NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Cowboys-Giants TNF Recap

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Danny Heifetz of The Ringer to recap the Cowboys taking care of business on the road against the Giants. The show starts with discussions about the Cowboys and their dominance against the Giants (04:45), whether or not the Cowboys' offensive make up is one that will lead to success (08:05), and the injury bug playing a major role in Dallas' potential this season (16:30). After the break, Gregg and Danny talk about the Giants' struggles (21:33), whether or not Daniel Jones is the quarterback in New York next season (32:00) and the state of the NFC East (36:13). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Deuce Vaughan is now in there, new set of downs to work with. Prescott will throw it. Left side, it's caught by Lamb, breaking away. Lehab, goodbye.

Touchdown, Cowboys. Lamb is extraordinary. wants it. Deontay Banks gets beat on the play. Fifty-five yards of the catch-and-run for Lamb. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we hit all our field goals. Okay, Brandon Aubrey didn't actually do that tonight, but the Cowboys get it done. 20 to 15, the Cowboys survived. This was a get-it-done and survive type of night. Hopefully, my guest, today on NFL Daily. they can do the same. Danny, I'm sorry to have you on after a Giants loss. That was a tough one tonight. I mean, I'm not going to lie. I feel like football now is officially back because we've had a Thursday night football game where we had a split screenshot of Micah Parsons being carded off

while Malik neighbors was like carried to the blue medical tent. And I was like, yeah, that's how I feel inside the whole time watching this game. Yeah, it was not a pretty game. A lot of penalties in the first half come down in the second half. Al Michaels was groaning. It looked like it was all but over late in the game. Brandon Aubrey, as I mentioned, lines up for a 51 yard field goal misses it, gives Daniel Jones one chance to go 54 yards in 28 seconds. They get no yards. Throwing the ball down the field late was as ugly as it was throwing the ball down the field early. Otherwise Daniel Jones played pretty well. We'll get into all that. But yeah, you kind of led with the big stuff. which late in the game, we'll just mention it right off the top.

Malik Neighbors leaves with a concussion. Micah Parsons was carted off the field. It appeared, I believe, with a lower leg injury, they're calling it. And DeMarcus Lawrence had left in the third quarter with a foot injury. So all of those injuries loom large, especially considering what a big part of the offense neighbors was. he hit his head on the ground on what was, to me, really, the end of the game, which was a fourth down play where Daniel Jones left the pocket. I thought a little early, Danny, and scrambled and actually made a nice throw in the end, got it on neighbors' hands, and you hate to see the game

end that way. He tried to make a nice toe tap. It would have been a sensational play, but actually the ball did get to him, and he couldn't quite pull it in. You think of the game a couple weeks going in Washington, different situation, but neighbors who has been their best player by far, unfortunately in that spot couldn't bring it in. And yeah, now it sounds like he could miss some time. It's just an awful ending to a straight game.

But I mean, I look like neighbors, I could be totally wrong, but it looked like he actually got knocked out cold trying to do the toe tap that he had two feet on the ground at a weird angle, two hands on the ball. And it looked like he just hit his face on the ground.

And I don't know if he was knocked out or what, but I mean, It sucked seeing him go out. I mean, Neighbors is the entire team. I've been trying to figure out when the last time a single NFL offense relied so heavily on a rookie

that was not in track immediately. Like, even O'Dell Beckham for the Giants. I mean, I don't think O'Dell even played the first month of the season. You know what I mean? And, like, you know, Justin Jefferson didn't do anything until week three. I mean, all the great seasons you think of,

frankly, I think you might have to go back to like Adrian Peterson for the last time a team entered a season and was like, this kid is our offense. Because Blake neighbors, it's closer to like my career. in like a Madden or NCAA the new college football video game where like you're doing the creative player

and like every player is for you. Like that's what the Giants offense is. And then when they double neighbors, it's for Wando Robinson. It's the entire offense. It's crazy. Yeah. So on the night,

Neighbors ends up with 12 catches, 115 yards. On 15 targets, he had a route early in the game that embarrassed Andrew Booth, the Cowboys cornerback, maybe more than any route I've ever seen any wide receiver embarrass a cornerback

at that point they were like, you are not allowed to cover him the rest of the game and he didn't like Trayvon Diggs had to cover him the rest of the game. It looked like Michael Irvin going to the bucket in the longest yard over Adam Sandler. Danny, by the way, of course from the ringer fantasy football show

does great stuff over at the ringer. You should check him out. He's with Danny Kelly over there and has been awesome. And yes, is a Giants fan. And I was hoping for a Giants win just for content's sake. It would have been exciting to have you on after a win and to see what this Cowboys team would do at 1 and 3.

I will give them credit for doing enough. I don't feel any differently about the Cowboys after tonight than I did going into the night. But it was a crucial victory. And Dak Prescott is still such an advantage, you know, at quarterback, and it's tough to overcome that big of an advantage at quarterback. And what was the stat Al said at the end of the game? 13 straight over the Giants?

