Giants-Packers Week 14 Preview, Predictions
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We're back for another episode of Blue Rush Preview Show. It's your official New York Giants show and podcast for the New York Post and SNY. Hey, Blue, we missed you. My week was too long. Let's get back into some football. Tommy DeVito and your 4-8 Giants host Jordan Love and the 6-6 Green Bay Packers for a week 14 Monday night football.

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Fellas, I'm going full NSYNC on this one. Bye, bye, bye to the bye week and hello primetime football. We've got all types of storylines for this game. Wow. That was nice, Brandon. I really liked that. That was nice. Yeah, you got that down. Hey, don't ever do that again on this show. Ever, ever. But anyway.

I like where you're at. It's great seeing you guys. It has been a very, very long time. Not a lot of great news during the off week or bye week, so that's a good thing always. Last year, Xavier McKinney with the hand, but a lot more quiet over there in East Rutherford this year.

Yeah. Look, no news is good news on a bye week, right? When you come back for that first day, what's going on? Everybody here? Yes. Everybody okay? Yes. I mean, that's what coaches want. That's what players want. Let me ask you something, Paul. Do you guys, like during the bye week, are you guys like scanning police reports to like see who – there's actually journalists that do that kind of crap. Like let's scan the police reports and see who got arrested or maybe they did. Yeah.

You don't have to scan too hard. Those things in social media now, you know, they come out, they come out.

It's a rough part of the game, obviously. I say every year, what is the longest break ever? It's after training camp. No, it's after the mini camp until the start of training camp. You have the third week of June until the third week of July is the quietest time in the NFL. Coaches take vacations. I always say to people,

I'm not going to have a lot of stuff in the paper unless somebody gets arrested. You know what I mean? And, you know, that's because there's no football. And so you just, you know, I mean, I know you guys know these coaches. They send these players out, right, to buy weeks and weeks off. And they're like, please, man, just...

You know, you want to go spend time and do whatever you need to do, but just be careful. And I think the Giants were careful. They seem to be in good shape. So if you guys don't monitor the police reports, what about like players, social media? Because last year, those guys kind of snitched on themselves with the ATVing and all. Like, do you just kind of waiting to see what someone posts to see if you can write a story about it? I mean, it's there. It's there. You know what I mean? It's like anything. It's, you know, it's not like you have to...

You know, when there's a new Marvel movie out, right? It's not like, I wonder when that movie's coming out. It's like, it's there. They explode you with it. So, you know, it's there. You know, I'm not a big one to, I mean, I follow all these guys on social media, but I don't, you know, what,

whatever, you know, it's kind of their social media. I remember having this debate, you know, this was several years ago. Remember when Snacks Harrison was, you know, with the Giants and he had the great 2016 season and, you know, and then he kind of went downhill from there and his attitude went down from there. And I remember he had some stuff that he was posting on Twitter, like, you know, fairly controversial stuff. And we would ask him about it in the locker room. He'd say, oh man, that's my Twitter. And it'd be like, well, I know

snacks, but it's Twitter's social media, we can all see it. So if you're ripping another player, you know, or saying something controversial on Twitter, it's in my mind, it's open, you know, it's not like I stole your phone, you know what I mean? Or I stole your private text. He would say, No, man, that's my Twitter, you don't have any right to talk to me about my Twitter. And I'm like,

All right. You know, so someone from the team needs to sit down with him and have a discussion about what social media actually means, you know. So that was always a weird one. All right. So nothing to report on off the field. Is there anything to report on on the field? Any updates, anything that we should know? And we'll get into the storylines right after that. Well, I mean, you know, the main thing is, you know, we always you know, I always used to think when guys would come back, you know, a team would come back from a bye week. It's like.

it's a month everyone is healed you know everyone's fine now it's only one week um like evan neal's not ready to play you know left left ankle is not you know we'll get into him he had some interesting things to say this week but he's not ready to play i talked to darren waller um

He's not going to play this week, but he's told me I'm running around pretty good in there inside the field house. And he thinks he'll be able to play in New Orleans, you know, after this week. We'll see. You know, he's been very adamant about not coming back too soon. But he said he thinks he'll be ready to go. He's not in any way, you know, in my mind, like, you know, I'm not going to be back this season.

And Dexter Lawrence, who is only the best player on the team, feels pretty confident that his hamstring is OK. And, you know, after missing a game that he'll be able to play on Monday night, the extra day helps against the Packers. He was pretty optimistic about that. So that, you know, they should be in decent shape.

All right. The biggest storyline times that we've been hearing all week. Tommy DeVito is going to get to start. Coach Dable said he deserved it. Your thoughts on that? Because Tyrod Taylor said he's a little disappointed, but we know he's a pros pro and he's going to play the game within the game. But how do you feel about Coach Dable coming out early this week and naming DeVito the starter?

