Giants-Saints Week 15 Preview, Predictions
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The 5 and 8 Giants head down to the Big Easy to try and keep the momentum going, plus a three-game win streak. And of course, playoff hopes alive against the 6 and 7 New Orleans Saints. What's up, everybody? I'm Brandon London. I want to thank you for watching Blue Rush Preview Show. It's our show and podcast for the New York Post and SNY. On today's episode, we have...

or we're talking about the major storylines heading in. The Giants going down to the 504. Plus, we've got your player prop bets, of course. And earlier I said R, so let's introduce the gang. Longtime Giants beat writer for the Post, he's Paul Schwartz. And two-time Super Bowl champ, former Giants kicker, Lawrence Tynes is in the building.

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Gentlemen, it's going to be a big one for the Giants. They have to go down there and win this game to keep their playoff hopes alive, but we'll get into that. How are you guys feeling before we get into this? I feel great, but I do know the test ahead. That is a tough venue. Man, had a lot of you-know-what whippings down there. Drew Brees era, good football team, Sean Payton.

But, man, is it a tough environment to play? It really is. It's loud. The fans are passionate. It's New Orleans. It's a party every single day, every single night. So really the first true road test of Tommy DeVito's career, if you think about it. So it'll be a huge challenge. It is nice to see you guys. You guys look sharp, as always. But, yeah, listen, four in a row is on the horizon. Paul, you all packed and ready? Yeah.

Not yet, but I will be, you know, like Lawrence said, you know, very familiar terrain, right? Giants play there a lot. It's a good downtown environment. You can almost, you know, pretty much walk to the stadium, big, loud, cold, gray stadium, you know? Yeah. I mean, I mean, the DeVito mania and we'll get into it. Now it's time to talk a little more about him as a quarterback, right? You know, I mean, the other stuff's great.

It's great. You know, it's fun. I'm not going to throw cold water on it. You know what I mean? I mean, you know, people who have been around as long as I sometimes say, ah, look, it's a great story. It rejuvenated a team when they were two and eight. But now it's about him as a football player. Can he go down there and beat a, you know, an okay Saints team with a good defense in a tough environment? Yeah. Now, you know, all the cutlets and all that stuff is not going to do anything, you know, out in gumbo land.

Right. You know, now you've got to play. And he's played well. So you can't take that away from him. Paul brought the heat today. I love it, Coach Paul. Gumbo land. I like that. Gumbo land. You write that down, Paul. I like that, man. I absolutely love that. I did. No, no. But look, we've all been to New Orleans. We know what the food is like there. I could have said. Great place. Great food. Yes.

And yay. Let's see. What could I have done with Ben? Yay. You know what I mean? Something with Ben. Yay. Which I'm not a big fan of the powder. The powder sugar goes all over. Oh, come on. Now you're just not a grinch. Yeah. All right, Paul, kick this thing off with your practice report. As of now, who looks like they're in, who looks like they're out. And what's coach Dable been saying all week during his media availability?

How about Darren Waller? You know, look, they had a walkthrough on Wednesday and Darren Waller is still on IR. So he was not, you know, opened up to do that walkthrough, which is not a big deal. Now, a few of us talked to him after after practice, which he did not participate in on Wednesday, and he was sweating profusely.

So either he could not stand up to the withering attack of the media or he just came back from a very serious workout. He said he was running routes. He was doing things. So, you know, I would think by the fight later in this week, you know, he will be he will be, you know, the door will be open for him. And I think he can play. He said he's ready to play. You know, that was the plan before the bye week. He said, look, I can't give you 70, 80 snaps, but I think I can play. I can give you meaningful slap snaps. So.

You know, we kind of forgot about him, didn't we? So, I mean, he's, you know, everyone else, Evan Neal practiced on a limited basis. I know Lawrence Tynes is strong about letting Tyree Phillips play, even if Neal is ready. I'm not sure they're going to throw Evan Neal on his, you know,

ankle out in there for full-time work or maybe any time work right now. I don't think there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a emergency status to do that. But you know, what boy, while it would be huge, if he can come back and give him 20 snaps and, and he can, you know, DeVito can throw to him five times or something. You know, that that's, and also one thing, Dexter Lawrence, I asked him, he said he did not re-aggravate it at all.

It felt good. It was a 29 of 68 snaps, so less than half. He thinks he can do more, and he admitted I was timid at the start of the game. Dexter was another guy. He was sweating because he said, I just came from lifting. I stand next to Dexter. I look like

like straight into his chest, you know, that massive billboard chest. He's such a youth man. And he said, I just came from lifting. And I said, oh, I just came from lunch. So we got a laugh out of that. And I was not sweating. And but he said I was timid. You know, when a guy that big tells you he was timid, that's that's something. But he said he played better. He got his half sack later in the game. So I think he will be even more into it this week.

All right, Tons, we all know what's at stake this week for this team. The win, you keep that playoff momentum going. The win, four-game win streak. Kick us off with the major storyline, man. What do you want to talk about? Because there's so much surrounding this game and what's at stake.

Well, it's can Tommy DeVito win four games in a row? I mean, that's the big story. Everyone's questioning whether this kid has it. I've listened to some shows. Who is his comp? Who does he compare to? We talked about Bryce Young. We talked about other guys. Guys, I really think his comp is across the field.

