Giants vs Commanders Week 5 Preview | 1031

Hello and welcome back to Talking Giants presented by the Fanatic Sports and Casino. The three-and-one, our three-and-one, New York football Giants are taking on the one-and-three Washington Commanders in Landover, Maryland. Sean, we are together. This is only our second ever in-person show. And guess what? We're just two guys looking for the Giants to go one-and-oh on the weekend. How are you? Show off the shirt. Hell yeah. It's a one-and-oh week. A one-and-oh week. And we need it more than ever in New York after a Yankee elimination, Justin. So let's go 1-0 this week. Shop.johnboymedia.com. I promise you. So Sean's shirt is taped. That is taped. I had the idea this morning. I want to make 1-0 shirts just like the Giants have. So they're on our store right now. We promise we don't have just a bunch of people taping 1-0 on the shirt in the office. You can actually have good text on it just like the Giants do. But I wanted Sean to wear this 1-0 shirt today because we're just two guys looking to go 1-0 on the season. So Sean, this is a beat up commander's team, you know, at least for the give the Giants a little bit of credit. The guys that they have beat up are out for the season. The commanders, as of Wednesday, had 23 guys on their injury report at the time that we're recording this. We don't have a Thursday injury report. Maybe we'll get it as we record. But like Sunny Styles even came back in practice. So it may not be as bleak, but this is a beat up, beat up commander's team. but even take injury status out of it this is another matchup in the Giants easiest stretch of the schedule that they had in the for the 2024 season this is another matchup where you look at the talent of these two rosters when we did our NFC East roster comparison episode this summer and you kind of look back and you're like oh I know people want to get excited about the Commanders with the new offensive coordinator and hopefully Jaden Daniels is more healthy. Forget all that. The rosters of the Commanders, they're not good. The Giants should be the better team in almost every single area. I take you back to the day we found out that Laramie Tunsil was hurt and what did we all say? Well, now they've lost that cog on the offensive line and you talk about everything offensively and a lot of the defensive stuff was going to be predicated on young guys like Sunny Styles taking the next step. Justin, I'm completely with you. I'm trying in the 1-0 fabric of the week to remember every conversation we had about every opponent as we approach those opponents and you're exactly right so look the Giants are going to go down to Landover Maryland and remember last year with a worse coaching staff and a worse Giants team and arguably a better Commanders team the Commanders gave you your best shot with a healthy Jaden Daniels and the Giants still hung around and were Russell Wilson not having his head up his ass around from figuring out a way to win that game so this is not a far travel situation we'll get to the weather it's another weather game but this is an opponent if the Giants are going to dream big here in an NFC East that's suddenly changing by the way uh you got to take care of business right and and if you get a win here Justin the idea is at least you want to split with all these NFC East teams you've already beaten the Cowboys wouldn't it be nice to start 2-0 in the division and get a win versus the Commanders this day huge and what would this be the third best start if they go 4-1 to be the third best start since 2008 yeah so doing a little pre-show homework here since 2008 they're have only been two Giants teams that started a season four and one the 2008 Giants of course on that magical ride they got them the one seed that fell short of the divisional round and the 2022 team, the Daniel Jones team that eventually got to six and one now we had a lot of those teams with Coughlin during that era that got the six and two but you're talking about a lot of teams that were two and two um two and twos became three and twos which became six and twos four and one only twice man 2022 and 2008 in 2008 yeah so i do want to get to the giants offense versus this washington defense and actually start this preview we do have to talk about it first i'm rolling my eyes saying this especially as you know Jameis Winston his performance on a weekly basis is dependent on the damn weather as of right now there is a 97 percent chance of rain on sunday there There is a half of inch expected of rain inland over Maryland and localized flooding is possible too. Yay. Another Sunday of sloppy football. It's Hurricane Isaiah, whatever the heck it is. It's going to affect Alabama, Georgia Saturday night. But yeah, here we go. Another freaking Sunday where you want to be able to judge Jameis Winston and not having a sideline reporter, by the way, make a wet balls joke. This will be like the fourth week in a row we're going to have that with the Giants. it sucks man because you want you you already worry about Jameis and turnovers alone now throwing wet balls for Jameis it's just gonna muck up everything now i will say doing this on the fly the giants are number one in the nfl and like you know expect the points added in special teams well i want to look and see where the where the Commanders are, it's a good point and Justin this will be a theme I know we don't want to have poor weather as you look that up the odd thing is when I look at the weather report now I used to two weeks ago I was like oh here we go with the weather the way they have played special teams and field position and signing Jordan Stout you almost feel like it gives the Giants an edge playing in this kind of, yeah right now the Giants are number one in the NFL in special teams EPA 22.4 the Colts are number two at 17 points there's a wide gap there's a wide gap there the Commanders are 27th at minus 15.2 that should matter in a game where you're flipping fields and field position and returns and reliable field goal kicking yes unbelievable we're here knock on wood that should matter in a game like this yeah 100 so even though I want to roll my eyes and I do want to see more of a passing offense because that's what gave this offense a little bit of a spark last week and getting Malik Nabers involved and not totally trusting this run game so if you become one-dimensional and easier to figure out especially offensively uh but if the Giants can get a major edge special teams that's why they kind of walk away with the victory against the Tennessee Titans and if it could play into a factor and just continue to grind out these games. We don't care how they look, especially without Jackson Dart. Go 1-0, day by day, game by game, that type of mentality. If that's in the Giants' favor, then I'm here for it. Anything it takes to get to 1-0. If it's 16-9, Justin, we make it work. So we did talk about balance last week and how the Giants' passing offense needed to be the unit to provide a spark or else that side of the ball was just going to remain dead. They did that versus the Arizona Cardinals. Five pass plays of 20-plus yards through the three first three weeks of the season the Giants had to combine three total plays of 20 plus yards now the commanders they're middle of the pack and big plays allowed the commanders are also very bad when the ball's in the air for 20 air yards or more they are very very bad as a defense as a pass defense so Sean knowing the weather and knowing that the commander's secondary and this commander's defense can maybe be one where the Giants can be aggressive like they were last week what are you thinking this offensive game plan should look like in your mind look I think they're going to try to create explosives on the ground from a run game perspective but I don't think you could completely abandon the idea of deep passing and I know we're going to get