Well, much like how I came out of the womb a place kicker, Tommy DeVito came out of the womb as a quarterback. And listen, he has earned the right to start. And naturally, I love that Tyrod reacted the way he did. He's a competitor. He wants to play. And understandably so, he was...

pretty visibly upset with the no comment comment. But Tommy DeVito, listen, I think you need to see what you have here as a staff. You really, there's two games against two bad football teams. We recognize that. Here's a step up in class. The Green Bay Packers, six and six. But guys, they've lost two games by one point and one game by two points. This is a really good football team. Matt LaFleur does a great job. I believe the youngest team in the NFL. I believe the Giants are the second youngest team in the NFL. So,

Here's the future, right, of the NFC. And it's not often you get to play an NFC team out of conference and back-to-back seasons like the Giants did last year against the Packers in London. Aaron Rodgers was there. I recognize that. But I really – I like what Brian Dable did early in the week. It gives confidence to the player to hear that. Obviously, they talked behind the scenes and let everyone know this is what we're doing.

And I totally understand it. I don't think the players are going to have a problem with it. I really don't. Had Tommy DeVito went 0-2 and played poorly and they still said he's the starter? 100%. But that's just a competitor in Tyrod Taylor wanting to play. But I think this is the right decision for the Giants. I really do. Go ahead, Paul. Sometimes, sometimes...

a decision that's maybe a little controversial, but certainly there are definitely giant fans who feel Tyrod Taylor should start because he gives them the better chance to win. And that's not outlandish. I mean, you know, real quick, real quick, before I get into my point, real quick, I'll do a quick poll. One game to play. There's one game left and the Giants have to win to make the playoffs. It's this Monday night. One game, win and in. Who's your quarterback?

Nothing about next year, nothing about the future, nothing about anything. I'm going with Tyrod Taylor. Okay. Lawrence, who are you going with? Same. Yeah, but that's not a fair question. Anyway. No, it's fair, but what I'm saying is, you know, who gives you the best chance to win? Look, Robert Sala got all...

jumbled up this week about that, right? Because he said, going back to Zach, and he said, well, I always felt Zach gave us the best chance to win, but I just wanted to make a change to give a spark. Well, that's really not, you know, I mean, the other 52 players are like, can you please play the players who gave us the best chance to win? So I agree in this situation. I was quite frankly surprised that Brian D'Abel came out on Tuesday morning, up against Tommy. You know, he could have waited because

The game's not till Monday night. He could have said, let's see how Tyrod, you know, looks in practice and this and that. So I have no issue with this. Look, he never said Tommy DeVito was our quarterback for the rest of the season. If Tommy DeVito goes out and lays an egg Monday night, he can go back to Tyrod next week in New Orleans. You know what I mean? And first of all, I don't think a coach, you're on a two-game winning streak.

You start taking the quarterback out on a two-game winning streak, you look like a dope if you don't win. You know what I mean? Maybe he's got a little something. Let's stick with him. And what you guys said about Tyrod is right. I mean, you have to thread the needle just right.

to be a team guy to not be a wimp and to say that you know what I'm not happy about this and he did all three and I think you guys as as lock guys in the locker room I'm sure really appreciated that right he was hurt he wants to play and he's not making a big deal about it you know what the best thing somebody said to him um do you think this is fair right and do you hear what he said

I don't think life is fair. So I think that's an unfair question. You know, he said, I don't know if there's fair in this business. He admitted, Tommy's won two games and I got hurt and it was bad timing. You know, you don't last 13 years just on great skill or whatever, right? You last 13 years because you know how to hand yourself in every situation. I think Tyrod is... Most importantly, too, sorry for interrupting, but, like, this guy's competitive. Like, this is why...

That fire still burns bright with Tyron Taylor. And make no mistake about it, he's going to get paid again in the offseason. Yep. He is going to get paid. We're seeing the value of the backup quarterback just grow before our eyes with every single injury we see on TV.

Tyrod Taylor's got some tread left on those tires. And what's cool about this situation is, one, that nothing blew up outlandishly. Tyrod didn't say anything. But you see two people, two veterans in this league, in terms of Brian Dable and Tyrod Taylor, understanding what the NFL is.

is, the business within the business, the game within the game. For Brian D'Abel to come out and say that, that means that they've seen enough when it comes to Tommy DeVito in terms of being able to, one, evaluate this guy and him having a grasp on the offense. You're not just going to keep throwing a guy out there to be like, all right, he'll figure it out this next game, especially against a Packers defense that's coming along and playing and trending in the right direction with the way they're playing their football.

Brian Dable, Mike Kafka, they're in there with these meetings with this kid, Tommy DeVito, and he's been around since rookie camp. He understands this offense. And at the end of the day, when I don't know if it was before or after Coach Dable announced that DeVito was going to be the starter, you saw Isaiah Hodgins.

You saw Sterling Shepard's Instagram. These guys are posting the DeVito Cutlets or the Tommy Cutlets beer. They're joking around, having a good time with him in the locker room.

It's the players are behind this kid. The players are going to be behind this kid. And he's given this team and these receivers a chance to be evaluated. The Wanda's, the Jalen Hyatt's, the Darius Slayton's. He's giving his team a chance to only win games, but to also for other players to be evaluated. So you got to ride it out. You got to ride it out with this one. And I think that Coach Dable made the right decision, Paul.