Or it's 14 out of 15 for, I mean, that is, that is absolutely outrageous. Dack finishes 22 of 27, 22, 21 yards, two touchdowns. It was a very 20-24 night by Dack, where it's just like everything's just out of his hands so quickly. Almost everything's within 10 yards. But they moved the ball and they scored it enough when they had to. the door open a little bit for the Giants at the end. But yeah, you've got to be sick of losing to Dak Prescott. It's non-competitive, frankly.

I mean, the Giants, again, so the Giants, DAC is 13 straight wins over the Giants. The Giants have not beaten Dak Prescott since 2016. And even time the Giants have beaten that. So the Giants, it's not just the Cowboys either. The Eagles, too. The Giants against the Cowboys and the Eagles since 2017 are 4 and 25, which is a worst winning percentage of the White Sox.

So the Giants are basically the white socks inside the games that matter, except they're actually worse. The white socks actually are like almost twice as good as the Giants are against the Eagles of Dallas. So it's like the extent to which the Giants have been futile. It's hard to even explain. It's like, oh, they're tied for the worst record over the last seven years. That barely touches it. Right, because it's not like it's the Bills during the Brady era who have a similar type of record. Or the Bears during the Packers' Rogers era.

post-cutler has a very similar record. Okay, it's like we don't have any quarterbacks. We're going against one of the all-time great teams. You're going up against the Cowboys, which has found a little consistency under Mike McCarthy, but they've been rolling through, you know, Jason Garrett and Mike McCarthy. They haven't been able to string together playoff seasons in a row until the last couple of years. This is not Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady that you can't get a win against. Tonight I thought might be your night, but it was not your night. the thing, Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy. These guys that everyone is making fun of

like, oh, look at these bozos. How are they beating anyone? Meanwhile, the Giants have not beat this team in seven years, basically. The only time, it had to be Andy Dalton that quarter, that's the other thing. I didn't mention this. Of the four and two, their four wins, 25 losses against Dallas and Eagles. Two of those four wins were against backup quarterbacks.

One against Marcus Mario for the Eagles, once against the Annie Dalton for Dallas. They've beaten Eagle starters and Cowboys starters twice in eight years. So it's worse. I absolutely love that. We got comments in the chat here. Anvil writes, Hyphitz-Rotter against the Giants than Cowboys fans, which is fun. And yeah,

someone mentions Waddle's rookie year, had a crazy target share. Heifitz, I believe it was 34 catches in the first four weeks for neighbors, unless he tacked one on after that, which was second most in NFL history.

And he's special, and he's going to make this giant season worth it, no matter what. We'll get to more Giants in a bit, but I do want to talk Cowboys in this game. They're going to be the more relevant team long term, although I don't know how much is really separating these two teams. The Cowboys decided tonight,

I thought it was interesting to basically go with a two-man backfield. It was just Rico Dattle and Hunter Lipke. Hunter Lipke is their third down running back, which is funny. He's their fullback. He's actually, he's kind of sneaky good, but as a Giants fan, who saw C.D. Lamb going for that, you know, touchdown.

Tyler Nubin, your rookie safety, takes a terrible angle on that. Deonté Banks, who's, like, always in position for plays, but never makes plays. So I don't think he's a bad cornerback, but he's not, he's not, you know, a standout cornerback yet. And that's okay, for a second year cornerback, if you're just like, okay, that guy's a starter. That's not a bad outcome. I don't even think for like a late first round pick, but he never makes plays. He's always there and he never makes.

I'm going to steal that. He's always the bridesmaid. He's standing right there. Yes. And Nubin is the one that really should take the heat for that play. But C.D. Lamb came out in this game had a monster first half, ends up seven for 98, had a great rushing attempt in the first half. Then they went back to that, and it didn't work in the second. But after that, and Ferguson's a good tight end. After that, it's crazy to me. My theory, and I know Cavan maybe didn't get on the field on offense. He was on the field, but I don't think he got a target. My assessment of this offense right now is that Hunter Lipke and Cavante Turpin are weapons three and four, which is not what you want. I think Lipki is actually a pretty funky player. He's pretty fun. He's pretty athletic for a

fullback. He could do lots of things. Like, he honestly could, who knows, I don't want to get over my skis, but he could have a pretty fun career. But if he and Cavante Turpin, who's dynamite anytime he gets the ball, but must not know how to run routes or else, like, he would be in the lineup more. Like, I don't know. Like, he's unreal. Cook looks cooked to me. Like, I don't know about Brandon Cooks at this point. He gets four targets, one catch. Jalen Tober's never done anything. And just, it's a little thin. Everything's hard for the Cowboys. Even against this Giants defense, everything is hard for them in terms of moving the ball down the field. I totally agree. I don't think that this game, if you're a Cowboys fan changes anything about how you feel about the team. I still,