into a little more Malik neighbors comments and stuff like that but clearly this is a receiving group led by Malik neighbors that feel like there are plays to be had and I don't think that they're going to be afraid necessarily to have the weather slow them down but they're going to have to be smart about it right and ultimately if they have the pass protection set up and that allows Jameis you talked about some of those plays where you have five seconds to throw I think on the fields play yeah those opportunities if they're there i think they're gonna have it have at it but if this game gets ugly early in terms of the passing where jamis's arm looks like a dead duck again and can't filter it i'm sorry then those receivers i think you're just gonna have to eat the controversy you know it takes you know whatever whatever it has to happen but i think early in the game you're gonna test that Commanders secondary and see what it's all about yeah i i hope so and i hope again the goddamn weather uh dictates that you you can be allowed to do that yeah it's not just rain it's wind right yeah if it's we don't know what direction it's going to blow in or whatever like 10 to 15 miles per hour is what the weather channel is saying so for the Commanders right now as a defense low sack rate middle of the pack pressure percentage but they have the second highest blitz rate in the league at nearly 50 percent of the time only behind the Minnesota Vikings Dan Quinn second highest five-man pass rush in the league and they bring six or more on 11 percent of plays which is also the sixth highest in the league they also run a stunt or a twist up front we knew we know this from you know Dan Quinn being the defense coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys all those years yeah they're running stunts or twists uh up front nearly 36 percent of dropbacks which is the ninth highest rate in the league right now now despite that bringing pressure at a high rate they're 28th in the league in average time to pressure which the Giants by the way are like topping in that topping yes right so not only you know they're they're getting pressure at you know a middle of the pack but it's taking them a long time to typically get to the quarterback and what i find to be fascinating especially knowing that Jameis Winston wanted to run around and improvise and do things last week opposing quarterbacks have an average of 2.82 seconds to throw per throw per pass attempt that is the sixth slowest in the National Football League three seconds is an eternity yeah before a pass uh in the NFL uh now i will say this will be the biggest test that this offensive line has faced from a communication and a chemistry standpoint by a defensive coordinator that's trying to bring manipulate you know manufacture pressure but the Commanders pass rush as a whole has been underwhelming to start this year yeah it has been and look we all have Dan Quinn scars because you alluded to the Dallas days but even what's happened with Washington the last two years where we used to own the Commanders until Dan Quinn got there now everybody owns the Commanders but us this is where Harbaugh and you know Nagy and this is where now you need to up our level of coaching which has been the case and not have Dan Quinn take over what does worry me in this game is is basically two spots Brian Hudson as of thursday was taking first team reps at center okay and we talked about a little light being able to put in the ground remember on the midweek episode you would discuss that now we know uh this is his first time as a right guard facing a Dan Quinn stunting kind of front so while they may not have gotten there i do look at both a rookie starting a right guard who's been fine but still a rookie and a Brian Hudson in his second start that can be a little light and put it to the ground and i just worry about the interior pressure i'm almost less worried obviously Thomas and Alumnor are going to handle they've seen Dan Quinn defense as they know I know Alumnor got his ass kicked a little bit last year by Von Miller in a Dan Quinn defense but nonetheless none of these edge rushers are going to do some of the crafty stuff that a Von Miller would do but to me man is it not now we know is a rookie next to this center in Hudson that's where you're vulnerable to these stunts yeah possibly I just think it's going to put stress on their communication their chemistry and knowing where they need to be that's really what it's going to do it's not about... Especially with a quarterback that's not going to help them alleviate climbing the top. Am I fearful of Deron Payne? He's a good player. I'm not fearful of Javon Kinlaw. They got athletes. I mean, Alufie Oweh, Kalija Chase on Doris Armstrong. That is an athletic edge room. And they bring in Oweh and Chase on from both of their teams last year. Chase on from the Pats and Oweh from Chargers and then also the Ravens too. So they're athletic. And I think it makes sense that they bring these types of players in because Dan Quinn wants to run stunts and twists and get guys that are fast and athletic in here so it's going to stress the Giants in that way but i'm not looking at any specific pass rusher maybe besides Deron Payne just owning some of these interior offense alignment but outside of that i'm not like oh man this is just a bad matchup i think it's just not worried about double teams no i think it's just going to be a scheme that could possibly put stress on the offensive line that we haven't seen yet are you ready for that test they need to be ready for it no doubt and what was it 50 you said on the uh the blitz the second highest rate like it's not just the stunts too and they haven't played a team that that blitz is that much and you also have to factor in the fact that and we'll talk about the Commanders offense a little bit them playing Jayden Daniels in a rainstorm two weeks after his elbow is then signifying how important they know this game is for them so I almost look at that 50 percent number and also think if I'm Dan Quinn. We're facing Jameis Winston. The way to beat the Giants is to have Jameis Winston turn the football over. Yes. I would not be shocked if that number is higher than 50% in a game like this. Even by a wide margin, they might see the most pressure from the Commanders who kind of pull out all the stops because this is their chance to stay in this division. Yeah, 1,000% and increasing that blitz rate may not be a bad strategy because Jameis Winston, 29.2% success rate. This is per NextGen. That is the lowest among qualified passers. Winston's average a ton of air yards almost 10 air yards per attempt when blitzed which is the sixth highest among qualified passers but just 4.3 air yards per completion which is the fourth lowest among passers so just two downfield passes of 10 plus air yards Jameis Winston has when blitzed it's tied with Cam Ward for the fewest in the league now I think despite those numbers not being good for Jameis Winston Jameis Winston throwing the ball deep down the field 10 plus yards down the field versus the blitz because of that being the weakest area of the Commanders defense targeting them 10 plus yards down the field, the fourth worst in the league. When you target them over 20 air yards, they're 13th in EPA per pass attempt on intermediate throws between 10 to 19 yards. I think the fact that that is the weakest part of the Commanders defense, they just cannot stop the pass. It doesn't matter who it almost feels like. It doesn't even matter who the defensive coordinator is. That's secondary and team throwing the ball on them has been a problem for them for years. I feel like you have the Jimmys and Joes to go and get it like Malachi Fields, likely Neighbors Mooney, Mooney, yeah this is that was like his mo and in his career it used to be Slayton and nothing for the Giants in this spot right and now you have a