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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 six 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 six action.
00:29Brandon London here alongside longtime Giants beat writer for the Post, Paul Schwartz.
00:34Paul got a lot riding on this one.
00:38You know, I mentioned Saints come marching into town.
00:41They are wounded one in four.
00:43When we looked at the schedule earlier in the year, they looked like, you know, when they got that first
00:48win,
00:48it looked like, all right, the Giants may have their work cut out for them in week six.
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 the shuck up?
01:08What did you say?
01:09Yeah. See if shuck up, shuck up.
01:11Yeah. I just I just thought of that.
01:12I just thought.
01:13Oh, yeah.
01:14Yeah. No, I get it.
01:16I get it.
01:17You know, I get it.
01:17I guess, you know, that was the big thing coming out of the draft.
01:19Right. We didn't know how to say his name.
01:21You 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, OK, 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.
01:48You know, the home games, remember when going into that dome was like a mission impossible?
01:53They lost three straight home games and now they're coming onto the road.
01:57And they're one point favorites against the Giants who just tied the commanders, which wasn't great, but it wasn't a
02:03loss.
02:04So, yeah, I mean, Denard Wilson, the defensive coordinator, was talking about how big this game is and things like
02:09that.
02:09And he casually just threw in there.
02:11We love playing at MetLife Stadium and being underdogs, you know, and I know what he meant by that.
02:16Everyone knew what he meant by that.
02:17It's like, really, we're playing at home and we're 3-1-1 and we're underdogs to the 1-4 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 in 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.
02:54You 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 game
03:02in 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 Jameis was a disaster.
03:18And he certainly was better against the Cardinals, but 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.
03:28So 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.
03:44The Rams are, well, the Rams are under 500, but we think they're a good team and they got, you
03:48know, 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 and they haven't beaten a team
03:58that's any good.
03:59But the Saints aren't supposed to, aren't really any good either at one and four.
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, but I have a feeling the fact that
04:13they're underdogs at home is a point that has been brought home to this team.
04:18Well, I mean, that definitely brings me into my first point about how I feel as though the Giants should
04:25attack the Saints so 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 looks good.
04:37He'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?
04:46And former Giants, old Giants under old regimes, we would talk about the Giants being a get-right game for
04:57other teams.
04:58You're passing offense struggling.
05:00Oh, well, you play against 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 of 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 Decimal 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.
06:15Whether it's Cam Scatterboo, Tyrone Tracy Jr., who I feel as though is going to get some extra carries this
06:21game, or Najee Harris.
06:23Paul, I need to see at least two explosive runs.
06:27Runs 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, look at it, and be like, okay, there's something there.
06:43For me to say it with my chest out and for 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, and then if they do it right, they will get yards against this defense.
07:17But only if they do it right.
07:19We thought this was going to be a run-first, power-running, 300-pound fullback, you know, power-running game,
07:27and 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 where they went to
07:39tempo 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, and they
07:53were 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, and 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, because they run it more than most teams,
08:40and they're only middling there.
08:42Their 3.7 yard per carry average is tied for 25th.
08:47Bad.
08:48One rushing touchdown, okay?
08:50One, Cam Scadaboo, one rushing touchdown is tied with the Steelers for last, okay?
08:56One run of 20 or more yards is tied for 29th.
09:03And, you know, it's just not good enough.
09:06So, the Saints are bad, but it'll be interesting to see, you know, does Cam Scadaboo start the game, and
09:12does 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, and Washington was the remnants
09:35of a hurricane.
09:36It was really bad rain.
09:38It 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 Nabors, I don't, you know, everyone always texts me like, well, what's Malik going to do this week?
09:59What's Malik going to do this week?
10:01Like, I'm at happy hour at Applebee's with Matt Nagy asking him the game plan and how he wants to
10:07get the ball to Malik Nabors.
10:09I don't know.
10:10I know.
10:11I'm hoping that Malik Nabors' 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.
10:23Run the football.
10:24Get this team and get your explosive plays through the run.
10:27Do you feel, is this, is this a Jameis game to win or is this a Jameis game to not
10:33lose, especially when he's showing that he can get the ball to his weapons on the perimeter and in the
10:40slot in Isaiah likely?
10:43You know, a quarterback, I know we say, let's take the quarterback out of the game a little bit, right?
10:48You know, you can, you know, you can do that sometimes, but very rarely.
10:53The quarterback's 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.
11:09Now, I agree.
11:0920 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, then you have to do what is necessary.
11:27The good thing is that Malik Nabors looks, he said he's got like 20 to 30 percent more in him.
11:33But he is, he is, you know, five games into the season looking better than I think most of us
11:40thought he would have coming off the ACL.
11:43So that's very encouraging.
11:45And 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 at 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, you would have bought him, you know,
12:18a 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, now Mooney had a rough game.
12:51You know, I want to see some of those guys and you know what?
12:54Theo 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, tight ends, and
13:16different targets, different guys getting different targets.
13:19If we can see that and you're looking at, again, a get right game, air quotes, it should be a
13:24get right game for not only the run game, but just for the offense as a whole to give Jameis
13:29something, to have some sort of blueprint for Jameis.