Derek Carr. Oh, I think there's a lot of similarities in terms of who these guys are player wise. I mean, and if, if you told Tommy DeVito, you could have a career like Derek cars, I think you'd sign up for that. Right. I mean, it hasn't always been great. He's done some losing, but he's had some good seasons. His comp is across the street. It really is. I think if you look at these guys, I kind of went through the numbers this week. Very, very, very similar numbers all across the board. Derek,

Derek Carr's not having his best season. He struggled a little bit. They've had some injuries on offense. But I think it's can he win four in a row? Can he win a big road game? Can he win a meaningful football game? Not saying the other ones weren't meaningful, but you go into this one knowing the Saints are 6-7.

They're in the wild card spot. We want to take that from them on the road. Tough assignment. But getting Waller back would be huge. The Saints have lost three out of four games. They just beat the lowly Carolina Panthers. They are not playing good football. They really aren't. On either side of the ball, gave up 200 yards rushing last week to the Panthers. So I think that's somewhere obviously the Giants get that going early, but

Big test ahead here. This is a tough, tough environment. And can't wait to see the headlines on Monday if the Giants were to pull this game off. And now we get to really see what Mike Kafka and Brian Dable, I guess, thinks of DeVito now. Because remember the first game he started against the Cowboys in Dallas.

fourth and what, three, fourth and goal on a three that gave it to Saquon. This game, do you do that? Do you give him more? And you're talking about when Darren Waller comes back, if he comes back. He needs to practice today because when you talk about the tight end, that's a safety valve. That's another guy for DeVito. He used his feet last week not to take sacks.

But now if you can get a Darren Waller across the middle or sitting there on the ball or in the flats, now you can use his athleticism and what he brings to the table. So again, this is another game for Tommy DeVito to progress and really show that the coaches have confidence in him to let it spin.

Again, playing with house money, go down to the Big Easy. You beat Derek Carr, you beat the Saints, and you keep the Giants' momentum going and flow going. You won New York. You absolutely won New York. And, you know, hats off to this kid. You want to see him go down there and put his best foot forward. But, Paul, this is...

I'm with Tynes. This is a big game for him, probably his biggest start since he started starting as the quarterback for the New York Giants. Well, look, let's not forget, he had to start on Monday Night Football against, you know, Lawrence just said the Saints are not playing good football, right? That can change. That can change. The Packers came into MetLife Stadium playing terrific football, right? Jordan Love was the talk of the town three in a row, and bang, they lay an egg and the Giants, you know,

helped sit on that egg Monday night football. So, I mean, you can't, you know, that was a Monday night football game, you know, right. I mean, and, and he won it and played great. So, um, you know that you can't assume he will play great in this game. Um, you know, this is right. This is about football right now. And, and, and it's, it's the interesting thing to see is, you know, take away the cutlets, take away the, you know, the, the, the, um,

the Italian aura, the North Jersey, all that stuff. Guys, he was actually asked this. I think there was a local news guy or something came in. This is what he asked Tommy DeVito in front of his locker. We're all crammed in front of his practice squad locker, as I've mentioned before, right? The idea that you're close to your family, the Cutlets, Don Bosco. What does it feel like when a lot of people right now, you're the embodiment of all New Jersey Italians, okay? And it's like,

Whoa, this kid's 25 year old rookie. And it's like he's I don't know if he's the embodiment of anything, you know, but look, it's fun. I get it. You know, people come in from all sides. But I mean, I concentrated in the post in Thursday's paper on football with this guy. Right. Because he's a football player.

He had, I think it was 28 sacks in his five appearances, right? He won a game against the commanders getting sacked nine times. It wasn't all on the offensive line. He did not have that spatial awareness. When do I drop it? When do I go? You know, when do I, you know, and he studied.

And they studied with him during this bye weekend. He got better, right? He got better. And that's terrific. That bodes well. Now, what have we seen with Daniel Jones over the years? When they do that option run, right, and it hit, oh, my God, it's hitting open so many times. The next week, the opposing defense is aware of it and closes it down. So I would expect the Saints –

beware of that option read now and take it away from devito so now the next step of his progression you know in his career is can he make that a job okay i see they're taking that away i can't do that now i got to do other things off that um um look it's fascinating you know i mean it's fascinating that you know we're on the ground floor for this young he's not a phenom but he's a young guy who we had no expectation for and

you know, how far can he take it? Can he take it to be this, you know, can he play well down the stretch? Can he be a consideration for a backup next year?

Daniel Jones might not be ready to play opening week. Can he be a starting quarterback for week one next year? It's all on the table. Are they going to draft a guy? Are they going to pick up a guy? I'm getting ahead of myself, but DeVito's writing this as we go, and it's darn interesting right now. If they try and take away DeVito on that read option, that's a blessing for Saquon Barkley, because now that in is not

crashing down on Saquon. So, hey, look, complimentary football times. The kid keeps progressing and you see other guys getting better or being able to showcase their talent. Wanda Robinson, Isaiah Hodgins. This could be something for Saquon to get back. You know, like every team comes in. Oh, we're game planning for Saquon. We're game planning for two six. But now if you can now, if you got that in not crashing down,

on Saquon on that ride and decide or that read option, that's going to open it up for 2-6. And 2-6 versus Alvin Kamara, we're in for a show because Giants defense has been playing lights out. But what's their one Achilles heel? That's that running back catching passes out of either the backfield or over around that linebacker area. They really struggle when it comes to that. So 2-6 will really benefit if the defense keys in on DeVito.

Yeah, they've constantly evolved the game plan. You can see it ever since he started in Dallas. Obviously, tough, tough matchup for a young guy. But Washington, New England, and then obviously they implement his legs Monday night against the Packers.