Malachi Fields that can you can have a contested catch guy and I don't think that's awful in a spot uh you have Malik Neighbors who has been calling for getting the ball down the field and was calling for that last week and then obviously Darnold, Mooney, which that's kind of like his NFL pedigree as well. I think especially between 10 to 19 yards, maybe Darnold, Mooney can be a guy that thrives in that area. Just because it hasn't worked for you in the past, I think you kind of need to continue to try it. Yeah, I'll go a little off script too. Another thing I'd like to see way more implemented, and I think the Giants are close to breaking one because they've tried. Dude, can I recommend having Devin Singletary active in this game and hear me out? On a wet field, when you're facing a team that is going to blitz a ton. Devin Singletary is the Giants' best screen back. Yeah, they don't run screens. They really don't. This is a team cherry-picked to run screens against. In this kind of environment, like, I think the Giants could hit big plays in the screen game and it would totally keep the blitzing honest. And to me, like, look, I know Scadaboo can be that back. Najee's not really that back and they don't seem to trust Tracy, especially on a wet field. You saw some of this in week one. I think this would be such a prime Devin Singletary game if they could activate him. Yeah, they just don't run screens. They really don't. They've also played a lot of teams that run zone and the Washington Commanders are one of them. Dan Quinn, despite blitzing, like typically you would think teams that have a heavy blitz rate. What are they doing on the back end? They're playing man coverage, right? That's not what Dan Quinn's doing. Dan Quinn, 80% of plays. He's running zone, which is 10th highest in the league. You know, it's funny even the Vikings are 81 or 82% zone coverage. And those are the two teams that blitz the most in the NFL. So they're kind of innovative and they're doing it a little bit differently than you would maybe formally think um but if they're if any if they decide to play more man coverage and blitz right because maybe they feel like they can do that against the Giants and their backs are turned i think throwing some screens and just changing up and giving another defense a different look i definitely think it could be a good strategy look they changed the way they played defense a week ago maybe they do change the way they play offense yeah they kind of just need to not not to totally just jump to the run game but they can't i feel like a screen game or just getting the ball to your running backs in the receiving game, it's an extension of the run game. Classic, right? We used to say this all the time when they couldn't run the ball. It's an extension. They kind of need to do something to get their running backs balls in space and just, again, add another element to an offense that does desperately need to it, that does desperately need it. I do want to talk about Malik Nabers more. So Malik Nabers says that he wants the ball more, and this became quite a story throughout the week. And I'm going to read Jordan Ronan's excerpt from his ESPN article for more on Sunday. It was, it still wasn't enough for Malik Nabers for his liking. When the Giants started quarterback, James Winston fed him, fed him the ball. Neighbors was seen at times adamantly talking toward the sideline from the field. He thought that they left some out there. I felt like I didn't get targeted much after halftime said Nabers who had just one catch on two targets for 28 yards in the second half. So that was just the thing. It's just, I felt like creating explosives down the field was just helping us get in a better position to score touchdowns. some of those plays didn't come my way. So just trying to figure out why Harbaugh said they talked to you after the game, brushing it off as Nabers being emotional and competitive. Yeah. I talked to him just about, I think we need to implement more things after halftime. Neighbors said, just also trying to give me the ball down the field more to create some of those opportunities for us to gain more points. It felt like during the first half, when we did that, it kind of led me into the right direction. It kind of led into the right direction with scoring touchdowns in the red zone. And just after that, we just couldn't get going. So I felt like the offense was needing a spark and I wanted to be that spark. So I was just trying to figure out what was going on and what was the thought process after halftime. Sean, do you view this as Malik Nabers being a competitor and maybe even the media talking about it too much as being overblown and a no issue? Or do you is there maybe something festering here? I think there's something festering. Oh, yeah, I can't deny that, man. Now, look, do I think that the other parts of this are true? I think Malik Neighbors is a super high competitive guy who in the first half of this game looked like the old Malik Neighbors again. And I'm sure for him, he's thinking to himself, all right, it's go time here. Like I'm feeling like myself again. I'm helping the team win. Oh my God, we're abandoning this. So I do understand his frustration, but it's just tough to stomach beyond that knowing the Giants won a football game and did all it could to kind of hear this fester. Do I also think that there's part of like the beat reporters going, yes, we have something juicy to talk about here. Sure, and pushing the story, I think that always is going to happen. But here's why I think it's festering. If this is happening in week four, the Giants have already traded for J.J. McCarthy and have him working, which tells you, above anything else, they're not sold on Jameis Winston. Do you really need, as a coaching staff, as you're trying to properly evaluate when either McCarthy should play or if he should play, when you should pull back on Jameis, who didn't look great but at least had a little more arm strength than he did? I just don't want my wide receiver convoluting a decision that this coaching staff is trying to make for what's the betterment of the football team to keep him happy. And I just wonder on that balance. John Harbaugh has put out every fire throughout this offseason, including Malik Neighbors on draft night on that podcast with Caleb Downs. And this fire in season is just the first time it's made me feel a little uneasy about something going on here. Yeah, I don't know, man. I always have a hard time with stuff like this. And it was Nagy and Harbaugh that that made clear we love it, but we want this type of stuff to be done in the right way. If this is Malik Nabors being competitive and if it's for the betterment of the football team, then we love it. If we feel like it's not for the betterment of the football team, then we don't like it. And I feel like both of them said something very, very similar. And I think that's a great way to put it. I don't think there's any reason to think that it's not for the betterment of the football team right now, especially when you're coming off of wins. Yeah, and especially when Malik Nabors was so productive and at least one half of football, but I mean the solution right now is like Malik Nabors is not wrong. He's not wrong Malik Nabors like getting him involved getting him the ball getting him involved early and often and keeping him involved. That is the Giants best chance at staying successful when you don't have your starting quarterback that is so versatile in anything and anything and everything that he can do. And this is part of the reason we wanted him back by opening day, right? So we understand what getting Malik Nabors the ball does, and we understand the difference. I don't think anybody's arguing he's wrong. The reason I think something's festering is I just don't foresee the quarterback situation getting better throughout the year