of efficiency you want.
11:58You know, Isaiah Likely was targeted, what, 11 times and had 10 catches?
12:03That's the efficiency you want.
12:05But the Giants look like they have two guys in Neighbors and Likely who are match-up problems.
12:11Isaiah Likely says something interesting.
12:12And I think if Isaiah Likely, if you were his teammate back then,
12:16you would have bought him, you know, a bottle or a can or a steak.
12:21Isaiah Likely said on Thursday,
12:24I told Malik when I first got here, my job is to make sure you can never be double teamed.
12:31That is my job.
12:32I mean, every receiver would have to sit down and just, you know, stand up and give him a big
12:36hug.
12:37You know, it's like my job is to make sure you are never double teamed.
12:40And Isaiah Likely is on his way to doing that because he is a bonafide weapon on his own.
12:46Now we get those guys doubled.
12:48Now fields, you know, Donnell Mooney had a rough game.
12:51You know, I want to see some of those guys and you know what?
12:53Theo Johnson, you know, he can catch the ball.
12:56Let's get, I want to see some of that, you know, secondary target stuff going.
13:02Hopefully, you know, this should be a game for some of that.
13:05It would be great to see a complete game.
13:10Offensively, you're running the football and you're also able to spread the football out to different receivers,
13:15tight ends and different targets, different guys getting different targets.
13:19If we can see that and you're, you're looking at, again, a get right game, air quotes,
13:23it should be a get right game for not only the run game, but just for the offense as a
13:28whole to give Jameis something,
13:30to have some sort of blueprint for Jameis to be like, okay, we can run the football.
13:35He can spread the ball out to different wide receivers and tight ends and pass catchers.
13:40And this should be the offense going forward.
13:42But that only happens is defense steps up.
13:45Like this can't, Giants defense, coach, oh, the, the, the coordinator's name.
13:53What's the coordinator's name?
13:54Paul, why am I doing it?
13:54Gennard?
13:55Gennard.
13:55Gennard.
13:56Gennard Wilson.
13:57I'm thinking, I'm thinking Devon Gennard, the former linebacker for the, for the Giants.
14:00But this, you can't take a step back this game.
14:04Not against this offense.
14:06They're not running the ball like we, we, we used to see the Saints.
14:09against Etienne is their lead rusher.
14:11He's not very effective.
14:14Camara is not what he used to be.
14:16Chris Alave has over 500 plus receiving yards.
14:20And I think that'll be the guy to watch.
14:22But if I'm Taye Banks, I'm feeling myself.
14:27I see, I see some light at the end of the tunnel on a, on a new deal, a new
14:32possible deal.
14:33I want to draw that Chris, Chris Alave card.
14:36And I want to match up with him throughout the course of the game.
14:39But if this Giants, this Giants defense has to come to play, Paul, any worries there?
14:45Do you think the Saints offense and Kellen Moore can hurt this Giants defense on Sunday?
14:52Well, the Saints are, have scored six points in the first quarter this year.
14:57Okay.
14:58They are an incredibly slow starting offense.
15:01So, you know, the Giants need to make sure, you know, they come out, you know, like the
15:05commanders where the commanders were up seven, nothing before he even sat down.
15:08Right.
15:09Now, Tyler Shuck does not present the running threat that Jane Daniels did.
15:14And, and you could tell John Harbaugh was ticked off.
15:17And so was Denard, um, you know, um, Wilson about the, about the, the, the leakage that
15:22allowed Jane Daniels to have two long touchdown runs, giving credit to him as a great runner,
15:27which he is, but there were, there were the, their, their, their pass rush integrity, their
15:32rush lanes were all out of kilter.
15:34Um, they, you know, they did a bad job on that where he maybe should have got a first
15:38down.
15:39He shouldn't have taken her all the way to the house.
15:40So that, that stuff that needs to get cleaned up, even though Tyler Shuck is not that kind
15:44of quarterback.
15:45Um, we'll see about Abdul Carter, right?
15:47He hasn't practiced as of Friday with a calf injury.
15:51He would be a monumental loss with the way he's playing.
15:54Um, so I would be concerned about the pass rush in that situation with Brian Burns already
15:59out, you know, I mean, uh, Cape Von Thibodeau and Trace Ford are not the guys you would
16:04think of are going to apply heavy pressure.