I don't care that they had the Giants only had one yard to carry. I still think Mazzie Smith has a habit of kind of like making the guys blocking him look like their shack-botting people out of the paint. I don't think, you know, I think when you face a tougher rushing team, like, I don't think those questions are answered. And then I think, like, C.D. Lamb's incredible. Yeah, he sent Tyler Newman into like the astral realm. Like Tyler Nubin, like, I just flashed back to when the Giants were like, damn, all the

guys we wanted were taken. I guess we'll take Tyler Nubin. But yeah, I mean, to your point about Hunter, I agree. I think Lipke actually looks solid. but overall, I think Dallas, they're almost, they remind me in a way of the Jets where it's like, there's like, the Cowboys are just four ACLs from this whole thing collapsing at any point.

And so what happens to this team, if, you know, unfortunately anything with Michael Parsons is a serious injury. Dak looks incredible. I thought honestly that scramble he had to Lipke for that third and three, third and four was one of the best throws of the whole game. But overall,

I just keep looking at Mike McCarthy with the Nick Siriani thing. I'm like, what are you doing here? Why is nobody open? Why, like I don't understand much about this. Dallas has developed talent. I look at Tyler Guyton struggling, and I'm like, you know what?

Tyrant Smith didn't have a great necessarily September. Like, you know, I'm not worried about a bunch of stuff for Dallas, but I don't think I looked at this game and think there anything.

There's still the big bad wall for the regular season, but I don't know. Right. And we'll see in the NFC East. Like, I don't, I think they're a tick lower

than they were the last couple of seasons. I'm much more concerned. This Mike Zimmer defense, like wasn't getting a lot of pressure on Dan, Daniel Jones, I checked out the pressure numbers via next-gen stats. And I was surprised to see that Daniel Jones had a pretty good numbers against pressure tonight. It ended up six for 11 for 69 yards, which is not great.

I think that was the last three plays, basically. Before that, he was like six for eight. But I barely saw any of those pressures, and they weren't touching him. Like, Daniel Jones has, I can't remember a Giants game where Daniel Jones got out as Scott free as this. maybe the commanders game, you know, too. There was a little bit of that. But like he barely got hit, barely got knocked down.

They did a good job against Parsons for the most part. Andrew Thomas is a stud. And when Lawrence goes down, it's just, it's just uneven. Like, I don't see big time talent. And the criticism you're saying about McCarthy in this offense, like, what does that remind me of? Like the end of days in Packers land, which is just like, they want to play though. We have the better players and we're just going to beat you offense.

and it does feel to me without getting agist, there's a little bit of like some of these old guard offensive coaches. I don't know. I think they're getting closer to the end. Doug Peterson and Mike McCarthy are near the top of it's like to peak carol of offense where you're like,

yeah, we're just going to line up and beat you. And it's like that doesn't work anymore. Like Cody Alexander at match quarters always says like static is death. And you know, you look at a bunch of this. I thought the most creative thing they did all night

was put CD Lamb in the backfield. Both teams did that actually. Malik neighbors. One of the best dropbacks Jones had all freaking season was actually like Malik neighbors basically just ran a dig out of the back field. That was kind of awesome. And then CD had the longest run of the night. He ran for

like however many yards on that first and 20. But to your point, I think that the Mike Zimmer defense part, sorry, I know I'm going back and forth between offensive. No, I love it. But the Cowboys defense, you know, the Dan Quinn, he has the how do you do my fellow kids? He's got the

backwards hat. And like, I don't know schematically if it's still the best thing, but he resonates with the players And defenses for all the schematics, it's also a lot of effort. And I think Dan Quinn was like, hey, you guys can do cool stuff. Michael Parsons, one gap, get in the backfield, disrupt, get to the guy. Trivon Dix, you know what? Just jump routes, gut pick sixes. He gets hurt.

Oh, okay, cool. We're going to have to run plan. Jump routes, get pick sixes. Mike Zimmer comes in. Screaming at everyone. He's mean. You know what I mean? It's just like no one does anything cool.

Everyone's got to do your unsexy, really boring job. Like, hold, you know what I mean? It's not the jobs aren't. It's fun. And so when the defense doesn't ever. I think that over the course of the season, I think that could wear on people. And I think the pass rush didn't there. I'll see if there's one thing they did really well.

The tackling by Dallas was phenomenal and they really needed to get better at that. Wanda Robinson, 5-8, so I don't know how much credit they get. Wanda Robinson was stopped on third down, a yard short of the sticks, I think five times tonight. So I will give Dallas credit for tackling. Yeah. And one of them, he kind of, it was late in the game. Was that before that, though, they picked up the fourth down in that, in that one. but 11 catches for Wondell for 71 yards.

