The Kevin Sheehan Show - Defense Dominates Giants, 21-6

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Kevin is in to recap Washington's 21-6 season-opening win over the NY Giants in Landover. He's got his "Game-Take" highlighting what he liked, didn't like, and more. Commanders' safety Quan Martin joined Kevin from the locker room. For all your football betting needs: TheKevinSheehanShow.com/mybookie Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Going to give it to Samuel. And they're out. Looking for blocks. Get some.

Samuel a touchdown. Debo Samuel's touchdown run sealed it with just over seven minutes to go in the game. Kind of a sloppy opener for sure, but also one that never seemed to be in doubt. I'm in for a quick recap show following Washington's 21 to 6 season opening win over the Giants. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Window Nation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com, if you need new windows. I'm hoping to have a guest on from the locker room before I am done recording. I asked for someone who plays defense. We'll see if we get somebody from the defensive side of the ball, because this game,

today was one for a number of reasons, but number one by far was the defense. Dominant all day long against, yes, a giant offense that really struggled last year and the year before and is at the very least a mystery this year with Russell Wilson a quarterback. They did not have their best offensive lineman, Andrew Thomas, for the game. That was an issue for them no doubt up front, but also no doubt was how Washington's D owned, dominated the line of scrimmage. The Giants could not run the football at all. Run defense, the biggest weakness last year, the biggest question mark coming into this year. Through one game, it looks a lot better.

It's just one game. Week one always difficult to measure and evaluate because year in and year out, Week one tends to be a head fake. It tends to fool us. But one thing that's not going to fool us is just how much bigger Washington is up front defensively. We knew that. We knew that, you know, Javon Kinlaw was adding beef in size, you know, wise Goldman the same, to go with an already big guy who's been here for a while in Duran Payne. They're just bigger than they were last year. It showed today in a very promising way. I'll get to. the numbers defensively in my game take in the next segment, but the Giants' inability to run the football was a disaster for them, because passing the ball didn't work much better. On most dropbacks, Russell Wilson was under siege and under siege quickly. Washington's defense versus New York's offense in this game, total mismatch in every way possible, physically up front, mentally all over the place.

Russell Wilson looked confused for much of the day by a secondary that really runs much better than the secondary ran last year. There's more speed, there's more quickness. I think today there was urgency, there was better tackling on the back end than really we ever saw last year. You know, the nature of opening day being fickle and not necessarily a predictor of things to come, it's not going to change my opinion that what I saw talent-wise on the back end, you know, in a real game today, playing the entire way, that things are going to be better this year than they were last year. Now, you know, they're going to play much better quarterbacks,

much better offenses, but let's at least feel good for a few days about, you know, about this defense that allowed the fewest points in a game, since the end of the 2023 season. Remember that season finale against the Cowboys? The infamous and very misleading Sam Howell debut? That final score was 26 to 6.

Washington had not allowed the number of six or less since that day. Again, I'll get to the numbers and the players on first blush that I thought performed well, but the defense led the way in week one. Now, week one is often marked by sloppiness, and sloppiness today meant penalties,

drop passes, timeouts being used up quickly, and then the end of first half kind of debacle miscue that, let's face it, against a much better opponent could have been very costly. I'll get to the details on that in the game take, but they have a lot to clean up and not much time to do it. It's fortunate that the Giants were the opponent today, you know, versus playing a team much more capable of taking advantage of what was, you know, at times a disheveled mess of football. They've got until Thursday night to get a bunch of things right because the Packers, they're not the Giants. All that said, 1-0.

Washington has now won its last three against the Giants, if you include last year's sweep. So two last year, the opener this year. I went and looked this up during the game. They haven't won three in a row against New York in 26 years. I'm not talking about a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 game winning streak against a division opponent. Washington hasn't beaten the Giants three times in a roast until today in 26 years. They did it during the 1998-1990s. season. It actually extended to a four-game winning streak early in the 2000 season. But over

a quarter of a century plus, Washington had never had anything more than a two-game win streak against New York. It's now this one at three. An outstanding day for the defense. We'll learn over the next month or so if it was a trend or more aberration. And there was more than just defense today. There were some really encouraging performances. Debo Samuel, Bill Kroski Merritt. Jaden was Jaden really good today? Not perfect, far from perfect, but, you know, showing a lot of what we saw last year.

All right, let's get to my game take, what I liked, what I didn't like, and a lot more will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Are we finally ready for some football? Well, a new sponsor on this podcast will help out, and it's a good one, guys. Chubbies is ready to help you with their NFL collection. Whether you're tailgating, grilling, or riding the highs and lows of the game from your couch, Chubbies has the officially licensed NFL gear to keep you looking like the ultimate fan. If you're not a Jersey guy, this is a good alternative.