16:06A DJ readers playing terrific.
16:08You know, he's been a terrific addition.
16:09He's a terrific run at stopper.
16:10Um, Arvel Reese is a hammer.
16:12Um, so, um, and, and the, the, the, you know, the, the Tyler Newbin probably won't play,
16:17you know, um, I think he almost definitely won't play, but it looks like Jason
16:21Pinnock will be back coming off that concussion.
16:23So there's enough there, you know, with, with Newsom and Banks and, you know, we've seen
16:29that, that they have completely changed their defense to, to be a aggressive blitz defense.
16:35You know, Drew Phillips had two sacks.
16:37They were not doing that.
16:38That was not Denard Wilson's calling card at the start of the year.
16:41And part of the reason is because they lost Brian Burns and they weren't getting pressure.
16:45And part of the reason is that Deontay Banks, who missed a game of the calf, you know,
16:49and, and, and Banks and Newsom are showing Denard Wilson, they can hold up.
16:54So, you know, it's easy to say blitz, blitz, you know, how many people say, you know what,
16:59I want my defensive coordinator to sit back and play zone and just let's, you know, not
17:03let them get explosives.
17:05Everyone wants the guy to go after it.
17:06We know that every defensive, you know, no defender says, I like to lay back.
17:11I like to lay back.
17:11They all want to go forward, but you can, you can't do that at the expense of getting
17:15burned down a field with explosive plays.
17:18So the Giants are doing a good job with that.
17:20Their pass rush is, is not great when they don't put pressure on.
17:24I don't think it's great when they do put pressure on, but it's better.
17:27So maybe this is a game where they do a little less pressure, a little more coverage.
17:33But, you know, either way, look, it was interesting when the Cowboys lost to the Bucs, right?
17:40At home.
17:40And, and I thought they sent all the right messages.
17:42The Cowboys said, no disrespect to the Bucs, but this is a game you have to win the games
17:48you're supposed to win when you're playing at home against a team with a bad record.
17:52And, and the Giants are not at that level quite yet, certainly, but this is a game we
17:57feel they're supposed to win at home against a team that's one in four.
18:01It would be nice if they have a commanding win.
18:04It would be okay if they just win.
18:08You know, I appreciate the 07 defensive line or the 07 trenches a lot more now that we've
18:18seen this Giants big three and Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeau and Brian Burns.
18:23They've been good, but they haven't been great.
18:25Remember we, we, we, not so much we in terms of me and you, but everyone wanted to start
18:30comparing this big three and this trenches to that 07 and even that 2011 unit or that
18:37Giants defensive line that was Steve Spagnuolo was able to just rush for drop seven and, and
18:43have the pass rush, make the secondary a lot better, play a lot better, complimentary football.
18:49We just haven't seen that there.
18:51And there's no, not to these guys.
18:53I know Brian Burns is injured right now, but whether it's been Shane Bourne or, uh, or
19:00the new BC there, there, there, it's, you're having to blitz.
19:05You're having to, to send extra guys, be creative in creating pressure again, no knock on these
19:11guys, but there's just, there's nothing, there's nothing wrong with it.
19:15But, and however you need to get it done, that's how you need to get it done.
19:18Because we walked into this, came into this season wondering like, okay, is the Giants
19:23secondary going to be able to hold up?
19:25Big question, Marsh.
19:26Who's going to be the starter?
19:27Tate Banks even going to be on this team?
19:29For the most part, the secondary is kind of outplaying the pass rush.
19:33And that's no, again, no knock or anything, but the secondary has kind of lived, over exceeded
19:41expectations a little bit more than the pass rush has kind of under exceeded expectations.
19:46But this has to be a Kayvon Thibodeau game, regardless of Abdul Carter plays or not.
19:52I'm going back and forth with the people and, you know, we can, we can say what Kayvon does.
19:57That's, that's great.
19:59That, that, that helps this defense that doesn't show up in the box score or in the stats.
20:05But when you're arguing with people, whether it would just be a fan or a talking head, you
20:10can't use those as talking points.
20:13Everyone just wants to talk sacks.
20:15So I'm hoping this is that game, that Kayvon breakout game, because I think he needs it,
20:22the confidence, whatever, just for yourself.
20:25Just like I'm doing, the stats kind of verify the work that you did in the off season, you
20:31know?