I mean, he is your 12th round or free agent pickup in fantasy. You play them in your fourth flex spot dream right now. Because, like, he's going to give you, like, he's not, doesn't have a high ceiling, but he's going to get you your 13, 14 fantasy points, man. It's not going to be pretty. Like, you might not want to watch it. But he actually usually makes the first guy miss. I think he's played well.

I think he has a role in an NFL offense as a very useful player. if he's your three slash four if you happen to have a good tight end like that's perfect he's a little overextended right now is like that it's neighbors and him and that's it slayton need to get slayton more involved but i think wandale's a good player actually that's my that's been my takeaway from the end of last season and this season i totally agree he's a good player he's probably a little miscast as the yeah if it's not neighbors it's him and uh he's so on the ringer fantasy football show i joked a ppr point perception scoring his participation trophy and like tonight's kind of a good example

where I'm like 71 yards but he gets 11 points for 11 catches like almost none of which went for first down so frustrating yeah the first couple games he was picking up first downs but yeah it's crazy they showed the third down passing tonight

and he had more targets than neighbors and they had all of them and that's really all they ever did Zachary Janda says we should end the show with some tennis talk I mean don't tempt me with a good time here we got the Tokyo open

Kini Shikori Bringing it back to 2014, a little revenge over Marin Chilich. No, I'm not going to talk tennis at all. I will completely bore everyone. I love Tiafo. We have to have a Tiafaha conversation. I would love to. It probably should be off, off Mike.

Michael Parsons, yeah, there's no update from Mike McCarthy. We're taping this as they're doing the press availability. It is an ankle injury for Michael Parsons. So that's worrisome. Lawrence with the foot is extremely worrisome. the results of those two injuries is going to really shape this Cowboys next month, you know, potentially season, because right now they are a team that isn't good enough at anything to survive losses.

Like, they're bad enough on defense with those two guys who are two of their three best players on defense, you know, including digs as well, you know, at this point with Lawrence probably around the same level. Without them, they're cooked because, yeah, they went into the week. We've got to stop the run. We're sick of everyone saying we can't stop the run. The Giants did not have a run over five yards, but that was the Giants. Exactly.

And I mean, look, I feel like the worst defensive lines in the league right now that are making the defenses just DOA or like Cincinnati, Carolina, Arizona. I think if Dallas doesn't have any game where they don't have Michael Parsons or DeMarcus Lawrence, I think, Dallas is right there because they already the defensive tackle, the whole spine of the defense is already their biggest issue. They already have Eric Kendricks who, I mean, frankly, this Eric Kendrick's

Mike Zimmer thing wasn't working like three years ago. It's kind of incredible. It's still happening in 2024. And then if they, I mean, yeah, I frankly, maybe am I being hyperbolic and saying this is like a bottom five defensive line without those two dudes and maybe a bottom five defense? Yeah, no, that's not hyperbolic.

I mean, they through the first three weeks, which is all we can really judge were pretty close to a bottom five defense overall, just in terms of the eye test and pretty much the numbers. And this is a night where, you know, I just don't think they have the talent on defense. And so you need DAC to carry you. But like I said, everything is so hard. Last week, next gen stats had something that was the lowest, you know, separation that he's ever seen in a game. And tonight, whether Cowboys fans like it or not, because I know they're not aiming for a first round exit. And this season, they're not getting to 12 wins. Just it's, it's,

It's not going to happen. Like, I think they're aiming for when the division at 10 or 11 wins and hope that's enough. They're not going to be that team this year. The reason you give Dak Prescott all that money is actually games like this. It's because he goes 19 for 22 against zone coverage, 13 for 14 when he gets rid of the ball under two and a half seconds for 143 yards and two touchdowns. You can say, man, that's wasn't that exciting and wasn't that boring. But it's like, he's moving.

He is basically controlling the entire game himself against an inferior team in the division. And that he's like, he's going to get you those wins almost by himself without a lot of help. He's got C.D. Lamb and a little bit of coaching. But I don't know. Right now, the talent around him isn't that great. And so that's, it's partly why you give him all that money. And the rest of the numbers, you know, they're not doing a lot down the field. But other than C.D. who's not, you know, That's not what he majors in. I don't know what their downfield passing is. I mean, if the Giants and Cowboys weren't in the same division,

I'd say they should call the Giants about Darius Slayton. Darius Slaten could help them. I take him. I would take him in over in Brandon Cook's in the Cooks role any day. And it's funny because Darius Slaten led the Giants in receiving four years in a row and they try to cut him every one of the four seasons. So that actually would work really well. And then, no, I totally agree.