that's going to help alleviate some of this. Like, if Malik Nabors is going to be frustrated on a day that he finished with over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown, I understand it's half to half, and that's what he's complaining about. Just think about it. That might be the ceiling of a Malik Nabers day the rest of the year, And if it's going to frustrate him now, you got to navigate 13 more weeks of piss poor quarterback play with the number one wide receiver wants to pull more. That's not an easy like line to tow. And, but the line is, is that why can't the offense be better? Yeah. Like why the offense is better as a quarterback. The Giants could put that game away. How many opportunities that they have in the fourth quarter, they just need one more drive, one more first down, one more score. And then we're not, instead of talking about a Deontay Banks, you know, game clinching interception where he calls game. We're talking about the Giants offense, running a four minute offense and calling game instead, like if they handle their business, like they did in week, like they did week one. So I don't know. I, I, I'm not in the building. There's no way to tell if, if this could possibly turn into something that is a toxic situation or not. But I think the solution is, is to keep him involved because he's also not wrong right now. He's got to get, he's not wrong. He's got to even get a manufactured touch on this first drive, Yeah. this week and there's nothing wrong with that there is by the way you probably should anyway yes yes there's nothing wrong with that and guess what if it doesn't work then you pivot and you do something right some uh anything else oh no here anything else on this Giants offense all right so this is talked about the passing offense you attack downfield, Commanders secondary is not very good, their pass rush I think it's going to be a challenge for the Giants offense from a schematic standpoint, but I don't think any of the players are necessarily ones that are going to like rise above and absolutely can take over a football game, you just don't need Jameis kind of wilting in pressure that's not there, you know, which he which he has done, he has, which he has done, that's why his numbers are not good against the blitz but still I want this coaching staff to continue to do what they did last week of not being afraid of whatever bad things can come from Jameis Winston because the second that you're afraid of the quarterback the second that you're afraid of the quarterback's arm and you run on first and second down or you just call stuff that's extremely conservative that Cardinals secondary was bad, that Cardinals defense was bad, they found a way to take advantage of it, try and do something similar this week, but also be ready on that offensive line to you know block for a defense that is going to bring pressure wants to bring pressure, but I do want to talk about them running the ball and I really don't have like notes and stats and you know all the things on this, I mean the Commanders as a, you know, as a defense overall They're 19th in defensive EPA per play. They're 21st against the pass and they're 16th in EPA per rush. Okay. So they're, you know, average to slightly below average, right? Right. Throw, throw the numbers out. I just want the Giants to start running the ball better. It has nothing to do with the Commanders defense being stronger, weak in any one area. I kind of just want to see something out of this Giants rushing offense. I want to be able to look and be more confident in the Giants' ability to run the ball without Jackson Dart, yeah, and and look, go back to the basics of right now it's one and oh, but in camp it was build a bully right and they felt like they bullied the hell out of the Cowboys in the first week and that's kind of gone away and Justin, I I know that um you know Scadaboo obviously practiced this week, the first day with the uh red penny on because of a shoulder injury he's absorbing a lot of contact, it does feel like every week more and more we're starting to get more of Najee Harris load and I just have to wonder if they're going to try to bully Najee Harris and is this the week where Najee Harris actually has more carries than Cam Scadaboo, what did he have three or four less than Scadaboo in the last week and I just I don't know man, on the ground again a rainy day uh you're seeing that the run game is not exactly the same I wonder if they're going to try to keep making Najee Harris the hot hand and they think that's the first at least try they want to make at finding a solution Najee Harris four yards per carry the only running back with four yards per carry on the season so i'm telling you i think we're trending that way i would not shock me at all if he got more carries than Cam Scadaboo, yeah, 59 success rate uh Cam Scadaboo is down to 44 now, Cam Scadaboo has three times the carries of Najee Harris but um we may we that gap got closed last week, it did, it did i i don't care how it shows up, just do it i'm just giving you an example of what i think they might be trending in the direction of doing it no and i looks I agree I agree they're not they're just not going to be explosive running the ball no they're just they're just not no unless you want to now suddenly give Tyrone Tracy more than one carry a game but on a wet field you really want to do that no I know no special fumbling the ball is this problem which by the way you had a good point to me before talking about the show before the show basically just talking about the little things this feels like such an easy do the little things right game we already talked about special teams but like if you're the Giants if you're gonna put the ball on the ground you're week one against Dallas where you fall on like 75% of them. It pops up in Scadaboos hands, yeah. Yeah, man. This feels like one of those games where Commanders are 1-3, Giants are 3-1, the Giants are it could feel like a trap game, basically. And I feel like... Crazy to say that from a Giant perspective. Yes, yes. And also, crazy thing to say despite the Giants being four-point underdogs now. I know, I know. Which I like, but we'll talk about that when we get to the game. Four-point underdogs according to the Fanatics Sports Casino. Am I nuts I feel like I'm having deja vu with you right now because I was at the game in Washington last year two years ago was that the game we turned it over fumbled six times versus them did that happen 2024 week one yeah I feel like that was a a Gino got hurt and the Giants had a bunch of dumb turnovers I want to say Singletary had a bad fumble neighbors maybe I don't know why I'm having visions of that unless I'm completely just but this so feels like a game where because the Giants have been very fortunate with these fumbles Najee Harris last week you lose one every week the giants have been on the good like turnover luck side of not losing these fumbles any given game that is played where the elements are involved that is just a luck thing more than anything else hold on to the football in this game yeah they they lost one fumble devin singletary fumbled it you know what maybe it was just one and it was a bad one i think it was late as they were driving oh yeah oh yeah they were gonna they were kicking ass yes and devin singletary i think this was to start the second half start the second half and i think that was a game where they couldn't kick field Gino either because Gino got hurt in warm-ups yes it was 12 to 9 yeah see okay and they were gonna so it wasn't six turnovers it was that the turnover changed the whole freaking game changed the whole game you have to do the little things right in this specific game in this specific game considering the weather too can very easily come on the show be like well the giants just did a bunch of little things wrong hardball hopefully they don't do