They're building the portfolio, if you will, of this young man's game. I mean, that's something I didn't even think he had. So obviously it caught the Packers off guard, gives more for the defense to play him for this week in New Orleans. But like Brandon said, I think it does. It opens up a lot of things for Saquon because these edge guys were just crashing down, crashing down, crashing down. And I believe Dable mentioned it maybe in the press conference after the game that they made an adjustment, right? They made an adjustment. We didn't see that much in the first half.

if at all. And then all of a sudden, Hey guys, let's, let's start running a little RPO game. Sure enough. Great adjustment by Kafka and Dable and Bobby Johnson. So they keep adding to this kid's plate. There's a lot of things to plant for with this kid. He can move with his legs. He can throw it pretty good. He's on time and he's got some athletic ability to get outside the pocket. So, uh, he's evolving before our eyes. We're not going to anoint him anything yet, but man, is it fun to watch? And, uh,

Yeah, he's making a big, big argument for himself to keep playing well into this next season if he continues on. And with Saquon, I mean, you know, he's 86 yards last game, you know, but

One of them came on that last 34-yard run with that fumble that almost cost the game. He needs to get going earlier for them to have success. Got to get earlier. It's got to happen earlier. 19 for 52 without that run. I know you can always take out one run. I get it. 2.7 yards. That's not good.

not been able to get him going early. There's no question about it. And, you know, it's whether it's a scheme, whether it's the block, it's no question they can't, you know, four yards, five yards, six yards, 11, you know, the negative yards were back last week. Right. Which they've avoided. So, yeah, look, I mean, it's not perfect. It's clearly not perfect. The offensive line is better, but it's not perfect. So, yeah.

We'll see if DeVito's ability to get past the ball with Wandale emerging now. Hodgins has played better lately. Paris Campbell was a healthy scratch last week. Sterling Shepard is not part of the rotation really anymore. So it's kind of a new, you know, a little bit to Bellinger. Hopefully Waller comes back.

Um, yeah, you know, we say every week, you know, they got to get Saquon. This is a big, you know, you guys felt it was going to be a big week for Saquon. It really wasn't other than a couple of runs. So, um, it's, it's, that's, that's pretty good. He did, but it wasn't, he did short touchdowns. Yeah. Look, it was fine, but it wasn't big. He didn't, you know, take over the game. And, and before the 34 yard, 34 yard run, it was a grind for him. It was a grind. Um,

you know, that's maybe the way it's going to be all season for him. If we're talking about starting fast and getting Saquon going, I like that two-back package with Matt Breida back there. I like what you can do with that. Then you see Wandel with the Cosmo motions or the jet sweep type motions where he's running around the backfield and then he'll go out to the bubble. I think they can get creative with that early and try and fool this guy

Saints defense that's given up 321 yards per game. They're currently 13th in the league, which is kind of good. But I mean, there's holes within the Saints defense. And before we go over and start talking about the Giants defense,

Who would be you guys receiver of the day? Because at the post game show, I say he, DeVito picks one receiver and he kind of, he highlights that receiver. He feels comfortable with that receiver. He feeds that receiver. We saw it be Jalen Hyatt. We see it be Wondell Robinson. Isaiah Hodgins will only get like one or two catches, but there'll be a touchdown in there. Who's going to be your receiver of the day for DeVito, Paul?

You know, it hasn't been Darius Slayton, but I'm waiting. You know, you kind of forget about him. He is not...

He's kind of gone down a notch since DeVito's been in there. You know, right. They try to take deep shots to hire it. You know, this week, you know, this past week. No. But before that, they tried to. That kind of was telegraphed a little bit. You know, that's still always an option, obviously. You know, Hodgins is a reliable guy, not a big breakout guy, but, you know, great touchdown catch, obviously. But I'm still waiting for slate. You know, I mean, to see, you know, that connection with DeVito. I'm still waiting to see it. I think he's their best receiver.

You know, I still think he's their best receiver. And, you know, let's see if he can get on track here. You know, I mean, look, Wandale's ascension is great. You know, it's great. He can do a lot of things. As you said, jet sweeps, you know, the route. I mean, you know, the route he ran on that 32 yard catch was just, you know, that's like he's back. His knee is fine after that route. But I'm still waiting for Slayton. I think it could be Slayton.

I'm going to stick with Wando. I think he's got the hot hand and the confidence. As you guys know, this league is 99% confidence, and Wando has a lot of it.

And Tommy DeVito has a lot of it going to that young man. So I want to see that relationship continue to grow. I think he is finally fully healthy. It's been about a year since the ACL surgery. There's a mismatch there in the slot against the Saints. And like you said, you mentioned him in that orbit motion. He's all over the place. He's going to be a mismatch. You've got to be able to find some shot plays. I know they took one down the field on the flea flicker.

Tommy probably got a little lucky with that throw, right? If you think about when he threw it into coverage, and Wondell makes an incredible play. But I would certainly look for Slayton. I love Slayton. I think he's a great receiver. For whatever reason, he just has not been able to get going with any of these quarterbacks. But Wondell for me. Give me Wondell to keep growing as a player. And he's explosive, man. He's a great route runner. He's going to get some carries on the jet sweep. Yeah.

I like Wandel this week in the dome. I like the way Slayton's handled it, handling all this as well. I mean, if you're a receiver, you've made plays here in this offense with Daniel Jones, with Tyrod Taylor, and you're not getting the ball. Times, what do we usually see? Someone goes to the press, makes it about me. They become some sort of me guy, right? Darius Slayton has handled it like a true professional. I think this week Isaiah Hodgins is going to get six catches.