I mean, Dak Prescott used to make annually under $700,000 a year. and now he's making like $800,000 per quarter of every game. And so like you watch a game like tonight and you're like, yeah, he knows what he's playing really well. And almost in a weird way, I don't know if it's stylistically, but he almost reminds me of Matt Stafford in the middle of the 2010s with the Lions just because if he was on a different team,

I think you'd really quickly be like, oh my God, like he might win the MVP. Like in a weird way, like you, there's questions about how good he is and what is he accomplished. But then you take Stafford off and put him on the Rams and you're like, oh, they won the Super Bowl. And I kind of think Dax's actually in that range too, where if you had been airdropped into Miami

in a healthier at Miami season, I'm like, I kind of think it would be immediately unbelievable. But, you know, Jerry Jones is older than Joe Biden, so this team isn't very good. Harrison, Calton Beck says, this Cowboys defense looking this bad in weeks two through four really shows you how bad Sean Watson is. You're telling me Watson was useless against this team.

I have thought about that a little bit, like, like all the Watson games and in like the Jaguars game, Like everything, when you see those defenses play other teams, you're like, man, you know, Watson is really struggling. All right. We'll take a quick break and we'll be back to talk to some giants after this. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports. and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

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It is kind of crazy, though, like the disrespect for your Giants, and let's switch over to focusing on the Giants a little more, that you only gave up 15 points to the Giants, and it's considered a terrible performance by the Cowboys' defense. I guess the reason for that is there weren't a lot of stops. The Giants moved the ball all day. But it was like long field goal drives. They end up with 300 yards.

And yeah, it comes off five field goal drives. Wait, they didn't have a touchdown in this game, right? Am I crazy? No, they did not have a touchdown. I mean, Dable went for it on every fourth down that mattered, except the one that actually mattered the most, which was the one like three yards in the goal line. And I'm like, settled for a field goal.

And I'm like, look, the Giants lost. Here's the thing. The Giants gate, you want the big picture giants or you want the first? Well, first I want you to take, to put a pit in that first. a second and say, or I can mention just the situation there, at that point, they're down by five, it's either late third or early, early fourth. Both defenses are struggling to get stops, and they choose to kick a field goal on fourth and goal from the three to cut it from five to two, which was patently insane and shocking to me because he's an offensive coach,

and he did go for fourth down in the other key spots in the game, and it was kind of obvious to me, it's like, man, it's going to be hard for them to get close to the goal line because they're not getting any chunk plays. And they got it. And it's like the next time they had fourth and four in midfield, they got it. Like, I trust them to get three yards. I don't trust them to get down there. And it's like Nick Siriani-esque where it's like you have a chart that you consult.

And again, a coach's job is to take the analytics and assess it to real life, whether the numbers apply. Having said that, I mean, any of the decisions they had made earlier, if those were goes, like, I don't know why fourth and three wouldn't be a goal. It wouldn't be like a go for it, except the answer is there. like, oh, take the points because for all the stuff like fourth downs about analytics, it's also just also about like, yeah, it's like Madden. You're like, I would like this points down.

And then you get really close and you're like, oh, we got the field goal. I don't know. I mean, even maybe this is wilder too, but they had a, I think it was a fourth and nine. And then the Cowboys went off sides, which was insane on the field goal. And they could have taken the three points off and go off for the fourth and three there. And I thought that was a little concerning. But I don't think the fourth down was what bothered me. Frankly, I thought the Giants game in a nutshell was that the first quarter was that

the refs shot the Giants of the foot. And, you know, the face mask on Daniel Bellinger, that he got face masks then flagged for it, so the Giants lost 30 yards. They should have a first and 10 at the 18, and so they had a second and 18 at the 48. And then the next drive, the Cowboys have to-

Objectively, one of the worst calls of the NFL season. I actually am not a get-on-the-ref sky almost ever, just because it seems like an impossible job whenever you see it live there down on the field. And we recognize, like, that players and coaches screw up a million times every game and there's no acceptance that, like, of course, the referees do. But that one, to your point, put them out of like a great touchdown situation to absolutely

killing the drive. And it was a mystifying, like, reversal call. You rarely see a call hurt a team that much that is inexplicable. So I will give you that as a Giants fan. And it just, it really was, and I'm actually agreed to. I think people are too hard on refs, but like the contrast with the next drive when the Jake Ferguson has clearly holding on a cornerback and he's pure jersey. I know holding's every play, but it's like

Paul Jersey, they throw the flag. They pick the flag up and I'm like, come on the ground. It's already on the ground. It was the, you know, pull the makeup call away and it wasn't a makeup call. He did it. So then that gives the Rico Dattle touchdown. So, but having said that, I'm not going to blame the rest for the game because the first quarter was the ref shot the Giants in the foot. The second quarter was the giant shot the Giants in the foot because, I mean, you know, it's so funny. Daniel Jones finished this game with 29 of 40.

really it was like way fewer incompletions until the last drive. 281 yards took no touchdowns at one interception at the end that didn't count. I thought Daniel Jones kind of played in a way terribly in this game. And that actually quarter alone, not terribly, but like he probably left 21 points on the board. They should have like he missed a deep touch on a free play. He under threw Darius Slaten for a touchdown by 15, maybe like 20 yards, considering Darius Slate was in a full sprint and had to slow down. He missed Malik neighbors in a full sprint on like a like a deep, like, like,

basically like a giant deep cross. He didn't get to see Malik neighbors down the sideline on a pile on another time. He misledened short again on the last drive. Like every single play that could have broken open the game that Daibel, I think, schemed really well. Daniel Jones was short by an amount that it was more like, is he healthy than anything else?