those little things wrong we already talked about special teams to be a huge could be a huge factor in this game all right Sean um all right let's do the parlay of the week all right talking Giants parlay of the week it's time to make our same game parlay picks for this week's Giants game presented by the Fanatics Sports Casino you can make your own same game parlay by picking multiple legs from this week's game and combine them into one bet or you can tell our picks right in the Fanatics Sportsbook app I'm getting tired man I'm getting tired of not hitting these well thank Drew Phillips because he stopped Michael Wilson from scoring last week and that would have helped you both on the touchdown draft and it would have helped you in the parlay all right so we're going way more conservative this week as of now on thursday the odds that we're looking at are plus 340 that probably will change on sunday i'm going Malik Nabers four plus receptions because even in a wet weather game Malik Nabers is going to get his targets short screen type passes to bubbles whatever Jayden Daniels coming back 30 plus rushing yards i love betting quarterback rushing yards because i feel like they just always hit Jayden Daniels had 69 rushing yards week one in one half versus the cowboys week two had 31 rushing yards yeah and i you and i discussed this before the show i do question how much Jayden will actually run coming off the dislocated elbow but at the same time it might just be scramble runs that get you anywhere because if he's got to escape Abdul Carter or dare I say Arvell Reese on a blitz where Donard Wilson's doing it like he's gonna have to take yeah by the way put a pin in that we talk about the defense with Arvell Reese keep going on with this and then under 42 points so right now it's just three we're not going five we're not going plus 900 plus a thousand look at the Commanders injuries on offense the Giants not having a quarterback weather wet weather other under 42 yeah i mean usually life's too short to bet the under but not here life's too short to lose bets yeah and that's i'm i'm pissed off i'm like taking it personal that we've lost so far damn Odell ruined week one for me every game day brings you another chance to bet earn and win Fanatics Sportsbook casino the only sportsbook to reward every bet winning hits different here you know what i blame all you for wanting i'm looking right at you at home for wanting me to put Odell on my week one parlay you made me believe i'm not gonna put him in a Viking one Now go put them in a Viking one. All right. Giants defense versus this Washington offense. Jaden Daniels is back and the threat of his legs, as we talked about is very much there. Now, if the Giants want to become more of this team that plays man coverage and they blitz. Yeah, there is a risk. There is a huge, huge, huge risk. If they want to continue that type of play, when you run man coverage, your back is again, is not looking at the quarterback. Your back is to the quarterback. Yeah. so always scary with Deontay Banks yes so if you're going to blitz and your edge rushers are rushing upfield and your secondary players have their backs to the quarterback that is a scary scary thought when you are playing a quarterback that can run and does run as much as Jaden Daniels absolutely scary but this is where you hope you lean on the benefit of a couple commander injuries you mentioned DNPs as of the time of recording with Stephon Diggs and Terry McLaurin and on Wednesday which is crazy which is crazy and so you're talking about what uh brown you're talking about Antonio Williams you know maybe and and Jayden Daniels not having played a lot of football with Antonio Williams let's be honest too um you hope that chemistry comes into play at that point but yeah you gotta hope that based on corner and communications it's not the Ram offense it's not the Cowboy offense that they could just hold their own and this is where again Abdul Carter who probably deserved even more praise after i kind of crushed him two weeks ago all those pressures and wreaking havoc has to be a game where he gets home last year versus a better version of the Commander offensive line pre-injury Brian Burns in that opener if you remember it got two huge sacks you also had at the end of a half last year uh Abdul Carter forced an intentional grounding by Jayden Daniels to end the half as well the giant pass rush was able to shake up things in that pass game but ultimately you know you don't get home enough and you don't get the sacks, that's going to be the thing. This has to be an Abdul Carter, not just a pressure game, but a sack game. And furthermore, Justin, when you are bringing the pressure, I think of playing Orville Reese, and from the moment he got drafted, John Harbaugh silencing everything about the pass rush and saying, we brought him here to be a linebacker. Doesn't it feel like Orville Reese, pseudo part of the reason you draft him is to stick him at linebacker and watch Jaden Daniels move all freaking game long. Kind of use him as that chess piece of playing like, wherever Jayden Daniels is moving I'm protecting against that so if a play breaks down and you know he's either adding the pressure to force that hurried throw or when you talk about those rushing yards break down I think there's a huge Orville Reese game as well yeah 100 1000% I mean even like Jalen Hurts to same thing when things break down now I always have I always have an interesting dilemma when talking about QB spies QB spies QB spies because you want to know what those players are doing on the field they're doing nothing they're nothing that's what spies the wrong word shadows the wrong word but Keep an eye is the way, you know. Yeah, I think there's a line. In a schematic designed way. I think there's a line where you kind of put it on the player. You got to put it on the player. And sometimes players take risk, and sometimes when they fail, and then it ends up in big QB runs of 20, 30 yards. I almost like want to put Orville Reese. Tell him, like, you spy initially. You kind of see how the offensive line develops in front of you, how the pass rush is developing in front of you. and then i am a big fan of super delayed pressures and super delayed pass rushers in the NFL the classic Kevika Mitchell step comeback comeback in I'm a big fan of that I I think it works for so many teams when you see the best teams they play on national television I I think I'm watching Vince Joseph uh on Sunday Night Football just a couple weeks ago and seeing just delayed pressures and guys like okay well I'm not gonna show myself initially I'm gonna let everything kind of get settled and then come in. I think it just can give you such a huge advantage. So maybe Arver Reeves can do that. Like I'm trying to continue to wait. I'm waiting for the Arver Reeves comes in untouched moments. We haven't really gotten that yet. Arver Reeves gets pressure on the quarterback when he's kind of just beating offensive lineman in the A gap, which is crazy. This would be cool where if the undisciplined and bad commanders offensive line, if they're so focused on DJ Reader, who's kicking ass, if they're so focused on Abdul Carter and if they're so focused on that Giants front because regardless of the Giants bad sack rate regardless of the Giants bad pressure rate it is so true every single team that they have faced they're getting rid of the ball quick they are afraid the Giants pass rush even though statistically not having the biggest impact in the world during the Cardinals they did but statistically not having the biggest impact of the world their impact is in the overall game prep game plan that teams have against them, that they are afraid of it. But if Jaden Daniels is going to be one of these quarterbacks that holds onto the ball because he wants to scramble because he wants to run because he wants to improvise having