And you know what? And I think if it went the other way, right? If he came out Tuesday, Brian Gable, and said, you know, look, Tyrod was the starter. He got hurt. Tommy did a great job, but we're going to go back to Tyrod. I don't think there would have been – I think the reaction would have been similar in the locker room, right? They would have said, all right, we get it. You know, we're good with Tyrod. So it was –

Very often these situations are not handled maturely, right? There's just people fly off the handle and say things. And this was like very mature. Now, look, I get it. This is not Joe Montana or Steve Young. You know, I get it. They're four and eight. I also think if they were eight and four.

Tyrod Taylor might be the starting quarterback this week. But, you know, these are all factors that go into it. And do I think Tyrod Taylor will start another game this year for the Giants? I do. I do. So, you know, we'll see. There's injuries. They're not wishing down anybody. There's performance. So I just think sometimes it works. You know, sometimes the coach says something and the players accept it. And if it went the other way, Tyrod handled it right. And you know what else? Tommy DeVito is a smart dude.

He handled it. He was very, you know, he's not the most understated guy. He was very understated that day. You know, everyone was around him and he was like, OK, this is the decision. Tyrod is a great guy. He's been a great mentor to me. You know, I mean, he he read the room and it's like, I'm not going to sit here and go crazy because my teammate over there is disappointed. So, you know, sometimes it's handled right. This is handled right.

Yeah, well, you know, what I'm most interested in seeing this week is, listen, it's easy to play when there's really no one behind you, in a sense, like Matt Barkley was the guy. Tyrod Taylor can play. And, right, this is a different set of circumstances for Tommy DeVito. There are expectations now. There are lines out in Wayne, New Jersey, waiting for his autograph. He did a video on some foodie network. Listen, there's been a lot of attention on Tommy DeVito, and I think he can handle it.

and then monday night football production team's going to come in and want to talk to tommy devito right we want to see this um we'll see uh the nfl's great when you're kind of the underdog but when

But when there's an expectation placed upon you, those are the guys that rise to the top and those are the guys that get paid. So I'm really interested in that storyline of the 2-0 Tom DeVito with all the eyes on him because they're going to be on him on Monday night. Yeah, he's got a chance. I got one more thing. I got one more thing. And, you know, this is where I think Tyrod was so, you know, he said he had four broken ribs, right? Two of them were displaced. Wow.

Right. Four broken ribs to display. So the first week or so they were like, OK, we got to worry about your internal organs here because your ribs are displaced. OK, they said six weeks. He said the way I feel, I think I can do it faster. So he came back more quickly than the timeline given to him. And then he was told.

Thank you. That's great. But you're not going to start. So, you know, that hurts, too. You know what I mean? Why am I putting my body at risk? That hurts. And that's another thing that he had to he sucked it up and accepted it. And he's like, you know, I had four broken ribs and I came back and I'm ready. And, you know, you're saying, you know, not so fast. You know, look, I'm sure you guys both have a lot of examples. When I say, is it fair? Was it fair? You would say no.

No.

that is kind of benefiting from the Tommy DeVito storyline because no one's really talking about Saquon. I think before the bye week going in the Patriots game, we didn't really mention him too much on the pregame show.

I think this is going to be a huge game for Saquon because, one, you're going to have to run the ball against this team to protect DeVito. Two, this is just a Monday night primetime. It's one of those y'all must have forgot who I am type games for Saquon to come out and just run rampant, Paul.

Look, what does that tell you about the way defenses think of Tommy DeVito? Right. You know, they line up and say we're stopping 26. And if that quarterback makes a few plays, not a big deal. You know what I mean? You know, the priorities are Saquon. And so now the key is can Tommy DeVito do enough to get them out of that?

You know, to get them more honest on defense. You know, Saquon's interesting, right? He had, what, 1,300 yards as a rookie, right? Offensive rookie of the year. And I remember talking to Tiki Barber, who has 10,449 career yards, right? And Tiki was like,

this dude's going to, you know, this dude's going to pass me, you know what I mean? You know, this dude's a great player. He's got 1300 already. Tiki had like, you know, very little his first year and what's happened. The guy, you know, Saquon is 142 yards from Brandon Jacobs.

to go into fourth place on the list, right? You know, at this point, we thought Saquon was going to be way past this, way past this, right? But injuries and, you know, some other things have, you know, so, you know, I think you make a good point, Brandon, that, you know, the bye week,

Tommy Cutlets, all these other things, you know, Jalen Hyatt making plays down the field. You know, Saquon's got another couple of big games in him. And, you know, are these the last games? Is this the last bye week he's going to experience with the Giants? Maybe, right? So, yeah, he's an interesting guy to watch down the stretch here, no question. Times of Saquon balls out on Monday night primetime football. Does he now recapture the leverage against this Giants organization?

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I think he already has, to be quite honest. He's remained healthy, had a little bump in the road there with the ankle in Arizona, but

I mean, you can see what this offense is with him in the lineup. He, and just his spirit, the way he goes about his business. And I really think he galvanized that locker room, right? When, when I don't know what they were two and eight, probably something like that. And he said, you know, we come to work. I'm paraphrasing here. Like we're, you know, 10 and oh, he didn't say that, but like he said, it doesn't feel like we're two and eight or whatever the record was. I, that takes a lot of leadership and Saquon has shown that throughout his career. Um,

I'm really impressed with Saquon this year. I think, quite frankly, it could be one of his best seasons just in terms of leadership on the field. He's the only show in town, right? A lot of guys are just coming to the stadium to watch him and some people on the defense. Now it's Tommy DeVito. But I'm really impressed with Saquon this season. I really am. And I think from an organizational standpoint, he's a great guy.