Like I was wondering if he actually can physically do it because every single time he needed to throw a ball over 40 yards, he could not do it, period. So the numbers on his deep passing this year are insane now. he's two for 14 and throws over 20 yards and it was something that the Giants beat writers were saying all camp

like dable's really stressing vertical vertical they want to go vertical but it hasn't looked good for Daniel Jones when he goes vertical and you're right the broadcast which you know I have my issues with this this Thursday night broadcast basically Al but it's a little bit of Alian

is it because Al basically admits he doesn't want to be there at every quarter of the game he's not adding to it and I get that it's fun when he bangs on the ref, that's probably the best part of Al. Actually, let's take a listen to Al having his version of fun on Thursday night. Two-minute warning has not occurred. We got another flag.

It's like June 14th here. Otherwise, known his flag days, you know. And he's probably checking his mentions because there was about 15 different other little one-liners and jokes after that. You seem like you want to go after it. I don't know how far you want to go. I'll all say is Al Michaels, I don't know. I mean, does he want to be doing this?

I love Al Michaels. The thing that bothers me the most by far is more just updating the audience on really important parts of the situation in the game. So that's your job as a broadcaster. When neighbors was concussed, they didn't mention it. And then he just goes, oh, yeah, the neighbor, then neighbors goes into the blue tent. He just says neighbors went into the blue tent. And that was it.

And then at the end, he said he had a concussion, didn't say he's real. And just barely met in a very similar situation with, with two a couple weeks ago. And that came like a minute or two after he had already given the Cowboys the win. I'm like, wait, the game is it over. He was talking about what a great ride. It's going to be back. Okay, I don't, I don't need to get into all that. But it bums me out a little bit.

This, this Giants night, I think, was probably most disappointing. If you drill down into the defense, Dexter Lawrence, according to next-gen stats, was double-teamed on 20 of 25 plays. It's 80%. That is the highest rate of double teams in any game for any player since 2016. Yeah.

And it's crazy. You need the other guys to step up more is kind of my takeaway from that. I'm not going to lie, and I know this is biased fan brain speaking, but I actually think I'm right. I think Dexter Lawrence on a better team would be on like a Hall of Fame track.

Like I think Dexter Lawrence is very clearly like the best player in the, on defense that's not Aaron Donald. If you want to throw Chris Jones out there because he's done it at the Super Bowl level, sure. But Dexter Lawrence is like a special player that is being just abominably wasted and it's crazy to say this out loud. But I believe he turns 28 this season. And I'm like, all right, well, do the Giants freaking have to trade him just because

he's not going to be good enough on the path that the Giants are on? I don't know. It's the only strength of the team is Burns, Brian Burns. Tibido who actually did stuff tonight and then undid it with he got a sack and then immediately committed a penalty to undo the sack but then this is the strength of the team and it's back to old school giants of like having a great

defensive line. The secondary's a mess. I'm kind of like whatever you can fix that if the pass rush is good enough. But yeah, I mean Lawrence is a special player and yeah I'm very excited to waste his prime. Anytime they just put one guy against him. I mean, it's over. It's absolutely over.

I'm with you. Hall of fame trajectory is too far because he had such a late breakout. Really, his breakout was two years ago. And so this is the third year he's stacking as an elite player. But you're not crazy because he got robbed. He should have been an all-pro last year, like first or second team. He certainly was a pro bowler. I think he will be an all-pro this year. And if you start stacking up a couple all-pros in a row, then you start getting into the discussion. So if he keeps stacking these years, he can do it. But you need more out of Brian Burns, who hasn't been bad this year, but hasn't been

been special. This game, he was absolutely silent. He was not credited with the pressure. Now, Dak gets credit for some of that, certainly. But Kavon had a great night. Like, Kavon was beaten Guyton pretty regularly. And the matchup, I guess, for Burns then was Terrence Steele, who's been struggling all year quite badly, really. The whole Cowboys offensive line has been up and down. Zach Martin hasn't really been who Zach Martin wants to be. The rookies are Eye drops today. Right. Well, yeah, he got an eye injury.

That was, there was a lot going on in this game in terms of injuries, guys getting in and out. Diggs had a cramp at one point. But yeah, you, this defense isn't going to be special enough. It's tricky. I, I feel for you. I feel for Giants fans. I've come around. I'm finally over it.

Well, finally over what happened a decade plus ago. I understand because it's weird. It's weird as a Giants fan because two things are true. Giants won two Super Bowls this century and it's like, how do you complain about that? The flip side is they have, they're tied with the Jets for the worst record in the NFL over the last seven years period.