They haven't been able to get much from the tight end position. Take that tight end out. Go four receivers now. Make Isaiah Hodgins into more of that big bodied receiver. Let him go across the middle and get him going into this offense a little bit more with some touches. He's got sticky hands. He's going to catch it. And you see how DeVito trusts this guy and he just puts it out

there for this guy. So I say dial it up for Isaiah Hodgins. Get this guy the ball early and often and get some of that coverage off of Wandell and that'll free up the outsides with four Darius Slayton and four Jalen Hyde. But it's going to be interesting, man. It's going to be interesting to see how much this offense continues to progress with DeVito as the QB one behind there. But I think Matt Kafka, Mike Kafka and Brian Dable are going to come in and they're going to have some have some stuff, some junk to throw at the Saints.

That's Riverside talking about the defense. We talked about you were comparing DeVito to David Carr. David Carr is a guy when you get pressure on him and you get to him. Derek Carr. Derek Carr. I do it all the time. Derek Carr. Our teammate, our former teammate, David Carr. Shout out to David doing great things on NFL Network. Derek Carr. You get to him. He folds up.

Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon, pass rut, O'Zees. They're starting to get there again. Dexter Lawrence with that pressure. It is going to be a huge game for these Giants pass rushers, Paul. And who's your player spotlight on?

One thing about David Carr, a guy that we, you know, teammates with, I covered. Did you see the other day he said that the Eagles would have been better off with Marcus Mariota starting at quarterback than Jalen Hurts? You know, he kind of threw that out there. Well, there's some context there. Some context there. Hold on. Yeah, because everyone believes that Hurts is hurt. That's what he was saying, but everyone ran with the –

Obviously, the headline. That's yeah. He said if he's not hurt.

Yeah. Yeah. What a great career he had with the Giants. Right. He just he's a good guy. We all talk to him. He never played and he won a Super Bowl. Right. I mean, it's just it's well, you know, great. Right. Great. And now now he's now he's advocating for Marcus Mariota. But I digress. I digress. He was a good guy in the locker room defensively. I think look.

Olave is a hard guy to deal with, right? You know, he's, you know, that Ohio State factory, that Ohio State factory, he's good. He's really good. He's got four touchdowns. And I guess that guy, Rashid Shaheed, right? Yep. Yep, he's very good. He's after 16 yards a catch. So...

You know, Deontay Banks, you know, it's an interesting thing. I think and I think I you guys agree that Deontay Banks has had a pretty good rookie year and he just does not pro football focus. The analytics does not bear that out. They don't like him at all the way he's playing. You know, he had a great pass breakup. He gives up some plays. I get that.

Um, um, I think we see him every weekend. We like the fact that he goes week to week to week and just kind of, first of all, he's on the field, you know, tremendous stamina and endurance and he just plays and plays and, you know, keeps his mouth shut and plays and gets beat and plays and makes a good play and plays. And we just kind of keeps, keeps rolling, which is terrific for a rookie. But, um,

You know, I think this will – and look, I mean, Kamara is – he hasn't had a great year as a rusher at all, but he's had a – you know, he's a great pass catcher. And Taysom Hill. You know, Taysom Hill is always the guy who –

Oh, shoot. All of a sudden he breaks free for a play. You know, he's a gadget guy, but, you know, there's a place in the league for gadget guys. So this will – you know, this is not the high-powered Saints that we've known in the past with, you know, with Breeze and Peyton and, you know, and Thomas and those guys, Kamara when he was in his prime. But, you know, it's the dome. It's loud. They can score.

And as you said, Brandon, the middle of the field sometimes is a little too open for the Giants, right? A little too open crossing screens, things like that. A lot of chunk plays against this defense. Yeah. I think we might see Isaiah Simmons more this week. I think he has the speed and the athletic ability to run with Kamara. They're going to feature him. Alave is who he is. The Shahid guy also, guys, very, very good punt returner. I think top five in the NFL has a touchdown return.

on pump return, averaging almost 14 yards of pump return. So that's another area you'll have to watch out for his speed. But I really like Simmons. You know, we haven't seen a lot of him, but I think this is kind of a game where you may see more Isaiah Simmons and Bobby. Bobby's done well in coverage. McFadden has done okay, but Isaiah's

Isaiah is the athlete back there, right? We all know he runs four, three. He can cover. Taysom Hill presents a lot of problems with that. You know, he's a headache. That's what defenders will tell you. The guy is just a headache waiting to happen because he runs through people, not around them. But, um,

i'd like to see you know camara's still listen not his best season but he is still a problem he runs those angle routes out of the backfield he runs into the flats he can really keep going he's hard to tackle he's seen some of his training videos in the off season he carries like these massive things on his shoulders down like city streets he's got great balance great vision but you got to get these guys before they get started and so

Hopefully we see some Isaiah Simmons this week. You've got to add some more athleticism to that defense to take away that passing game in the middle. Yeah, and it's going to be huge on the back end. Complimentary football pass rush has to get there. Linebackers have to cover that middle area. And you were talking about Taye Banks. He really doesn't get any love. He doesn't get any love from pro football focus or the media, though, Paul. Taye Banks is really having a solid year, and you would think,

with his antics and how he is on the field. He's still a showman. You would think that there'd be a story there behind him, but I don't, he's not getting, I feel like he's not getting that much love. And when you say, when he gets catches on him, Garrett Wilson, Terry McLaurin, those guys, they get paid big money to make catches and stuff like that. But the young boy has really held his own. You got Dory Jackson on the other side. He balled out last week. I really feel comfortable or really feel good about this giant secondary against

this passing offense of the Saints.

