It’s a game day for the New York Giants! So, to help you pass the time before the 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff, here are some pre-game ‘things I think’.
Shakeup coming?
If the Giants are embarrassed by the Eagles Thursday night — and maybe if they just lose while having some of their typical issues — I think changes could come during the mini-bye before the Giants face the Denver Broncos in Week 7.
No, I don’t think head coach Brian Daboll is getting fired. Yet. If the Giants win three games again, I don’t know how that does not happen. I don’t, though, see it right now. Immediately after the loss to New Orleans, the emotional side of me thought Daboll could be out after the Philadelphia game. As I have calmed down a tad I realized I don’t think the organization would want to bring that kind of turmoil to Jaxson Dart’s rookie season. Daboll remains the primary caretaker of Dart’s development, and messing with that now might not be the best move.
I think, though, that if the Giants don’t put forth an outstanding defensive effort Thursday night — if the penalties continue, the run defense is gashed, the bad angles, missed assignments and too-easy completions continue — defensive coordinator Shane Bowen becomes an easy fall guy.
Bowen has always seemed like an awkward fit for the Giants. He runs a vastly different system than ex-defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and had defensively-minded Mike Vrabel as an overseer with the Tennessee Titans, is clearly not getting the expected production out of a defense that should be in the top half of the league. It should probably, in fact, be top 10.
The defense has only played to what most thought was its capability in one of five games — the victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
This rant from Nick Falato, though not for Big Blue View, exemplifies how many feel about the defense under Bowen:
I have questions:
- Why has Dexter Lawrence, the best nose tackle in football, played on the nose on just 105 of 234 snaps (44.4%)? Last season he was there 60% of the time. In 2023 under Martindale he was there 71% of the time?
- Why are Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin not getting better, perhaps even regressing?
- If he has autonomy to decide who plays, why is Deonte Banks getting on the field if Phillips, Paulson Adebo and Cor’Dale Flott are not hurt?
- Why don’t the Giants use more stunts to make life easier on their pass rushers? They clearly work when Bowen dials them up.
Roster moves
This is how I would fill out the Giants’ roster for Thursday night:
- Wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and linebacker Neville Hewitt would be added to the 53-man roster. Humphrey should have been added last week. Hewitt is out of practice squad elevations, and the Giants are down Chris Board (IR), Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (out injured, again), and Swayze Bozeman (injured) at linebacker. How GM Joe Schoen pays for those moves, I don’t know. That’s a problem he created, and he needs to fix it.
- I would elevate placekicker Jude McAtamney again. I think a second elevation is up for discussion. Defensive tackle Elijah Chatman? Safety Raheem Layne?
One roster note: I keep seeing calls for the Giants to sign wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins off the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice. Yes, that makes sense because he was previously productive for the Giants and he knows the team’s offense. Remember, though, plucking someone off a practice squad is not like a waiver claim. The player has a choice of whether to sign with a new team’s 53-man roster or stay where he is.
What if Hodgins doesn’t want a return to the Giants? I still don’t know why his role, and his playing time were minimized in 2023 after he was so good in 2022. Or, why he was completely buried by the Giants in 2024. Maybe doesn’t want to deal with the Giants again.
Jonathan Gannon
This, obviously, is not a directly Giants-related thought. I want to offer my $.02 on the Arizona Cardinals fining head coach Jonathan Gannon $100,000 for his sideline altercation with Emari Demercado. The incident happened after Demercado dropped the football before crossing the goal line in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Tennessee Titans on what would have been a 72-yard touchdown run.
This is the incident:
I have a hard time believing coaches are now being fined for coaching, which is what I see Gannon as doing here. He probably should not have put his hands on the player, but I don’t see what he did as a “punch,” which is how some are describing it.
If this was a youth sports game I would absolutely say this type of interaction from coach to player can’t happen. I have coached youth sports for more than two decades, and I have seen too many things from other coaches that made me cringe. People forget they are coaching children, and fun should be the first priority. Not feeding the coach’s ego.
This, though, is the NFL These guys are millionaires. Gannon’s job depends on players like Demarcado doing theirs. A coach can’t get in the face and be critical of a player who screwed up in an unforgivable way that ended up costing his team a game?
Seriously?
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