They've been the worst team. Wow. The worst team in the NFL. And so it's a really weird identity shift to go from like, yeah, we're like the asterisk on the Patriots dominance of this century and also the worst team at the same time. And also the Giants.

And Copeland never, like they never made the playoffs with Eli like other than when they won the Super Bowl. I mean, they did it once or twice, but it was like barely. The Giants are an anomaly. that happened twice. Like the Giants big picture are just this like

Buster Douglas never fought Tyson again. The USA never like beat U.S. and the Soviet Union again. Like the giants are in the conversation for the biggest upsets ever but then they won the rematch. But like it was everything else is a fluke. But it's weird because they're celebrating

quote air quote celebrating the 100th season. The Giants are unequivocally in the worst seven year stretch of the entire history of the franchise. Like it's not even close. And so with that I ask you in your unbiased opinion. Mm-hmm. They got to move on from Jones, right? because I think he played well tonight

because I look at the same as a very well-seemed game by Daible that Jones frankly ruined by not hitting the three things that should have been touchdowns. I think you're probably closer to the truth than just saying he played well.

I think you've just, the bar is so low for Jones coming into the year because of the couple last games that we saw him play last year and then the preseason what you heard and then week one was such an abomination

that the last three weeks in a league where so many quarterbacks are looking just absolutely terrible. Daniel Jones is just like he hasn't killed you the last few weeks. He's completing a high percentage of passes like tonight. Yeah, on over two and a half second throws and this all got worse at the end. But at one point he was kind of dealing. He was 16 for 25 for 204 yards. Yeah, I mean, the one

play down the field is when neighbors, you know, shakes his cornerback to be like 20 years open. But yeah, of course they have to move on from Daniel Jones, like this after this season, I think he's played well enough that there's no need to go to Drew Locke now. He's playing, my thing with Daniel Jones was always, if you protect him, he could be replacement level, which is to say he's not a franchise quarterback. He's not above the Dalton scale as a franchise quarterback, but he's not like a catastrophe. He's just like a, he's a bridge quarterback that you should have never given the contract

that you gave to him. It was obvious when it happened. In dating terms, he's a nice guy. Yeah. He does seem like a nice guy. Yeah, he's a nice guy. Fine. Having you on tonight, I was thinking about it.

It could possibly be my subconscious as revenge. You just wanted to. Just like. Blamey. Oh, seven. Yeah, just teach you a lesson in professionalism, you know, coming off after a tough loss. My first Super Bowl that I covered,

which was an absolute thrill, was for NBCSports.com in the 07 season, 08. It was, you know, the 18 and one game Giants Patriots. And yeah, I had to do some digital hits that probably 16 people watched after the game. But, you know, we were, we had a microphone and there was cameras there. And I thought, like, I think we did like five reasons

why the Giants won or something. I was like, I nailed it. Like totally unbiased, professional. It was awesome. I watched it the next day and it looked like my parents had like just fallen like deeply ill. And like I was just like totally ashen and sad. And I totally had faked myself out into thinking that I like wasn't disappointed when I was when I was very disappointed. It's funny because while you were doing that hit, that was the best moment of my entire life.

literally they were handing you led the trophy. It was the best moment of the date. I actually had a fun, it was a really fun night and a fun experience and that like the adrenaline of the whole thing didn't really hit me until going to a bar afterwards and starting to see the highlights on the TV and then realizing like, oh yeah, that's real, that happened.

And I actually, you had no idea in the stadium that the helmet catch was the helmet catch. Yeah. And like I was immediately filing and going on the field. So I wasn't even on, you know, it's like, it's 2008. You're not on, so I had no idea what, that the helmet catch was, was the helmet catch. You just thought the Samuel drop was like actually the, I mean, I saw Randy Moss, my favorite player, score a game winning touchdown in what would have been the best drive of Tom Brady's career if Manning didn't ruin it like that. People kind of forget that drive that. Oh, he had the step on Corey Webster.

Yes. And then Jay Alford came home and just, you know, like a can and on that third down. But yeah, not that I remember every single play of that game, but it's fine. Anvil says Daniel Jones is tearing the high fits family apart. I love that there's a lot of high fits fans

who came in tonight. And Geo Central asked is Washington the second best team in the NFC East? That's a fun question. I think they have a chance because I think

they're obviously either the best offense or the second best offense and that'll take you far. They probably have the worst defense in the entire league, but if they could be a top five offense with a bottom five defense and go eight and nine or nine and eight with that in a bad division, that could be better than the Cowboys. I'm pretty down on the Cowboys right now. It's one reason why I thought the

Giants would cover this game. I guess they did with that Aubrey miss at the end. It depends when in the week you got your number. I thought the Giants would cover and maybe win this game because I just don't have much faith in this Cowboys team. So I will say they're about tied with the Cowboys, if I had to power rank. I mean, Bill Barnwell, who I believe is watching the stream right now, picked Washington as a potential surprise team that could make the playoffs. I think they totally could. I think Cliff Kingsbury is like somewhat consistently just his offenses have staled as

the seasons wane. And so I think that I'm a little hesitant to kind of assume that the incredible Jane Daniels start will go. I actually think there are a few reasons that it might not happen this year. But until I see it, I'm a little hesitant to be like, yeah, this stuff, Cliff Kingsbury is doing great week three. is going to continue to week 13, whereas DAC, I think, has just, you know, been there, done that. But, yeah, I mean, again, I'm not trying to sound like some salty Giants fan either.