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That's $10 off your order with the promo code Sheehan and that includes the NFL collection. Support this show and tell them we sent you. They have to tighten up here in the red area. They knew they were going to move the ball to Giants defense. They got limit points down here. Daniel is over the middle. Touchdown, Zacherts.

How about that throw? Seven-yard touchdown pass to Earth's quick release in between two defenders, capped off an eight-play, 89-yard drive. Washington had a seven-nothing lead. As it turned out, that's really all they needed. This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation. If you need new windows, my recommendation is to call Window Nation at 866.9 Nation or go to WindowNation.com.

mention my name. They'll set you up for a free in-home estimate. They'll leave you with the quote. They won't bother you. You can shop it. You can figure it out on your own once you have the quote. But I promise you, if you move forward with Wind Donation, you're working with an outstanding company, prides itself on customer service, over 45,000 five-star reviews. They've got a great product and a great offer right now. Buy to get too free and pay nothing for, two years if you decide to finance the purchase. No money down, no payments, no interest charged. When you start paying in the year 2027, you'll be paying half price because you got two windows free for the two that you purchased. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. All right, let's get to my game take. Pay attention. He's Kevin's Game Take. The Game Take, the first of 17 during the regular season. and hopefully more after the regular season is a list of things that I liked from the game, a list of the things that I didn't like,

and a few other observations. Let's start with the list of things that I like. There are a ton of things on this list. It starts with the defense. The defense had an A-plus-plus performance. The Giants are not a good offensive team, more likely than not in 2025. They won't be.

Russell Wilson, to me, looks like he is. done. He doesn't see it. He doesn't react well. But it doesn't matter. Washington's defense was a problem for New York today. And I think they would have been a problem for a lot of teams today. And if they play that way, we're going to see an improved defense. We'll find out soon enough, you know, Thursday night they're going to be facing a pretty good Green Bay team. We'll see if they can do some of the things on Thursday night that they did today. But when you hold your opponent to 3.7 yards per play, you have pretty much shut down that team completely, and you have held them to next to nothing in terms of points. Unless you turn the ball over on offense or you give it up on special

teams, 3.7 yards per play is unbelievable. The Giants had 232 total yards in the game, 90 on their first six drives, which took them into the middle portion of the third quarter. And then, they rolled up like 142 of their 232 yards, many of those coming with the game pretty much over. 74 yards rushing in the game, 44 of the 74 by the quarterback on scrambles or on sneaks. The running backs 15 carries 30 yards. You can do the math on that one. And the two yards per carry that they got, they had to work for. They were four for 16 on third down. Russell Wilson completed less than 50% of his passes, and he seemed to be pressured on a majority of his dropbacks.

It didn't matter what kind of dropback it was. Play action, third and long, you know, you know they're coming. He was pressured often and quickly. The defense stopped the Giants on all three of their first and goal situations. They gave up a mere field goal. after facing first and goal three times. Two sacks in the game, that doesn't tell the story. I don't think on the pressure they got.

Whether it was with four or more, they got pressure, they got it quickly. I wanted to mention one thing that I noticed in a couple of the third and longs, you know, during the offseason we talk about, all right, third and long, who's going to be out there? Well, Louvo, Miller, Payne, Armstrong. Now, they may have had a couple of other combinations in there, but I noticed that combination on a couple of third and longs. The tackling was excellent. I counted maybe two missed tackles in the game, one by Louvre early.

The only thing the defense didn't do was create a turnover. There was a chance on a big hit by Will Harris on Russell Wilson on the drive where the Giants had to settle for the field goal after missing on two first and goal situations. got the fourth down penalty, and then they had another first and goal and decided to kick the field goal in fourth down. There was a near bubble picked off by Von Miller. Quan Martin did have an interception that was nullified by one of the many penalties on the day. So that was a bit of a problem for the team and the defense. Again, the giant offense probably isn't very good. Russell Wilson, I think, looks like he is close to done. Just too slow reacting to all.

almost everything. But all that being said, the defense had a great day. Second on the list is just specifically the defensive players that stood out to me sort of first blush. I may add to this list tomorrow, but Duran Payne was a monster today. Early in the game, he chases down the bubble screen and tackles Robinson on a third and 11 for like a three or a four-yard game. He had a sack. He got his hands on at least one pass and batted it down. He may have gotten his hand. on another. Duran Payne was really good.

I had some expectations for him coming into this season. Without John Allen there, I think there's a chance with Kinlaw, the size. I think Duran, you know, could be in store for a really good year. The talents, obviously, they're a good start to the season for number 94. How about Javan Kinlaw's presence? It was noticeable. He was in the backfield multiple times. He had at least two pressures.