13:33To 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 kid, Giants defense, coach, oh, the coordinator's name.
13:53What's the coordinator's name?
13:54Paul, why am I doing it?
13:54Denard?
13:55Denard.
13:55Denard.
13:56Denard Wilson.
13:57I'm thinking Devon Canard, the former linebacker 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 used to see the Saints.
14:09ETN is their lead rusher.
14:11He's not very effective.
14:14Kamara 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 some light at the end of the tunnel on a new deal, a new possible deal.
14:33I want to draw that Chris Alave card.
14:36And I want to match up with him throughout the course of the game.
14:39But if 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 have scored six points in the first quarter this year, okay?
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 Commanders,
15:06where the Commanders were up 7-0 before he even sat down, right?
15:09Now, Tyler Shuck does not present the running threat that Jaden Daniels did.
15:14And you could tell, John Harbaugh was ticked off, and so was Denard, you know, Wilson,
15:20about the leakage that allowed Jaden Daniels to have two long touchdown runs,
15:25giving credit to him as a great runner, which he is.
15:28But their pass rush integrity, their rush lanes were all out of kilter.
15:34They, you know, they did a bad job on that, where he maybe should have got a first down.
15:39He shouldn't have taken it all the way to the house.
15:40So that's stuff that needs to get cleaned up, even though Tyler Shuck is not that kind of quarterback.
15:46We'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.
15:54So I would be concerned about the pass rush in that situation with Brian Burns already out.
15:59But, you know, I mean, Kayvon Thibodeau and Trace Ford are not the guys you would think of
16:04are going to apply heavy pressure.
16:06DJ Reader's playing terrific.
16:08You know, he's been a terrific addition.
16:09He's a terrific running stopper.
16:11Arvel Reese is a hammer.
16:13So, and, you know, Tyler Newbin probably won't play.
16:17You know, I think he almost definitely won't play, but it looks like Jason Pinnock will be back
16:22coming off that concussion.
16:23So there's enough there, you know, with Newsom and Banks.
16:26And, you know, we've seen that they have completely changed their defense to be an aggressive
16:34blitz 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 with a calf, you know, and
16:49Banks and Newsom are showing Denard Wilson they can hold up.
16:53So, 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
17:04let 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.
17:12They 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.
18:34And even that 2011 unit with that Giants defensive line that was Steve Spagnuolo was able to
18:40just rush four, drop seven and, and have the pass rush, make the secondary a lot better,
18:47play a lot better, complimentary football.
18:49We just haven't seen that there.
18:51And there's no knock to these guys.
18:53I know Brian Burns is injured right now, but whether it's been Shane Bourne or, uh, or the
19:00new DC, they're, they're, they're, 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.
19:19Because we walked into this, came into this season wondering like, okay, is the Giants secondary
19:24going to be able to hold up?
19:25Big question, Marsh.
19:26Who's going to be the starter?
19:27Taye Banks even going to be on this team for the most part, the secondary is kind of out
19:32playing the pass rush and that's no, again, no knock or anything, but the secondary has
19:37kind of lived up, over exceeded expectations a little bit more than the pass rush has kind
19:44of under exceeded expectations, but this has to be a cave on Thibodeau game, regardless
19:49of Abdul Carter plays or not.
19:52But I'm going back and forth with the people and, you know, we can, we can say what cave
19:57on does.
19:58That'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 sex.
20:15So I'm hoping this is that game, that cave on breakout game, because I think he needs
20:22it, the confidence, whatever, just for yourself.
20:25Just like I'm doing the stats kind of verified the work that you did in the off season, you
20:31know?
20:31So I'm hoping this becomes a cave on 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 was in the New York Post this week.
20:59I wrote a story for my colleague, Mark Canizzaro, talked to Cam Scadaboo the other day.
21:04Cam said he was embarrassed.
21:06Now, you know, as an athlete, I'm disappointed.
21:09I'm frustrated, I'm upset, I'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, he 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.
21:33So, it'll be very interesting to see how Cam responds to that and, you know, if he holds
21:39on to the ball, first of all, and becomes that player that, you know, that we hope is,
21:44you know, just as a more reliable player.
21:48You know, you can't put 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.
22:03I thought that was interesting.
22:05And then about Cam Scatterboo'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, and 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
22:32meeting rooms, for him to tell a member of the media that, who's going to put that out
22:35there, tells me something about Theo and tells me something about the accountability of this
22:40team 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.
23:13When you're an owner and you lose three straight games at home to your paying customers, that's
23:18rough.
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.
23:33OK, and oh, by the way, your favorites on the road against the Giants.
23:39So, 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.
23:48This is, you can come back to your locker and there will be a pink slip right there that
23:52says, don't come talk to coach because it might be one on, on Kellen 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.
24:02Because, you know, the playbooks are on the tablets now.
24:05Go talk to the owner.
24:06So, yeah, the Giants are going to get everything and more from this Saints team that's coming
24:10up to MetLife Stadium.
24:12Desperate.
24:12I think desperate is the, is the word that I could use there.
24:16We'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 p.m.
24:28For Paul Schwartz, I'm Brendan London.
24:29Thanks for watching another episode of Blue Rush.