You have to do whatever you can to keep this kid in blue. You really do. I couldn't, I'd probably get emotional watching this kid have success in the playoffs because I know, we all know,

what he's been through as a player. So I want to see Saquon have success in the postseason. And, you know, the record's not great this year, but I think within the next one or two years, this team can be somewhere, you know, deep into the playoffs if they keep evolving and drafting well. And you know what else? Go ahead, Paul. You know what else with Saquon? You know, he is the Giants nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year, right? He's awesome.

He might get it. You know what I mean? I mean, look, every team has a nominee, right? And, you know, he was the nominee last year too, I think, I believe. And, you know, sometimes you need that setup year. I mean, you know, everyone, every team has a nominee and they're all terrific guys, I'm sure. But some guys are more, they're more of the favorites to win it. You know what I mean? And I think he has a real chance to win it. And, you know,

You know, you guys know, I mean, there is MVP, there's Rookie of the Year, there's all this, you know, Walter Payton Man of the Year is, that's like NFL nobility, right? When you win that, you know, it's not, you don't get that from popularity. You get that from

being a good citizen, right? And Paul, let me add a little cherry on top to that work that he's doing out there in the city and the community. He's doing it when the team stinks. Think about that. That's hard to do. It's really hard to go do even when you're winning. But I'm sure all the questions about losing, which he's done a lot of,

So it makes it even that much more sweeter what he's doing for those kids. I love seeing the families after the games that he brings to every home game. He's a superstar. The kid's a superstar, and I think he's only 26. 27? How old is he? I forget.

Yeah, young guy. You got a little emotional talking about him. And you have. I did. You have. I've been hard on him because I do think that, you know, listen, I think maybe, you know, I have been hard on him, but I know what kind of talent he is.

But, man, if you think about what that kid's been through and how he's showing up to work every day, you can't help but root for 26. And hopefully I never see him in another jersey again, like a different color. He should only be with this franchise. Because I wanted him to get traded away. I'm not going to lie. Not because I didn't think that he belongs here. I just wanted to see him have some success somewhere else, play in the playoffs this year, not have to wait. Same thing with Sterling Shepard.

But let's cross on over because we had some more fuel to the fire, I guess, some more storylines. The whole Evan Neal thing. Come out and said some stuff. Paul, can you break that down for us and let's get into that because I see you smiling. You've been waiting to talk about that. He's the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to giving the media something to talk about. You know, I like Evan Neal. I have no issue with him. But if he was as defiant on the field as he is now,

talking about himself sometimes he'd be a great player you know what i mean um you know look he's not going to play again this week you know he had the right ankle uh sprain he came back now he has a left ankle sprain you know he says it hurts he's a big guy right you know i can only imagine what those ankles feel like with 330 or 40 pounds being you know your ankles are only so big right

He's a big guy. So, you know, so he takes umbrage and really, you know, gets his, you know, his, you know, he gets upset when he gets questioned. You know, he works hard. He's a pretty good guy. He's a good guy. You know, he said the stupid things about the fans earlier in the year. You know, he took those back. Oh,

Okay, so he said, this is what he said about, you know, maybe playing right tackle, maybe going inside to guard. He said, as soon as I stepped out of the womb, I stepped out as an offensive tackle. Okay, well, you know, I mean, I don't know what he weighed at birth, but maybe, you know, maybe if he was 12 pounds, he looked like an offensive tackle, right? You know, he said, look, Joe Shane said, you know, you guys talked to Joe Shane last week, and he said, you know, Joe Shane was asked,

um do you see him ever being a a guard he said no we think of him as a tackle um first of all i don't know what else joe joe shane is not going to bring up you know in week 12. oh yeah we may move him to guard down the road um because he drafted her number seven you know his reputation is on him being a good right tackle um

Look, it's been a bad year. It's been a bad year for Evan Neal. You know, he's it'll be nice if he gets back on the field for two or three games and maybe has an upswing in his performance because, you know, he went into the season as a question and he is a monster question mark right now. You know, can you start him at right tackle next year? The answer right now is, you know, Tyree Phillips, probably better.

He's one of those guys that has a – he's going to have to get back healthy and play at least three more solid games before going into the offseason because he's one of those guys that I'm thinking, you've got to recreate your storyline. Like, you've got to recreate the narrative about you. And this team is only two wins away from being in the fight for locking up that last wild card spot. And, again, this team that started –

down in the dumpster with some blowouts and all, but to still be in the mix, you might have a chance to recreate your storyline. And I think like a guy like Xavier McKinney, I'm just going to go over to the defense. Remember when he said what he said and he kind of went zero dark 30 on the entire media, Paul.

Here's a dude that just shut up and just started playing. I'm looking at his numbers since the Vegas game. 10 tackles, 13 tackles, 10 tackles against New England. Past breakups, he's been all over the field. There are some guys that the hype is just naturally going to come to them.