Arver Reeves there as a guy that maybe delays his pressures. But also it's a line where I don't want to make Arvar Reese and take him out and him be a nothing because guess what? Arvar Reese is fast as hell, but Jaden Daniels can very easily outrun him because it's Jaden Daniels. Exactly. You know, outruns almost everybody outruns everybody. This is where I do wonder, Justin, the human element of Jayden Daniels, knowing how he re-injured the elbow last year, coming back within two weeks. There has to be a human part of Jaden Daniels where it either plays into I'm scrambling and running out of bounds at every take, or I am getting rid of the ball quick versus this giant pass rush. Yeah. Quicker than usual. I don't know. I don't know. But, I mean, would he hurt his elbow because his offensive lineman stepped on him? I mean, if I'm Jayden Daniels, I'm more afraid of my offensive line. Yeah. Well, it's just the way he lands. Yeah. He can't go to the ground. Well, then in his mind, then I'm just scrambling and I'm running to the sideline. That's true. And that's the best way to protect myself. Jayden Daniels rushed for 98 yards on scrambles this season, sixth most among quarterbacks, despite playing half as many games as anyone in the top five. He recorded five scramble runs of 10 or more yards this season, just one fewer than the six explosive runs recorded by the Commander's running backs. The Commander's explosive run rate is 15.1% with Daniels on the field, which would rank third highest in the league this season 4.6% with Daniels off the field. That's 1.2 percentage points lower than the Cardinals who currently rank last in the league which by the way, like we talked, you know, just mentioned how the Cardinals don't have explosive runs. They certainly had explosive runs against the Giants in the first half. So the commanders like they can run the ball and knowing that they are facing a Giants defense that you know, probably they looked at what the Cardinals did last week. It's like you ran the ball really well in the first half. Why did you, why'd you stop, why'd you kind of stop and why'd you kind of deviate from that Jeremiah Love was thinking the same thing post game. Whether bad wide receivers for the Commanders and even if some of those wide receivers play they're going to be banged up they're going to be hurt it's going to be a wet field like will will we finally get a team that just solely commits themselves to running the ball they might against the Giants they might Giants got to be willing tacklers in this game yeah for sure Jayden and we mentioned uh here's another next gen stat too Jayden Daniels averaged 5.4 yards per attempt against man coverage dating back to 2022 that's the fourth oh wow this is actually good this is good so if you're a Giants defense because the what every rose has its thorn right great saying every rose has a thorn. For once yeah Giants played man coverage 34% of passing plays they have played so far this season that's how much they played man coverage against the against the Cardinals is that they went from a team that wasn't playing it a lot and being one of the lowest parts of the league they play it a lot in one game and now the Giants are suddenly like a top five man coverage rate team in the National Football League. So Jayden Daniels, when throwing the ball, has not been good against man coverage. 5.4 yards per attempt against man coverage dates back to 2025. That's the fourth lowest average among quarterbacks with at least 75 dropbacks. And he just completed less than 50% of his passes against man coverage, the second lowest completion rate over that span. But the thorn is when you play man coverage, Jaden Daniels can run. So I don't know. I kind of want them to continue to put trust in their DBs. I do too. Especially against these Commanders wide receivers and put trust in your athletes, Abdul Carter, Arvar Rees, that they can contain Jaden Daniels. Is that the consensus that we've reached? I absolutely think so. I'll be more worried about the corners versus Chris Olave in a week and a Nico Collins in two weeks. I can't, I got it. First of all, by trusting them alone, you're showing the confidence, right? Especially the way the game ended a week ago. Wouldn't it be nice to build on that confidence again in those corners and say we're trusting you even more get after this i want to play mental games with Jayden Daniels and make him basically scared to play our defense because he's already going to be thinking about his own no for sure put the pressure uh before we get going on to our next segment um i want to talk about the Sean Morash more to your Ask Player of the Week but before we get to that this episode is sponsored by Mohegan Sun there's a lot of things you can think about when you think of Mohegan Sun you know what i think about though and i'm not ashamed to admit minute i think about the food the food ah the food oh boy does Mohegan Sun know me well for real it's top notch notch truly delicious stuff and it's not just about each individual meal test tasting great although they do it's about the range so many different restaurants you'll basically need to stay a week just to scratch the surface they're fielding a full team no pun intended Heavy hitters include Beauty in Essex, The Farm Italy, and Tao Asian Bistro and Lounge. I'm not always the most high-end guy, but they make high-end dining fun. Let me tell you, my palate has thanked me. There's always something for everybody. So head down, eat up, get ready to enjoy Mohegan Sun beyond your wildest. And you want to know why you should go check out Mohegan Sun? Because they love us. And that makes me love them. And I love you. And because I love you, you'll love Mohegan Sun. I had towel the last time I was at Mohegan Sun. Excellent. Ah! Terrific. I'm a sticky rice guy. Sean, the Sean Morash more out of your ass player of the week is? Well, first of all, on this document that Justin presents me where we go through, he's named this the Mouya. And I love it. Yeah, the Mouya. I love it. The Mouya. The Mouya. The more out of your ass player of the week. Look, it's the same guy I gave Big Blue a two on our midweek episodes, Kayvon Thibodeau. In this game, look, Kayvon, if we're going to lean on the strength is that he's still setting the edge and playing the run well. Well, this is going to be a wet game where you're going to have to do that. But also, dude, you can't have a 0% win rate on your pass rush. You just can't. And unfortunately for Kayvon, he might be the more out of your head, the mooyah every single week until we see actual pressure happen, Justin. And you throw in the fact that we, again, have another week with bad injuries. We're still waiting on the official Chauncey Golston where he ain't going to play in this game. I think they're going to put him on IR. That's what it looks like. Could be a long time here. Kayvon becomes even more important because of how important Chauncey Golston was. Kayvon's got to get a little pressure in this game. What a bad sign it'll be. Well, you know what? I'm going to take this back. I was going to say, what a bad sign it'll be if Jihad Ward is just out there more than Kayvon Thibodeau. But Kayvon Thibodeau is going to have to be out there because now Kayvon's like really back at edge because Jihad Ward's probably going to bump inside. Yeah. Jihad Ward's now suddenly replaced Chauncey Golston. and maybe even Kayvon's role, too. Where Kayvon, now I'm just putting Kayvon just back at the edge, and we're rocking and rolling there. Do we expect an elevation from Trace Ford? Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Could be a Cambry-Trace Ford, though. I don't think he really plays all that much defense anyway. He played at the end of the game. Yeah. Dude, he played in the most valuable series of the game last week. Yeah. Because they were gas. That's the other thing. Kayvon and Abdul Carter are playing like 95% of the snaps. Which is, again, nuts. Like, not all top defensive players play 95%. 