I wonder how much Wink blitzes, though, because rushing four just hasn't, I don't feel as though it's done it enough. They haven't gotten enough pressure on the Jordan loves, on those type of quarterbacks. But I wonder how much Wink is going to blitz. He was a heavy blitz earlier in the year. He's kind of scaled back a little bit, but it's going to be interesting. It's just that's an interesting matchup for me, this Giants defense against the Saints offense. You know, Derek has pressured Wink.

a decent amount, but he's not a highly sacked quarterback. He's very smart. He gets the ball out. He doesn't scramble. I think if you look, he has the least amount of scrambles

For any starting quarterback, six, seven, or eight scrambles, it's not a lot. So what have we played, 13 games here, 14 games? He does not want to run it. So, you know, I don't know what they'll do, but, you know, I think they're going to blitz some. But he's pretty savvy, been around this league a long time, not a highly sacked quarterback. And that could be, you know, partly because they have a pretty solid offensive line. But he just does not take many. Now, he will throw in some bad passes.

So you've got to be able to get your hands on some of these balls. But listen, we know him. He's not afraid to take shots either. He's going to look for Olave and Shahid down the field and Kamara out of the backfield running up that seam. So he's not afraid to put the ball in harm's way. You know, he's 13-7, 13 touchdowns, seven picks this year, not great numbers. But, yeah, he's tough to get to. He's very polarized, isn't he?

He's like a polarizing guy. Yeah, you know, he's an interesting guy. Like, he's so much different than David. Yeah, right. I mean, when he was a free agent, right, and, you know, not with the Giants wasn't talking, but with the Jets, right, should they bring in, you know, okay, maybe Aaron's too much, too crazy. Should they bring in Derek Carr? You know, it's always like they say, a Derek Carr, like kind of a pretty good guy.

You know, I don't think he's had a popular year in New Orleans. You know what I mean? You know, they're spoiled, obviously. But, you know, I don't think if we would have 100 Saints fans on, they would say, we're pumped up about, you know, Derek Carr. I don't think they would say that. You know, it's kind of like he gets memed. People make fun of him. I mean, he's not bad. He's not great. And

Yeah, it's kind of like people have opinions on him. They either like him or they don't like him. It's not like – it's an interesting thing with him. It's tough when you're following up like a Drew Brees or – what is this? The first year, second year since Drew Brees retired? Yeah. It's tough. That's a tough –

Tough kind of team to jump into. You know, then he's calling out players. You've seen some of these things happen. It has not been a good... Very sensitive, right? Sensitive. Seems a little sensitive, but it's... Listen, it's the NFL, but you can't call out your players. And it has not been a great start, let's say that. But he's capable...

you know, a three, 400 yard game. He is, he's got the weapons. What do you guys think of the sleeveless look? He does a lot of interviews sleeveless, right? He's got that sleeveless look, you know, pulling out his inner Pat McAfee. I don't know. I'm not sure. I've never seen Eli Manning sleeveless in my life. Okay. Well, listen, you may see me sleeveless next, next week. I may just go sleeveless for the hell of it.

There we go. We'll all go sleeveless. Let's do it. Hey, Paul, I got to see the guns, Paul. I got to see your guns, man. Let's do it. Paul, are you a right-handed writer or left-handed? Well, I'm right-handed primarily, but I go both ways in my keyboard. Oh, you're typing. You don't do any freehand writing with a pen or pencil? Notes or anything? Of course I do. He's shorthands. He's shorthands. All right-handed. All right-handed. Yeah, yeah. All right-handed.

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That's BlueNile.com. All right, we just broke this thing down. Let's talk to Carl Banks, Giants former linebacker and legend. We're going to talk about the Giants heading down to New Orleans and his new legacy collection he has coming out with Starter. Carl Banks is in the building. Carl, you guys, the bad fellas, the Starter jackets, man, you're really killing it when it comes to it. You saw everybody, including me, wearing it at the Monday night football game.

How did this collab come about and like how cool does it feel to see you with some of your guys and just all of Giants Stadium wearing your collection?

Well, number one, I was extremely flattered that everyone really responded to the program. But when we look at Starter as a brand, it's a legacy brand. It's been part of sports and how fans wore their fandom for over 50 years. So I just thought, you know, with such an iconic brand,

group of jackets that Starter has been worn by coaches and players on the sidelines that we wanted to keep, you know, doing different drops. And this black New York City Lights collection was a rare one. So it hadn't been in the market in a long time. And because it was a legacy game,

I sat with the Giants and I had this concept like New York City Lights, we're going to do something that kind of honors the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, but we also want to talk about that legacy period. So during that period, there was the Badfellas. There was a poster Badfellas that came out with me, Lawrence, and Pepper Johnson. So I wanted to recreate that shoot.

And so we traded our suits for these jackets and we traded the limo for two Cadillac Escalades to bring it into today's times. And it's just everything, the storytelling behind it has been great because when we got a chance, I got a chance to sit down with the great Rakim and Ed Lover to kind of give some perspective on how entertainment

fashion and sports were so intertwined. And it just so happens that both of those guys were huge Giants fans, right? And so between Rakim and between Ed Lover, Ed Lover with his MTV, your MTV Raps back platform opened the world up to how we saw

hip-hop, how we saw fashion, and even how we saw how our favorite artists wore their sports apparel. So it was really good, and look, the collection sold out

in like an hour online. And then at the stadium on Monday night, I think in like 15 minutes, everything was sold out. So I have a few fans that are upset with me right now, and I'm trying to figure out what we have left that we can restock online. But, you know, it's been a great, a really great launch. And, you know, the Giants and Neal A. Shaw,

over the Giants is kind of the brains behind this whole concept because we sat and we just put the pieces together and he told me what he could execute and I said I'll come through with the rest of it so it's been a great partnership with the Giants and you know we're looking forward to doing some really really exciting stuff in 2024 as well.