But then there are some guys who's just like, they just had, it looked like they've locked in and just has been like, you know what? I'm just going to shut up and I am going to go play. And Xavier McKinney has been one of those guys. Is there anybody else for you guys? Like going forward that just should just take kind of take on that shut up and play mentality, stay away and just go right into, just, just ball out on the field. Is there anybody for you guys? Man, just, you know,

you know, everybody, to be honest with you. I'd like to comment on Evan Neal. I really, listen, I like when he interviews. I think that I love his energy and I love how he talks and some of the quotes he says. Listen, we were all talking the same way about Andrew Thomas after his second season. Maybe not this bad, but Andrew Thomas was a, you know, we used to beat on him pretty hard his second year in the league and he evolved and turned into this all pro tackle guy.

I'm not so sure that Evan Neal can – that's his ceiling, but I do think he's better than what he showed this season. And, you know, the whole – listen, the question this is going to turn around onto is Bobby Johnson, guys. If you think about where Tyree Phillips went for, let's call it five, six weeks, whatever, I don't know the number of weeks he was in Philly, he came back a better player. He is a better right tackle right now than Evan Neal. Not saying his ceiling is better than Evan Neal's, but right now Tyree Phillips is playing because he's the better player.

So that's an interesting end of the season type of conversation that we'll all figure out down the road. But I just think everyone's on notice, right? When you're this bad, Brandon, everyone's got to play well. And to talk about Xavier McKinney,

Maybe he was right. Maybe he went about it the wrong way, talking to the media in terms of being loud about it. But I just think they're putting the game plan around him more. I really see him being that 2020, 2021 type player, flying around, making plays, and that's who he is. Maybe...

Dave said, hey, Wink, we've got to change the game plan here and get this kid around the football and get him more active. I don't know that. I'm just blowing smoke right now. You know what? I think that's what happened. He's never off the field. Yeah, he's playing a lot. He and Bobby Okereke have played every snap on defense. First of all, that is tremendous for a guy to not need a blow for one play or two play or tweak something or your finger goes out of joint. I mean, Bobby Okereke, he's at that.

fingers and ribs and he just doesn't come off but i saw he wasn't on the injury report this week who is he bobby okereke is he on the road the injury reports don't suit him no i mean no he's the there's no question about him if he's going to be practicing full you know what i mean you know because you proposed a hypothetical to us about tyrod taylor in the playoffs do you resign xavier mckinney after this season

I mean, you know, you have a guy who you say you're so valuable to the team, you have to play every snap, right? I don't think he's a bad guy or a bad seed. You know, he had the mishap last year, which cost him seven games. That was a mishap. And everyone felt bad for the guy. I don't think it was, you know, he wasn't out. You know, he wasn't, you know, skydiving, you know, so okay.

I can get past that certainly and I think the Giants have gotten past that and he said a couple he said something this year I don't I don't think it was you know it was it was silly it was it was immature I don't think it was awful how much is he gonna want you know I don't I don't see Joe Shane giving a safety you know you know crazy money you know what I mean 12 million a year 13 million a year so we'll see you know they gave they wanted Julian Love back and they gave him a decent offer I think um

seven or seven or eight million a year. And he, you know, he didn't take it and he went to Seattle for less money. So, you know, I do think if you don't have a plan for Xavier McKinney, then you better have a plan for who's going to replace him. Because, you know, Pinnock is here and he's nice, but you know, who was the guy who was going to replace Pinnock?

I don't know. I mean, a thousand snaps, right? That's how much these guys play. A thousand snaps. You tell me who's going to fit in and play a thousand snaps next year for you. It's not going to be some rookie draft. So, yeah, I mean, he's he's not he's not a guy who you say, you know, he's definitely not coming back next year. No, I wouldn't say that.

I would say that. I don't think he's going to be here because I don't think there's going to be a right price. They're not going to offer him that right price. Talk about a team with so many holes to fill. You're going to have to bring in free agents. You're going to have to throw some money around to some guys. And you watch, I watch Xavier's

IG story over the break. He was out in L.A. at the Balenciaga fashion show. Like, he got the tattoos on the body and all. Like, I think here's a guy that it's he's a star on the rise. And I think that he could go somewhere else and one, get his money and

And if he continues to play well and continues to ascend the way he is, he's going to be one of the top three, top five safeties in the NFL for another team. So I personally believe. But it has to be a market like L.A. It has to be like a Dallas or a Miami. I don't think he's going to go to a Kansas City or somewhere small or Seattle. I think he has to go to a big market because I think he likes the lights. New York has taught him to like the lights.

and he can play well, I think he gets his money elsewhere, bro. That's somebody I feel as though they should keep because you obviously have Tay Banks coming back. If you have Xavier McKinney back there, you've got Jason Pinnock who's solid. And then Cordell Flaa, I believe, is going to be this team's starting corner next year as CB2. And that's all shout-outs to Lawrence Times for identifying that talent right there. But I think that could be that secondary going forward and having some success.

in the NFL next season. Yeah, I mean, look, there are five games left. So, you know, there's a lot of time for guys to, you know, come back into the picture, come out of the picture. You know, I think it's interesting. I think this team is held together well.