20:31So I'm hoping this becomes a Kayvon game as well, because they're going to need to get
20:36pressure on Chuck.
20:37That's the last thing we want to see is he get hot at MetLife.
20:41Paul, what storylines this week going into Sunday, you writing about, and do you think
20:49that fans, everyone watching right here should be keeping an eye on as we get closer to Sunday
20:54at 1 p.m.?
20:56Well, one thing that was in the New York Post this week, I wrote a story.
21:00My colleague, Mark Cannizzaro, talked to Cam Scadaboo the other day.
21:03Cam said he was embarrassed.
21:06Now, you know, as an athlete, I'm disappointed.
21:09I'm frustrated.
21:10I'm upset.
21:11I'm angry.
21:12Usually they don't say embarrassed.
21:14You know, they usually don't say embarrassed.
21:15And when a media member says, well, is this embarrassing?
21:18Are you embarrassed?
21:19Usually the athlete pushes back on that.
21:22You know, I gave effort, but it wasn't good enough.
21:25I'm not going to be embarrassed.
21:26Cam said, not only am I embarrassed, said, hey, when I go home, I'm embarrassed for my
21:31girlfriend that she has to, you know, hear this and deal with this.
21:34So it'll be very interesting to see how Cam responds to that.
21:37And, you know, if he holds on to the ball, first of all, and becomes that player that,
21:42you know, that we hope is, you know, just as a more reliable player, you know, you can't
21:48put the ball on the ground.
21:49Number two, I talked to Theo Johnson after the game last week, and it was interesting.
21:53We were talking about the great catch he made behind his back.
21:56You know, he had to reach back for it.
21:57High degree of difficulty catch.
21:59And he said to me, yeah, but that should be a catch and run for me.
22:02I wasn't on the same page with Jameis.
22:03Thought that was interesting.
22:05And then about Cam Scadaboo's fumble, he took it upon himself.
22:09Theo said, you know what?
22:10That's on me.
22:10I didn't get my block correct against Deron Payne.
22:14And that caused a direct hit on Cam.
22:17Cam's got to hold on to the ball.
22:18That's my saying and not Theo.
22:20And I brought that to John Harbaugh and said, you know, Theo, you know, went out of his way
22:24to blame himself when no one was blaming him.
22:26And Harbaugh was very impressed with that.
22:28He said, wow, for him to tell a member of the media that we talk about that in our meeting
22:32rooms, for him to tell a member of the media that who's going to put that out there tells
22:36me something about Theo and tells me something about the accountability of
22:40this team that Harbaugh thinks is really, really good.
22:44And the last thing, Brandon, is that, look, the Saints are desperate.
22:49Their owner, Gail Benson, who does not come out and speak much, spoke at some, you know,
22:54New Orleans quarterback club lunch or something and put the team on notice that I will not
22:59accept this level of performance as our standard.
23:02And I am committed to making the decisions necessary to improve this team.
23:07Everyone in this organization must understand the urgency.
23:12Okay.
23:13When you're an owner and you lose three straight games at home to your paying customers, that's
23:17rough.
23:18So I think the Saints will, I think the Giants will get the best, the best the Saints have
23:24to offer.
23:24We'll see how good that is.
23:26But this, this is, this is, you know, DEFCON four or five for the Saints.
23:31Their owner has just said not acceptable.
23:33Okay.
23:34Um, and oh, by the way, your favorites on the road against the Giants.
23:39So, um, you know, I don't think the Saints are going to take this lying down.
23:43This is a pink slip game for a lot of people on the Saints.
23:47You can come back to your locker and there will be a pink slip right there that says,
23:52don't come talk to coach.
23:54Cause it might be one on, on Keller Moore's locker.
23:56It's come talk to the owner.
23:58Brick, get your iPhone, eye, eye tablet and go talk to the owner.
24:02Cause you know, the playbooks are on the tablets now go talk to the owner.
24:06So yeah, the Giants are going to get everything and more from this Saints team.
24:10That's coming up to MetLife stadium desperate.
24:12I think desperate is the, is the word that I could use there.
24:16Uh, we're going to wrap this thing up going into week six.
24:19This was your week six blue rush preview show for the New York post sports.
24:24See you guys at MetLife stadium at 1 PM for Paul Schwartz.
24:29I'm Brandon London.
24:29Thanks for watching another episode of blue rush.