95% like that's Olivier Vernon Jason Pierre-Paul 2016 numbers which is crazy keep this in mind we'll go back to the beginning of the show and we talked about the last teams that started 4-1 for the Giants 2022-2008 2008 I will tell every Giant fan listening it becomes an argument that gets lost over time that Plaxico shot himself as the reason they did not win the real reason they didn't win was Osi Umenyiora had torn his meniscus and they only had Kiwanuka and Tuck Strahan was retired playing about 90% of the snaps and by the end of the year in December those guys were gassed and they had no pass rush left. Yeah. I mean, if there's one team that Kayvon should love playing and loves that he sees them on the schedule, it is the Commanders. In five games versus Washington, here are his stats versus the Washington Commanders. Six sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits on a 17-game rate. That's 20 sacks, 34 tackles for loss, and 37 quarterback hits. Great call. One of the best seasons ever in NFL history as a pass rusher on a 17 game rate so will five show up on Sunday I found it to be pretty ironic that I worded it that way when Jaden Daniels is five and we should respect five so uh but Kavon now a lot of I will say a lot of his sacks did come early on and as Commanders fans are clowning me on Twitter for embedding a video from 2024 Kayvon Thibodeau did have more tackles for loss and quarterback hits the last two games versus the Commanders only played two games the last two years because he's been hurt for the other games. Only has a half a sack the last two games, but still has three quarterback hits and three tackles for loss, too And the last game that was this important for the Giants in Washington was probably the 2022 game where he basically had the play of his career on Sunday Night Football So, I mean, he loves especially playing in Washington, too. I felt like that week one game in 2024 was a good game for all three of not 2024. The week one game last year was a good game for all three. Burns, Thibodeau and Abdul Carter. So he loves playing in Washington something something we have to see something out of Kayvon Thibodeau have to all right Sean the touchdown draft the touchdown draft the touchdown draft you were 0 for 3 last week to straight right two straight weeks. You're 0 for 3. Okay, you have not had a touchdown since Kyron Williams in week two after starting the season out hot with Isaiah Likely and Javante Williams, and Kyron Williams the next week, you are 0 for 6. I am on the board. I have a touchdown last week. I drafted Marvin Harrison, Najee Harris, Trey McBride. Marv got one. You drafted Isaiah Likely, Michael Wilson, and Darno Mooney. So now the score is the point total. I have 985. You have 402. Okay. Here we go. Here we freaking go. I got to make a push. Wait. It's week five. Am I up first? I am, right? Yeah. All right. You know the deal. Our top five guys are Scadaboo, Bill, Jacory, Krosky, Merritt, Stephon Diggs, Terry McLaurin is still listed, which just helps us because we're not going to take him in neighbors. This game is so crap for anything fantasy related or anything touchdown related because you don't barely even know who's going to play. They have Rachaad White still listed, and I'm pretty sure he's out. We're going to go by based off who we think is going to play. Here's what I'll tell you. I'm just going to keep it off of the guy who I'm calling my shot. I think Najee Harris is scoring this week. Yeah. He's at plus 390. I'm going to get him off the board. It feels like his usage is going up, and if this is a game where they're going to muck it up, or at least get the goal line, I'm going to take Najee Harris. Scored the two-point conversion a week ago. All right. All right. I like your Najee Harris pick. I still think Cam Scadaboo gets most of the goal line work, but especially if Najee is a little bit more effective. I can't believe I'm saying that. Malachi Field scored last week. You could always go Patrick Ricciardo plus 2,500. Oh, oh, oh, what? I got one for you. I got one for you. I could see into the future. Okay, give it to me. Jameis Winston plus 850 quarterback sneak from one yard out. Okay. Or they throw it to him and run that Detroit Lions. No, no, that ain't happening. All right. That's a long Jameis Winston plus 850. I love it. I'm here. All right. Fine. You do that. then I'm going all reliable. If I've already taken Najee, I'm protecting myself. I need a win. I'm taking Skadaboo plus 120 out of my top five. I'm asking one of the two running backs to get in the end zone. That's got to break the streak. Okay. Was that a top five pick for you? That was. My top five is off the board. So I'm not touching on me. Yeah, you see the strategy. I usually go top five and pick number two. Three, four, five. Neighbors is fifth. And I 100% already know pick three. I'll go Isaiah likely. Okay. Plus 225. Look, eventually he's got to get back in the end zone. I'll go Isaiah Likely. All right. My last pick. This is the emotional hedge. I'm going to take the Commander's D at plus 450. We haven't seen the Jameis pick six yet, right? Sloppy weather, wet ball, or a fumble that gets picked up scoop the other way. Not that I want it to happen, but I got my two giant running backs. I'll go pro commander plus 450. Commander's defense has better odds of scoring than Dami Brown, Darnell Mooney, Traylon Burks, who also could be a sneaky good pick here. yeah Theo Johnson a plus 800 who caught a touchdown last week bless you that was gross and then Jameis played like all these players Devin Singletary Jameis Winston all these players have um worse odds than the Commander's defense scoring and then lastly i'll go uh Jacory Cross and that'll be my top five pick i like it i give you another little long ball not bad man hurts that was my week one pick plus 2500 why you you know and if that and if that hits totally changes this season yeah yep yep yep you don't want to go Luke McCaffrey I don't I'm going to stick with the commanders look at some point Jameis is throwing a pick six in one of these games like we're not we're not escaping Jameis Winston before JJ McCarthy plays without a pick six being thrown can we all agree to that so I might as well take a take a shot at it all right so that's the touchdown draft to recap I have Ja'Cory Cross, Key Merritt at plus 135 as I have Isaiah Likely a plus 225 And then I also have, who did I take? You took Likely, Merritt and do, do, do, do, do your first pick was jump James, James, Winston plus 850 How about you? I went, obviously Cam Scardo was the favorite in the game Plus 120 Najee Harris plus 390 So the pair of the top two backs and the commanders defense special teams plus 450 All right, Sean, Giants versus Commanders. Actually, wait, we're, we're only 50 minutes in. good pacing we're in person good pacing I know Yankees do you want to give any more Yankees thoughts I've given a lot of Yankees thoughts I would just say this it is unbelievable that they keep running the same crap out with the same crap ending that Justin Penick will predict again next March if Aaron Boone is the manager and we expect anything to change I think I'm more disappointed in them than I am in past years because they're a young team kind of like the Giants with these young guys they have you know Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones to end by being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays is so disgusting. However, however, I can't believe that unlike other years, I have a relevant Giant game to turn to in October. That was the first thing I put in the drafts. You're right. I put it in the drafts from the Talking Giants account last night. The second that the Yankees were eliminated, I said a sentence that I can't believe we could