You know, despite all the issues and the losing and the losing and the losing. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see if they can. You know, I think there's more losing. You know, I don't think this is onward and upward here. You know, they had a nice two-game winning streak. You know, and if the Tommy DeVito bubble gets burst, then it's like, okay, you know, we got to go down a stretch. I mean, it's hard to believe, isn't it? They have not played the Eagles yet. I mean, it's unbelievable. The season's almost over. They haven't played the Eagles yet. They're trying not to think about it.

I know. I mean, that's, you know, that's, you're not sitting there. That's like, that's like, you've got this mortgage pay. You've got this mortgage payment and a car payment. It's coming. I don't know if I have the money for one of those. I got to pay both. And,

Let's just get through the holiday season and we'll figure it out. But, you know, in the back of your mind, man, that's a big that's a big check. I got it right. I don't know if I've got it. You know, I mean, the Eagles. I mean, we'll see. Look, the Eagles and Cowboys are going to play a great game on Sunday. Right. You know, I mean, it will be, you know, that'll be it'd be nice to watch that game and not have a giant game to worry about. We got the Giants the next day.

Man, I'm just thinking about when that mortgage and that car note hits. You eating PBJs, not chicken cutlets. Eating PBJs, not the chicken cutlets.

And that's going to bring us into our player prop bets and some of these over-unders for this game. Obviously, the first one, Tommy DeVito over-under 178 yards passing times. Go ahead. Yeah, I don't like that number at all. I think under. I know that's kind of paltry, but I think this is a big Saquon game. You know, the Packers aren't great against the run, just like the Giants aren't. Pacheco had a really big night, if you think back to that game against the Chiefs last week. So, I don't know.

I think this is a Saquon night. I think it's a big night. He's going to be rested. He hasn't had a lot of carries coming into the bye week, too, so he should be even more rested after that 36-carry performance against the Jets. So I'm going to go under here for Tommy DeVito. Paul? I usually go under with these kind of things. I'm going to go over. The Packers give up 203 passing yards a game. Look, DeVito, they didn't have enough points, obviously, last week. He's got 171 against the Pats.

246 against Washington. You know, I understand, you know, you guys could probably have 200 against Washington. You know what I mean? You know, I mean, I get it. I could probably have, well, forget about what I could have against Washington. I might be able to, I might be able to hand the ball off once if I don't, if, if, if John Michael Schmidt's snap didn't break my fingers. Okay.

So I'm not going to go there with that. But I think he can do it. He's going to throw the ball down the field, right? You get one or two to high it, and you've got 50, 60 yards right there. So I'll go over. Yeah, I'm going to go over with you, Paul. This kid has breathed some life into the receiving corps.

Like, you see these guys excited. Isaiah Hodgins, okay, one catch, but it was a touchdown. He's letting guys use their skill set, use their strengths, getting the ball down the field to Jalen Hyatt. Darius Slayton obviously having some big plays in there. I think this receiver core is all Tommy Cutlett, Tommy DeVito. I think they're Team Tommy on this one. So I think he throws over 178. Saquon Barkley over under 71.5.

rushing yards. Paul? We don't think the Giants have done a great job against the run this year, right? I think they give up 136 a game. So do the Packers, okay? 136 yards a game. They're not great against the run. I'm going to say over, look, you guys have been, you guys have both been told, you know, Lawrence is, you know, gearing up for a huge Saquon game Monday night. So, um,

Yeah, I mean, he's rested. He'll get a couple of long runs. I'll go over 71 and a half for Saquon. Tines. Yeah, over for me. I'm thinking somewhere between 85, 95 yards for Saquon and 40 or 50 receiving. So, you know, listen, Andrew Thomas is two weeks off.

That's going to help him out a lot with that sprained MCL. I think this O-line is as healthy as it's been all season, so they're going to be refreshed. And you can run against the Packers. That's how you're going to have to win this game. So give me the over. I'm taking over as well. I think that DeVito can throw for over 178, and I think Saquon can rush for over 71.5. I think he gets into the hundreds. It's going to be one of those games, man. I think DeVito throws them effectively.

out of that one high shell and puts them into a too high safety look and forces them to play the deep ball. And I think that's when Saquon really gets off in that second half. So I'm going over with this one. Let's switch over to the defense. Giants D, 1.5 takeaways over under to Hines.

Yeah, Love's been really good with the football. I think no interceptions over the last three, but the Giants on the other side of the ball defensively have 11 takeaways, and I think maybe one or two is special teams, but a lot of takeaways in the last three games. So give me the over here. Paul? Love has 10 interceptions, but you're right. Lately, not. You know, lately, not. So I would not say he's sloppy with the ball. I know the Giants have been big takeaway guys. I'm just going to say under, you know,

You know, those things kind of, you know, you know, the Giants good at taking the ball away. I mean, they have been the last two, three games. But I'm going to say on there, the Packers are, you know, the Packers are playing well. You know what I mean? The Packers are doing what it takes to win and turning it over is not what it takes to win. So I'll say under, you know, I think they may have a turnover. I don't think they'll have to.

I'm going to go over. I think they get two because I think this defense understands how they have to win going forward. They understand they're going to have to give Tommy DeVito extra opportunities, give that offense extra possessions. So I believe that the defense, whether it's Xavier McKinney, Cordell Flott, Michael McFadden, Bobby Okereke, all these guys are coming up with turnovers. I think they go over and get two on the day. Jordan Love over under 228.5 yards.