He had a TFL. He is big. He is athletic. He looked the part today. Louvre stood out positively. Wise, I thought, stood out positively other than the penalty he had for illegal hands to the face. Wagner had some moments. I thought Amos, Latimore, Martin, Sanristil, Harris, all had good plays. There were probably a few they'd like to have back. Another silly penalty, by the way, by Latimore early in the game. Amos got turned around by neighbors, but neighbors is going to do that to a lot of people. I just loved how fast and physical they were from the jump. I'm sure there were others that kind of had good days, and I'll go back through the game

and have another podcast out later tomorrow after Quinn speaks tomorrow afternoon. Oh, Dorrance Armstrong. I thought Armstrong played well. It was hard to find a defensive player that didn't play well. today. Next on my list of things that I liked, Debo Samuel. Not a bad debut in Burgundy and gold. The most receptions for a Washington receiver debut since Deshawn Jackson many, many years ago. Seven catches, 77 yards. Another touch is a runner on the 19-yard touchdown run. Maybe a drop, you know, over the middle on a ball that wasn't perfect. But he is a weapon and proved it in his first game.

and if he stays healthy, I think he's going to have a big year. How about Bill Kroski Merritt on my list of things that I liked? He's got vision, he's got a burst, he's got speed. He was an excellent runner today, 10 for 82, including the read option touchdown run that he bounced to the outside, the 42-yard run from deep in their own territory late in the game. He really looked apart. He was up.

Chris Rodriguez was down. They did not activate four running backs. I thought that was a possibility. Didn't know which one would sit. It was Rodriguez. And maybe it was because they brought Chris Moore up and they had more receivers than they typically have. Maybe there will be games in which all four are active.

But Rodriguez was inactive. And old Bill, as Kingsbury called him the other day, had a pretty damn good first game as a pro. Austin Echler is on the list of things that I He is a weapon for this team. He was last year. What a catch and run on that third and 12 right before Debo's touchdown run. He makes people miss.

He has more power than you think. He is subtle in his movements and in his wiggle. He's got burst. He's got quickness. He started the game as the lead back. Six carries, three catches, nine total touches for 57 yards. Over six yards per touch, Austin Eckler is on this list. Chris Moore's catch early in the game has to be on this list.

It's second and four on their first touchdown drive. They rolled Jaden out and he throws to the sideline and Moore, who was up, you know, was activated from the practice squad and put on the 53 in the active list today. Great job with the catch and scraping that second foot in. Also on the list of things that I liked. Offensively, man, they got a lot of stuff going on. There's a lot of action in the backfield. Motions, doubling back motions.

When the ball snap, there's so much misdirection. Counter fakes one way than countering back the other. There's, of course, Jaden with read option capability, RPO capability. Love the Kingsbury approach. Of course, you've got to have a guy like Jaden Daniels to make it all happen. But like what they are doing and the way they are using now Debo as part of the backfield. Next on the list, good day running the football. I mean, when you go for 220, 6.9 yards per carry, some of it, Jadens, all right?

But, you know, Bill Kroski, Merritt Echler, even McNichols did a nice job. Debo had the one carry. Not an easy front to run against. The Giants are good defensively, so a good job in the run game. That means the O line had to be pretty solid as well. Washington now, I saw, I think it was, I think it was Kime. who tweeted this out. Washington now has seven games with 200 or more yards rushing since the start of last season, tying Baltimore for the most during that span. Now, we know that a lot of

those games, it was primarily Jaden or a big part of it was Jaden. And a big part of it today was Jaden Daniels, but still, you rush for 226.9 yards per, you're doing something right. How about this for an item on the list of things that I liked. The ability to consistently overcome long, down, and distances. It was something we saw over and over again last year, but how about these today? They overcame a second in 16, a second in 21, a second in 14, a second in 15. Those are four first down plays by the Giants, some of those were penalties, where you have the advantage, You are in a great situation, odds-wise, to get off the field and force a punt, second and 16, second and 21, second and 14, second and 15. Not against Washington, not with Jaden Daniels at quarterback.

He does this all the time. They also do a nice job of getting some chunk yards back to set up a third and somewhat makeable. Yeah. the consistent overcoming long down in distances is a trademark of this offense going back to last year. What else is on the list of, well, I'm going to get to the last thing then. I am putting Jaden on my list of things that I like today, even though this was far from, you know, his best game. But I'm putting him on here because he just affects the game so much on every, offensive snap in a way that gives his team and his offense such a huge advantage. Jaden wasn't

perfect in this game. This was far from anything remotely approaching, you know, his best games last year, even his better games, but he was good, really good. You know, the need to spy him, the need to keep him in the pocket on pure dropbacks, there's just so much that the opponent has to account for when he is the quarterback. He was 19 of 30 for 233, one touchdown, no picks. He got away with one early on on an out pattern to Debo where he was late, but no interceptions. 11 rushes, 68 yards. That was a mix of scrambles and some really good ones. Quarterback draws, a quarterback counter, I think I counted one. Zone readkeepers. He's just one. He's one of the top three in the league in terms of his running ability. Jackson, Allen, and Jaden are the top three