Hey, Carl, it's never bad when you're selling out of stuff, right? And people are upset with you for not, look, you want to serve everybody. That's not the worst thing for a businessman, right? You know, I remember where I'm slightly older than you, just slightly, okay? So in 1983, you were in college, right? I was covering the Albany A's, okay? The Oakland A's affiliate played in Albany, New York, and they gave the media as a gift.

that satin green a starter jacket, right? I never had a starter jacket. Right? You know, that green that that it was like, Whoa, that green and the gold and I'm like,

I'm covering the team. I can't wear this. So I gave it to my 90-year-old grandfather, and he's wearing that starter jacket, right? And he's a small guy from Russia, and we took pictures of it, and that was my first thing with starter. And it's amazing that all these years later, like you said, it was way before you. You were just...

college kid when that was happening. And, you know, starter is, you know, I mean, the players are into it, aren't they? I mean, the players are into this. They are. I think it's, you know, it still resonates and the players love it.

I had to scramble to find one for Mr. DeVito, I guess, after the game. He saw it and he was like, I need to get one of those. I had to scramble to make sure that happened. But that's the beautiful part of legacy brands because with Starter, there's always a Starter story. You can go to any part

of this country and just say the word starter and there's a starter story around it. So we're just happy that the brand is still doing really well and we're able to provide some really great product. And the beautiful part about it too Brandon, we have a library that's 50 years old.

Like it's so many styles that, you know, we can just keep going. So I'm super excited about that. Like I'm just super excited about what we have coming up. And speaking of bad fellas, man, we've seen this Giants defense kind of take on a bad fellas mentality as of late, getting the turnovers, getting Tommy DeVito and this Giants offense more possessions.

What is it that you think Wink Martindale has done? What life has he breathed into this Giants defense heading into a must-win against New Orleans? Yeah, so there's two things. Wink is a wizard. That's why I call him Wink the Wizard.

But also he has talent. They finally upgraded the talent on this roster to where you have something to work with. You have a number one cornerback. You have two good safeties. You have two really good linebackers and you have an edge guy.

who's an all-around complete player in Kayvon Thibodeau. So it's not like you have one-dimensional players out there anymore. You have guys that you can count on. And then, of course, you have Dexter Lawrence, right, who anchors in the middle of your defense. So when you have some core pieces that you can really scheme around,

It helps. It helps with a coordinator who can now say, I want to blitz at this time because I can do certain things. And then Isaiah Simmons gives them great versatility. So they have better players. That's that's number one. They've always had good coaching and Wink Martindale, but he has better players now when they're healthy. And that's another part of it. They're getting healthy as a team. So you're starting to see the the the fruits of that.

Carl, we know you got a hard out. So can you tell the people where to find the jackets and the collection when they are restocked? I have an announcement tomorrow on the restock. I don't even want to give the website right now because I don't want people crashing it. But there will be there will be a limited restock. I'm announcing it tomorrow and they will be available on Monday.

All right. So this is – Hopefully that's a victory Monday. Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you for – go ahead, Paul. Go ahead. Close this out. Very smart businessman making sure the quarterback gets one, you know. Tommy DeVito wants a starter jacket. He gets a starter jacket.

You know, are you into the crazy, you know, are you into the DeVito craze? I mean, you know, you're not a hype guy, you know, the football, the craze, the cutlets, you know, what, what do you make of all this? I love it. I love it because you know what, he's handling it very well. Um,

And he's keeping the main thing the main thing. You know, he goes in that building, he prepares for football, but it's okay to be celebrated. You know what I mean? That's fine. I love it. I love it. I love the fact that his family is front and center. That's what fandom is all about. I'm like all for it. And just for him, just keep getting better. Keep getting better because he's, you know, he's securing an NFL future for himself.

Thanks for hopping on with us, Carl. We can't wait for that release, for you to make that announcement about the release. And have a great weekend, great holidays, my man. Thank you, sir.

All right, let's get into these player prop bets. You guys know how it goes. I throw it out. You tell me over under on the number. We're going to get this thing going and you watching. You can play along at home. We're going to start with the Saints. Alvin Kamara, 65 and a half yards rushing over under. Paul, I will start with you, sir.

I will say under. He has not had a 100-yard game this season, I don't think. I know it's not 100, it's 65 and a half. He's only reached that, I think, three times in 10 games. Giants' run defense has been better. Dexter Lawrence will play more. So I'll say under. Now, if we had a prop bet for his receiving, I think I would probably take the over unless it was astronomical, because that's more what he is. But I will say under 65 and a half.

Yeah, I'm going to go just a little over. I think he's going to get frustrated in the past. They'll run the ball. They're going to try to run the ball with him. The Giants do get a little leaky in the run defense, so I think he gets just over that. Not much more, but over 65. I'm going to go over as well. Yeah, they're going to have to run the ball, I feel like. They're going to have to try and control this pace. They're going to have to try and...

Keep that Saints offense on the field, and if you're getting three, four yards of pop, especially on first down, I can see them kind of sticking with that formula. And then in the second half, having some sort of counter off of feeding him, whether it's up the middle or some sort of stretch play. Chris Alave, 65.5 receiving yards. The same thing as Kamara. Tyrons, we'll start with you. 65.5 over under.

I'm going to go under. I know this kid's had an explosive season with almost 900 yards and four touchdowns, but I'm going to go under here. Obviously, I don't know if Tay Banks will follow him. I like the way this secondary is playing. I really do. So whoever's on him, Adorey's back. Looks like he's playing spirited, healthy football. It's good to see him healthy. So, yeah, I think this secondary is steadily improved each week. I'm going to say under. Paul? Yeah.