Passing yards, Paul, I'll start with you. 228.5. I'll go all over.

I'll go over. The Packers like to throw it. They run it when they have to. LeFleur likes to throw it. Look, I sat back and watched Love play terrific against the Chiefs. He's an ascending player. Oh, maybe you think that's what you can do with a quarterback? You can draft him and you don't have to play him right away. You can sit and wait and then you can play when he's ready. Boy, what a novel idea, right? Oh, no, we have to

play these guys right away. Sometimes they're ready, sometimes they're not. You know, this looks like a really smart – can you imagine if he's a really good player? You know, they go from – I'm not putting them in far to Roger. What's that? You know what I mean? But if he's a really good player, they're going to have him for 10 years with the other guy for 15 and the other guy for 15? I mean, pretty nice, huh? So that's a long way of saying I think he can throw for over 228 yards against the Giants. Tides.

Yeah, over for me. I like Jordan Love. I think he is a good player. I mean, 22 and 10 right now? No interceptions in the last three? And if you look at this receiving core, guys, this is the most interesting stat I've seen in a long time. Those young receivers, Reed, Dobbs, and Watson, have 17 touchdown receptions.

You know, you're thinking running back tight ends. No, no, no, no, no. Five for the rookie, seven for Dobbs and Watson, who we don't think is going to play five for him. That's those are big numbers for young first, second year players. And Musgrave, a young, talented tight end that's coming along. This team is young. They're exciting. They're good.

But yeah, easily over the 228 for me. I mean, Jordan Love, he's good. I like him. Yeah, I'm going to go over with this one as well, especially if Dexter Lawrence doesn't play. That Giants pass rush is not going to get to him. It's like he's going to be playing 7-on-7 out there, just sitting there patting the ball, getting the ball out. He distributes the ball very well. I'm very impressed with this kid. That leads us, what you said about the receivers times, that leads us into this one. Romeo Dobbs.

and or jayden reed over under 41 and a half receiving yards can one of them go over easy absolutely but i think both i think both you know reads the the the second round rookie and then the other kid dobbs is the fourth round i mean these kids are good players they they do a really good job of developing receivers and and drafting them in in green bay uh so yeah over for me paul

Hold on. I'm opening a fan duel or DraftKings right now. 41 and a half for one or one of those guys. Easy. You're right. Easy. I mean,

Both. Both. Everybody. Yeah, no, these, you know, like, you know, we were watching that game last week and Watson went down late in that game, right? You know, and that's a big loss for them. You saw him pull up and, you know, kind of, you know, on the sideline and, you know, that was a classic hamstring. So, you know, I don't think there's any chance he plays this week. I think they're talking about weeks with him. So, but yeah, these guys are good players. There's an energy there, right? There's an energy with these Packer receivers, which can Aaron Rodgers,

retroactively tell the Jets to bring these guys into the Jets next year? He got all the other Packer receivers. Can he just tell Joe Douglas, get me Reid and Dobbs next year too? Is he allowed to do that? Or I guess he doesn't have that power anymore. They would love to swap out Cobb and Lazard for sure for those two guys. Hands down. Well, you've got to swap out the head coach. To hell with the receivers. Flur for...

It's a lot. Well, I'm going to go. And I can go down the list. I'll go over for these two. Jordan Love is showing that he's one of those quarterbacks that makes receivers better. His location. Mark Trestman used to say all the time when he was my CFL head coach, location, location, location. Where you put the ball matters. And he's putting the ball right where receivers love. No pun intended. Last but not least, total of 37 points. 37 points is the over-under. Paul, go ahead.

I'm going to say over. I mean, you know, with the Giants, that's tricky. That's tricky, you know what I mean, to say over. You know, I think there will be some points in this game. Maybe that's my bye week Tommy DeVito, you know, something kicking in. I think they can score some points. So I'm going to say over. You know, I think the Giants can get to 17. If they get to 17, then the Packers, you know, don't need, you know, they need 20 to get to 37. So I think the Packers are going to score more than 20. So I'll go over here. Tynes?

Yeah, over for me. I just think both offenses are going to put up some points. This could be kind of, you know, everyone was banging on the Steelers, Patriots lowest over under and since 2005, what was it, 30 points? I mean, that thing was gone in the first half almost. So I think this is a classic game. It's a low over under for an NFL game. Rightfully so, though, the Giants are averaging, I think, 13 points a game. You take away their defense and

Defensive scores are averaging less than that on offense. But I'll go over for some reason. Maybe Monday Night Football, the excitement.

Man, you're carving crazy. I'm going under on this one. I think it's going to be a defensive game. I think teams will move up and down in between the 20s, but I think both of these teams are going to have to settle for three. I think under 37 is, you know, that's a tribute to the way that both of these defense have been playing. Paul, start us off with your final thoughts, then I'll go, and then Tines, you kick us home.

You know, these games are interesting, right? You know, the Giants are 0-4 on Monday night. They've been outscored by like 84 points. Is that a big factor? I mean, I don't know. But, you know, are they ready for this? You know, the Packers are playing great, you know, and they are ascending.