say is thank God we have the Giants. You're right. No, and I texted with my dad about this today. it is amazing that part of the reason the Yankees eliminations constantly sucked is because the Giants constantly sucked yeah so very rare man like we just said that this will be the they're trying for the third time since 2008 to get the four and one it's crazy so the Yankee elimination sucked it sucks but the fact that we can get on our feet and watch a football game that counts for something yes means a lot Justin so that's where i'm yeah and i i tweeted this opening day at 10:10 a.m. March 25th, 2026 and if you, you know, if you listen to Talking Yanks, they talked about it on Talking Yanks too, which was cool, said excited for the Yankees to have a stretch where they look unstoppable then struggle heavily during the summer then have one good round of the post season then look abysmal in another and then the season will end, every year same story, baseball and I think, how do you not fire a manager that's if you could predict that, if you want to know why I think I predicted it because you know, very similar to how Jim Jake BBD, you know how their lives are Yankees baseball, yeah, you know, even similar with you on the air, like your life is is Yankees baseball and Giants football so you get the double-edged sword of this, but my life is not Yankees baseball, but I'm a Yankees fan so I'm in life, there are so many different scenarios that could happen, there are so many timelines and outcomes of things and it's our jobs as people that cover a team, and I put "cover" in quotes because that definition is changing as time goes on too, but as people that cover a team, it is our jobs to think of all of the different scenarios that could happen, when to use a line from Aaron Boone for the Yankees, it was always just right in front of them, it was always just right in front of them, what was going to happen with that team, so especially when you hit Trent Grisham lead off again, I give him five at-bats in a game like that, you know, so I on the line I don't have the emotional investment in the Yankees and I kind of just like all right, I think this is just what's going to happen because it happens every year versus like the Giants, I feel like if there's anybody in this office that has like a you know a lukewarm feeling on the Giants that maybe most of the time they could just predict how the season goes and they could have a moment like that but that was but that was that was cool it literally like bar for bar bar for bar it happened exactly like i said let's pretend for a second that you are that guy what would be your pre-giant season oh that the season's just going to be well i mean technically different now Harbaugh technically well technically the seat the giant season was over in october yes the season is over but it's also not yeah yeah and i'm not we're not i'm not apologizing for the things that we were saying after Jackson Dart because the season was about Jackson Dart yeah so when Jackson Dart goes down it's over but it's also not because we're because we're going one and zero right exactly it's a different type of season than we thought put it this way if Jackson Dart was still healthy we would on this show right now based on everything that's happened in the NFC East be saying maybe the giants are alive in the NFC to make like a deep run now oh my god i would we now we're just like i would be the wild card i would be a straight up asshole if Jackson Dart was still healthy i'd be going like why can't we play in the NFC championship game why can't we get a bye right exactly why can't we be the one seed uh but but anyway part of my tweet would be though something effective a key player will get hurt early in the season we will all bitch and motivate like which happens every year yeah yeah at least that's on the Giant side is that everybody that's getting hurt for them is just they're out for the year so we don't have to worry about them being on the injury report this sounds so messed up but i'll say because i'm talking giants i feel bad for Braxton Berrios but there was a part of me this week that was like, okay, it's Braxton Berrios. Also, Charlie Jones is better. It's so messed up, but it's true. Yeah, we don't have a lot of backup wide receivers. That'll be an issue that we'll talk about if it comes up. All right, before we give our score predictions, this episode is sponsored by SeatGeek. The MLB playoffs, they're here. Yanks, not in it. More importantly, NFL season, it's back. Drive down the land over Maryland. Take the drive on I-95 in that dump of a stadium. NBA, NHL, not too far behind. If you actually want to be there for any of it, I know you're going to find a good deal on SeatGeek because that's what SeatGeek does for you green means good red means bad SeatGeek the number one rated ticketing app in the world with over 35 million downloads more than 70,000 events listed MLB concerts NFL festivals you name it you can be part of it be part of like the giants takeover is pretty cool too like if the giants blow out the commanders or if there's like a game that's like handedly decided in the giants favor just seeing the giants take over and Landover it's like one of the best parts of like every year whenever they win in Maryland, whenever they win against Washington in Washington. So of course, you know, we got a code for you guys, John Boy, 10% off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code John Boy, 10. Make sure you click the link in description to download the app, have the code automatically added to your account. So you can use it later. Thank you to SeatGeek, Sean giants versus commanders score prediction. Dude, this is what the giants have been training for, right? When we hear, you know, flipping the field from Jordan Stout, when we talk about Dominic Savada, the Giants are built in the margins and special teams to look at a game like Sunday in those conditions and say we're going to figure out a way I know at some point they won't figure out a way they're going to lose a football game and that's that is the only thing pulling me to want to pick the commanders in this game going well eventually they're going to do this but you know what I don't know man I look at this commander injury report look at the giant injury report and yeah I don't have the confidence in in Jameis Winston but I think they're going to do enough I do I think they're going to put the commanders in bad field positions all game long. I think that Arville Reese is going to torment Jaden Daniels. And I think, crazy enough, the commanders are going to have the ball late in this game with a chance to either tie, win the game, whatever. And the Giants are going to find a way to make a play. I'm taking the Giants to win another thriller 23-19. I had my buddy Dalton Feely. Now I understand who the commanders were running out there quarterback last week, but I had my buddy Dalton Feely text me about the Colts offense, how they looked awful last week. Awful. He scored 30 points. 30 points. Jonathan Taylor. Colts as a team scored 30 points. They won 30 to 13. Daniel Jones led Colts, by the way. The Commanders are one and three. The Giants are three and one. The Giants roster is better than the Commanders. And I'm with you where it feels I want to feel like as a fan to just caution myself. Yeah. It feels like the shoe is going to fall. Right. They're going to lose a game that makes us mad. I don't want it to be this weekend. I'm afraid it's this weekend. I'm afraid of Jayden Daniels' legs. I'm afraid of the spark that can maybe provide a team like Washington. I'm afraid of all of it. It's in the back of my mind. But why not believe? Let's go 1-0. Giants 19, Commanders 16. That fits our under for the Fanatics Parlay. We will see you on Sunday for a Giants, Commanders, Giants victory podcast. Let's go Giants. It starts today! We, we, we!