All right, Brandon, the receiver in you, right? What are all you guys always say? Just get me the ball, right? Get me the ball. Get me the ball. 116 targets for Olave this season. Okay. What would nine per game? Brandon, what would you have done with nine targets a game? Right? Oh man. Right. Give me nine targets a game. I can do some damage. So they throw the ball to this guy. He's gone over a hundred yards four times this year. He's had 94 and 96. So that's basically six games.

more than half where he's right around 100. I think 65 and a half is easy money for him. And for us, I'm taking the over. Nine targets a game, Brandon. Right? What would you have done with that? Times, I would have been nine for 99. Pure possession receiver. It would have been nine first downs, though. And a little shimmy with the first down sign.

Yeah, I'm going to go over as well. A little shimmy. I'm going to go over, man. This kid, I like this kid. I really think he's one of the future. He's the future when it comes to the young wide receivers we have in this NFL. And his hands, that catch radius is just absolutely unbelievable. Just another Ohio State receiver. He, Garrett Wilson, all those guys. The catch radius is just out of control. You know what I want to do one time, Brandon, in the NFL? I want to go back, get a first down, and just go.

That would be your first down? I don't know why. That's the coolest thing going on Sundays. It's not the smell thing, whatever that is. It is just that. Because you don't even have to say anything. I should have done that after I made field goals. Are you allowed to do that in the fourth quarter of a game you're losing? Can you do that? How much are you losing by?

Yeah, it depends. That's a good question. Yeah, a great question. How much are we losing by? Seven? I guess it's got to be like a one. Maybe double digits it gets cut off. Yeah, yeah. Derek Carr, 222 and a half passing yards. Paul. Hmm.

I'm going to say over. Okay. I just look, you know what? I think it's, it's, it's, it's my experience in that place. Right. You know, it has nothing that has nothing to do with this game, but you guys know what it feels like in there and what it sounds like in there. And, and I understand it's not Drew Brees. I get it, you know, but,

Just going in there makes me think of big plays and big completions. So, you know, Carr is capable. He has not, you know, he's had five games this year over 300 yards. I think he can get over. I don't think he's going to get 300, but he can go over 222. So, yeah, I'll go over. Tides.

Man, I'm going to say under again. I think the defense shows out. I think they shut that crowd up. The defense is going to play, you know, Dexter back off the hamstring. I think this defense is going to show out, guys. I really do. So I'm going to say under. I don't think he's going to, you know, we held Jordan Love under 220. Was he 205? We felt the Patriots is not saying much. And obviously the commanders, Sam House slings it 60 times a game, 230. So I think they hold him under.

I'm going to go over. I think they're playing from behind in the fourth quarter. I think the Giants take some sort of two-possession lead in the third of going into the fourth, and Carr is going to have to make some sort of comeback. It's just the way I feel like the Giants' offense really can take a step and really continue to put points on the board, be a shootout in some way. But I think the Giants will be up in the second half, and that's going to force Carr to really throw that rock. That's Riverside. Let's talk about the Giants' defense.

They're going to have to run the ball this game. Giants total rushing yards. Total. Everybody. 125 and a half times. Yeah. Going to have to happen. You got to go in there and run the football if you want to win. You got to control the clock. I think Brita showed some things last week that they put on tape that they think he can excel at. Saquon. And then factor in Tommy DeVito. He's going to have a couple. You don't want to put him out there too much. You get him hurt. But he's going to have a couple little chunk plays with the RPO game. So,

They've been running the ball well over 200 yards last week. I'm going to go well over that number, so give me the over. Paul? It's a tough one, and I'm going to say under because last week –

So DeVito accounted for 71 of the rushing yards. OK, and I think that number is going to come way down this week. I really do. You know, no, no offense to DeVito. I just think that's not going to be we're not going to see. We saw it last week. Doesn't mean we're going to see it this week. It's not a staple of the Giants offense. So, you know, Saquon has has started so slowly that I think it's going to be under. You know, I you know, it was over 200 last week, but DeVito was, you know, 70 of it. So.

I don't see that, so I say younger. Yeah, I'm going to go under as well. I think they're going to throw these. Throw it. Go down there and throw it. You've got confidence in the kid back there spinning it. Throw it. You've got receivers ready to make plays. Darren Waller might come back, throw it, and then run the ball. Giants wide receiver, 85 and a half yards receiving. Tynes? A single receiver over 85? A single receiver.

No, under. We're going to spread the ball out, especially if Waller comes back. There'll be a bunch of contributions from guys, but I don't think anyone's going to have over 85 yards. Paul? Yeah, I agree. I agree. It's not the Giants' way. I know Wandale has had it, Hyatt had it before that, but a 100-yard game is a high threshold for the Giants this year, right? The way they're passing games. 85. It was 85 was the number.

Yeah, yeah. I'm just saying, you know, 100 is like what we talk about with receivers. And it's like, you know, that's

Yeah, yeah, that doesn't happen a lot. I don't think it'll happen in this game, but I agree. I mean, you know, you don't know who it's going to be, right? Wandale is a big part of it. Hodgins, Slayton is always a part of it. If Waller comes back, Bellinger gets a couple here and there. So Saquon certainly out of the backfield. So, yeah, I mean, unless there's one really big play, I don't think any one receiver gets to 85, you know, 85 or 86. I'm going over. This is the game.

This is that game. Like you said, he has confidence. He's spinning it. He has his receiver of choice each game. I think it's going to be either Isaiah Hodgins or Jalen Hyatt that goes over 100 yards this game. Last but not least, total points over under. They got it at 37 and a half. Paul, I'll start with you. I'll go. And then, Ty, you'll finish this up.