In the Packers' narrative to make the playoffs does not include losing to the 4-8 Giants. You know what I mean? So this is an absolute game that the Packers have to win. I think they will win it. I think it can be a good game, but I think the Packers will win. The Giants would really impress me if they would win this game just because –

You know, they kind of had a little bit of momentum and then they had a week off. So that momentum is not there anymore. So be interesting. You know, these last five games, we'll see how much they talk a lot about the Giants, about how, you know, we're still in it. We're still in it. And, you know, we still got the mojo in these last five games. But you guys know, late in the season, they've had a break. The holidays are coming up. If you lose, it gets rough. So it'll be interesting to see if the Giants can kind of hold this together.

If I was to talk to the Giants team, I would tell them they cannot be a victim of their success. It's the same thing leading into this season. The expectations and the hype was there. They kind of laid an egg at the beginning of the season. Now you win two games against two teams

dog teams of the NFL, two not so great teams. And now you got a chance to play, to try and punch above your weight class. You cannot get blown out on Monday night football off of all of the hype, off of all of, all the expectations that are now leading into this team. And I will also, if I'm Brian Dable, I'll tell those guys, you owe yourself a grinded out win.

You talk about the Jets and the Bills. You let those two slide off. This team, this is not going to be a blowout. This is not the commanders. This is not the Patriots who could have kicked themselves into overtime and saw how that game went. But this is one of those games where I feel like they're going to collectively have to play complementary football.

and grind this thing out. Whether you've got to kick a field goal at the end to win it, who cares how you get the W, but at the end of the day, Juicy should be playing in the locker room Monday night. And I've got to go get that W because the season depends on it. Tynes, kick us home. Well, I think this is the first game we're going to have this season with a special team's touchdown. And here's why. The Packers rank 30th in punt return against the young punter, Whelan.

I see Gunnar Olszewski returning a punt for a touchdown. He's been good. That's my vision. He's been great. He's been fantastic. And that's, you know who's number one in the NFL in punt returns against? We don't talk about a lot of things the Giants are number one in. It's the Giants. The Giants are number one in the NFL in punt returns against. That's partly in due for Jamie Gillen. Here's what I think. We get the punt return. Tommy DeVito.

returns the favor from 2015 when Paramus Catholic beat Don Bosco and Rashawn Gary. I don't know, sacked him 17 times it seems like. Rashawn Gary was the number one player in the country coming out of high school out of Paramus Catholic. So Tommy DeVito has seen this guy before. Hopefully we don't see much of him on Monday night.

but i love arrested giant scene a re-energized and refocused team they've won two in a row they have confidence and saquon barkley going absolutely stupid on monday night for a massive game best game of the year i think he's going to have and the giants win this game 24 to 20. we're not stopping they're going to win stop they're going to win the giants will win this game and oh by the way

i like beating the packers too the props are back i like i like beating the packers too you guys see that packer fans you guys see that you remember that night holy that was cold anyway i actually owned stock in the packers they got a little landmark there at the 437 yard line right hash lt was here lt was here

When you lined up for that field goal, I was up in a press box, right? And, you know, it was a nightmare game to write on deadline. You know what I mean? You know, it was just an overtime. I mean, you know, you don't know. You're either going to the Super Bowl or you're not. You have no idea what's going to happen in this game, right? You know, and then, you know, I remember when that kick went through, I just looked over at, I think, Vinny Detrani was working for the Bergen record. Remember him? You know, he covered the Giants for many, many years.

And I like, you know, OK, now I have to write, you know, I need like three minutes to write this and I go run down to the locker room and then rewrite it again. Right. And I just looked at him and he just looked at me and I just went like, like, I've told you this. You know, we always hear about the old time guys, you know, oh, I covered the ice ball. I covered the greatest. And I just remember thinking I have to do this game justice. This is one of the great playoff games in NFL history.

And I gave you an all-expense-paid trip to Arizona for a week. That's pretty good. You guys owe me a trip. I was going anyway. I was going anyway. You were, okay. You gave me a lot more work because I was covering my team in the Super Bowl. Well, that's a good thing.

you know what? You don't get into this. You guys don't get into it to lose games. You know, I don't go into it to just cover lousy teams and then, you know, so I remember thinking, oh my God, this game will hold up to any game in history. And it did. And it does. And now I'm

One of the hosts of a podcast with the guy who did it. There we go. Pretty good. There we go. I was sitting there like, we going Sizzler. We going Sizzler. Hey, little bonus check. Little bonus check, too. It never hurts. And the DBs put some money together and threw me extra for that as well, man. I remember that. What a year, man. What a year. Ah, man, we could talk stories all day long.

But that's a wrap on the week 14 Blue Rush preview show. Make sure you hit up and subscribe to the New York Post Sports YouTube page for all Blue Rush videos and some fire content, if I may add as well. As for the podcast, we're on Apple, Spotify, and almost every podcast platform out there.

New episodes of the preview show go up on Thursdays before a game. And the post-game podcast posts the day after a game. Obviously, this is a weird week because it's Monday Night Football. We posted it today on Friday. Tynes, close us out here, man. The floor is yours. Close us out. I mean, what else we got? You want to see the picture again? Do we want to show all our Akros fans? I mean, this is all I got. This is all I got. There we go. There we go. For the entire Blue Rush crew, thank you guys for watching. We'll see you guys on Monday.