I just, again, it's, Dak, they couldn't do it when DAC was making 700K a year, and now DAC's making 800K a quarter. And Mike and Parsons and CD used to make 2%, 3% of the Dow's cap. And now they're about to be like 22, 24%. And I just, overall, again, the lack of depth on this Cowboys team, it's like people get hurt, you know, but there's no next man up. Like, they've developed some people. But again, and the Dallas, the next, I mean, the next games, the Dallas plays,

I mean, not to beat up on the Cowboys right now. No, let's look ahead a little bit. Steelers, Lions, 49ers, Falcons, Eagles, Texans. That's what the Cowboys have coming up. And their buy is in there. And it's funny because I listen to a lot of team podcasts. I've started doing that lately just to get the vibe. And I listen to Love of the Star Podcasts and the Cowboys.

And a lot of, and like, I listen to a 49ers podcast. And a lot of them are like, man, if we lose this week, if you look at the schedule, we might not win again until the by week. And I'm like, wow, Cowboys reporters are saying this. Like, we could be one in five and then McCarthy would be in trouble at the by week. And I'm like, wow, that's dark. I wouldn't go that far. Like, you're probably going to be able to beat some of these good teams.

But this win was absolutely crucial with the injuries now to think about. And, yeah, the Giants head to Seattle next week, I believe. And that's a tough spot for, that's a real litmus test for Daniel Jones, who hasn't had the toughest, you know, run. I mean, he survived against the Brown's defense. That's what I mean. He played the Brown's defense and you survived. Those two defenses, though, are the past.

Like, Jim Schwartz is the last, one of the last guys doing static defense with any success. And then Mike Zimmer is the past. And, like, Mike McDonald's is the bleeding edge of the future. and I think Daniel Jones is going to do very poorly. I mean, it's going to be his last season with the Giants. I think how the rest of the season goes will decide if it's Davell and Joe Shane's last season with the giant. This will not be your last time on NFL Daily. Next year, we'll do this again when Bill Belichick is coaching the Giants and Dion Sanders is coaching the Cowboys.

That would be awesome. We don't need to wait until next year. It's in the title, Danny, NFL Daily. So I want to have you back again. you're almost too good at this. I'm having major camera problems before we tape to delay us like five minutes. I set up this beautiful new camera that it's just amazing, but it didn't get it rolling tonight.

And I'm frazzling. You're just cool as a cucumber with your Alec Baldwin hair back there. And I appreciate you. Everyone should check out Danny the Ringer Fantasy football show. You're writing. What else can we plug, Danny? Yeah. just, I mean, the ringer.com, great website.

Yeah, the ringer fantasy football show. Do it with Danny Kelly Craig Worldbeck. And yeah, it's a great fantasy football show because we're kind of dumb and we're, but we're right sometimes. But we have a very fun time. So, yeah, we actually give good advice. We were the only show, I think, that didn't have Chris McCaffrey as the number one guy, but also we argued today about for like five, 10 minutes about whether Jupiter is made

of like gas or solid. So yeah, we're a different show. So check it out. Thank you for having me because this is this show, this show is incredible and you're doing an amazing job. I appreciate that. And that is a very smart take on McCaffrey. I would like to think that back, you know, if I put myself in the shoes

when I was back in the fantasy minds, you know, working hard. I don't think I would have had McCaffrey first. Just all I needed was like, I'm not taking anyone with a soft tissue injury before the season, period. It's like if I, like, I'm not saying not take them, but I'm not taking first overall. and I'm probably not taking him above his average app position. If you just did that as a fantasy football owner, you're probably going to

win way more than you lose. Oh, a guy that's had injury issues before and you know, there's, I don't even want to get into his history and stuff and now he's going to Germany. I would like to think I would have had the same opinion. I told my son not to take him. So that...

Well, there you go. That's all that matters. They gave the only advice that really mattered. So there you go. He did not listen, but he didn't get the first overall pick, so he didn't wind up with him. Thank you, Danny. High fits. Again, yeah, check out the fantasy show, the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. I will be back on Friday.

We do our little mini-pick show with some picks against the spread with Cynthia Freeland. And so, yeah, the Giants are one and three. That's when you know for sure that football is back. See you next time. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies

to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. This is an IHeart podcast.