This is tricky stuff with the Giants. You know, this barrage has gotten them up over 14 points a game. They're at 14.1, but I'm going to say over. And it's another thing. When I go in that building, it's over. It's over. It's over. You know, I don't expect a defensive –

when I go into the dome there. So, you know, the Giants don't score, but they're scoring better with DeVito. The Saints are averaging 21.7 points a game. Nothing special, but they are playing at home. So I'm going to go over, maybe not by a lot, but I'm going to go over. I'm going to go over as well. It's going to be a shootout. It's going to come down. Again, both teams are going to be thrown in that fourth quarter. I could see a shootout, so I'll go over on that one. Tons?

Yeah, I like the – just a little bit over again. This is like the second week in a row it's been at 37. If you remember last week, I picked them to win 24-20. They win 24-22. So I'm starting to get a feel for this team. With Tommy DeVito, keep in mind, this Giants team's averaging. You know, we can talk about the offense, what they average offensively, but you got to –

talk about when Tommy DeVito is in the lineup to almost 21 points guys. I know there's a defensive touchdown in there somewhere Isaiah Simmons in Washington, but as a as a as a team, they're averaging about 21 points with Tommy DeVito under center, which is a lot better than 1413. So I'm going to go over. All right, let's close this thing out with our pep talk with our final thoughts and then times you kick us home Paul kick it start us off. How you feeling?

Well, I'm feeling like I want to see more from Tommy DeVito. And look, we don't know what he is. We don't know what he is. You know, you know, you go into a situation. I kind of have a sense what this guy is. We don't know yet. You know, he hasn't thrown an interception in 87 straight passes. Right. What happens when he throws one?

He's going to throw one eventually. How does he come back from that? If it's a pick six, if it's in the red zone, how does he come back from that? You know, we forget, even though he's 25 years old, this is what he said this week, guys. He was talking about the Saints. You know, there was 100 questions about cutlets and about the aura and North Jersey and Italian. There was one question about the Saints.

You know, usually with, you know, you ask him a million questions about the L.T., one question about the Saints, and he said they're a good team. He said, obviously, there's a lot of guys in our defense that I've looked up to in the past. The honey badger, you know, obviously Tyron. He's on that defense. It'll be the first time playing him. That's a cool deal. When I went through the scouting report and I saw his name there, that's something I've always watched when I was younger. You know, so we forget, you know, he's like.

This is a dream for him. He's still a rookie. I'm interested to see what he does. I think he will have some struggles in this game. I could see the Giants, close game, maybe winning by a couple of points. I think I'm probably going to pick him to a lose by a couple of points. More of DeVito. How does he respond to highs, lows, all this stuff in a very tough environment? I'd tell this team, in the words of Drake...

The reward for hard work is more hard work. It's a 1 p.m. game, but it's still a primetime game for you guys because everybody's watching. Everybody's watching, one, to root for you. You got some diehard Giants fans that's been waiting for this energy, this breath of air. And on the same side, Tommy DeVito and gang, you got a lot of people rooting for you to fail.

So at the end of the day, go out there, ball out, play together. And we want to see one of those walk in your trap, take over your trap type videos in the postgame locker room after that speech, because that's going to show that you guys are one, that you're playing for each other, and you have officially canceled all the outside noise. The reward for hard work is more hard work. Go get it, fellas. Tines, kick us home.

Yeah, you know, I don't think I've ever been as confident about this team this season like I am this week. I am so confident in this football team. They've constantly evolved since Tommy DeVito has taken over. And like everyone has said on this show, it's time to start talking about him as a good quarterback. He's a good young quarterback.

He's going to have some mistakes. I don't think they're going to – I don't think they start this weekend. I really don't. I really – this Saints team is not playing well. I've watched them all week. They're reeling a little bit. There's a little bit of animosity with Derek Carr and some of his line mates. Maybe someone just chooses to OLE a block and let them get hit in the teeth. You never know how those things go sometimes. I'm not saying that would ever happen. But there was a little dissension last week. His center was yelling at him.

Uh, no props this week, guys, nothing extravagant. I've just never been more confident. I feel like this team getting a little bit healthier. If Waller comes back another weapon for this kid, uh, I'm excited to watch them play 24, 20 again, but I don't, I don't think it's close. I think that that 20 comes later. Like Brandon said, they're going to be playing from behind. Um,

the giants are playing good football hard to say that for a 5 and 18 but they're playing well guys they really are so give me the giants comfortably down in the bayou and then everybody's going to get some beads after the game let's start throwing them off the balcony uh i want to see dave's with some beads on uh but what a fun place to play those people down in new orleans love their team and it's a fun environment ball

Bald Head and Beads, the Brian Dable mixtape. That's all. Yeah. The mixtape. Just don't take your shirt off. I don't want to see any of these things. None of this. None of this. Hey, keep your clothes on. Keep your clothes on, Coach. All right. We're going to wrap this thing up. No hype. No need for the hype. Again, just go down there and play some football, baby. We're going to thank you guys for watching the Blue Rush Preview Show. Head on over to New York Post Sports and SNY YouTube channel.

Give us some love by commenting and hitting that subscribe button. You can stay updated with all things Blue Rush. New episodes drop on Thursday ahead of the game, and the post-game podcast drop Mondays. It's available on Apple, Spotify, and all the other podcast platforms out there. For Paul Schwartz, Lawrence Tynes, and our entire production crew, we're going to thank you guys for watching another episode of Blue Rush.