QBs in the game in terms of being able to impact a game with their legs. He took some hits today. I still don't love the quarterback keepers or the quarterback counters where he's going to get hit in the middle of the field more often than not. I don't mind the QB draws. They tend to be from empty. They tend to be quick. He does have the ability to get down if he wants to. He wants too. He took some shots today. Look, he had at least three balls dropped today, maybe four. You can say he was a bit off target, and I would agree with that on some of his throws. They were behind receivers on some of those drops, although they were catchable. And look, some of those are he has to change the angle because of the pressure. It's where he can get the ball too.

but there were a couple of times where he was just a little bit inaccurate. He wasn't perfect, but still those balls were catchable. He missed Terry on that deep one in the first half. That was such a good move by Terry McCorn to get that space. And he just missed that deep shot. Reminiscent remember of the opener last year in Tampa where he missed Terry on a deep shot or two. That could be timing a bit between those two because of Terry's absence from camp. I thought there was a sack that he took that was clearly on him,

but some of the throws, some of the runs, you know, the first TD drive, the throw on the move to Chris Moore, the slant to Noah Brown, the counter run for eight yards, the touchdown throw to Ertz. I mean, that is so quick, so decisive, so accurate. He sees that pre-snap. He knows what they're doing. They're isolating. They got Lane and Ertz on that left-hand side.

They're getting Ertz on the linebacker. There is some help, and he just threads the needle. The play in the first half where he extended and threw to Debo for, I think, like 16, 17 yards. How about the 3rd and 11 throw to Debo on the final drive of the first half? The scramble on 3rd and 7 before the Kroski Merritt touchdown run. I mean, overall, Jaden was a B plus in the game. He wasn't, you know, his typical A plus or, you know, A. He was a solid B plus.

It's just the overall focus a defense has to put on him. It just opens everything else offensively. He was, for the opener, look, there was a lot that was sloppy about this game, and there was a lot that wasn't perfect, and he fits into that. But of the guys that were imperfect today, he was probably the best of those that were imperfect. All right, the list of things that I did not like from this game. You know, several of the things that I'm going to mention really ultimately were responsible in many ways for the team just scoring 21 points. It really felt like they should have scored more.

You know, in a game in which, you know, they put up 432 yards, 25 first downs. It just seemed like, you know, more points. But there were reasons that it didn't happen. Penalties. 12 for 89, too many. A few dumb ones like Lattimore slamming Robinson to the ground. Two players off sides on one play, I think was Armstrong and Miller. A lot of the penalties were on defense, and it really cost them field position more than points

because the Giants couldn't take advantage of any of them. I thought Washington got away with a few, too. Pain hit Wilson late into the head. I thought Noah I got away with a defensive pass interference where he grabbed the face mask. Yeah, penalties, a big part of the sloppy description of today's game. The other part of it would be the drop passes. I think at least three, maybe four. Ertz on the opening drive.

Debo had one. It was high, but it was a catchable ball. Lane dropped one. I guess Terry's, the ball that was challenged, that actually would have been just a great catch by Terry. We'll get to that in a moment. It was at least three, maybe four. timeouts, I mean, good God, they were disorganized today, especially on offense.

They used up all three second half timeouts with still eight minutes and ten seconds left in the game. Thank God they were playing the Giants and not somebody good where the game could have gotten close and they may have needed those timeouts. I thought that they could have run the ball even more today. You know, you take Jaden out of the equation. Crosky Merritt 8.2 yards per carry. Echlor 4.3. McNichols was 6.3. If you take Jaden's scrambles out of it,

I don't want to take his designed runs or his option runs out of it, but he basically had, I think, six scrambles. So that would be 26 rushes or called running plays. Actually, if you count the scrambles, it would have been 36, 36 called passes. And about 26 called runs. I thought they could have run the football more. That's my point there.

They ended up 32 rushes, 30 pass attempts, but so many of those rushes were called pass plays. Yeah, I thought they could have run the ball more today. There was never really, I don't think, a risk of them losing this game unless they started to turn the ball over. That's a small knit to pick. I'll concede that. The end of the first half is obviously on the list of things that I didn't like.

So I did not agree with what Brady had a problem with, which was them calling their last time out with 28 seconds left. I actually thought that that was the right call to call it with 28 seconds left. The risk they took was the quarterback draw on second. and 10. And Jaden getting just nine yards instead of a first down where they could have gotten up quickly clocked it with say 18 seconds left, 17 seconds left, and had three opportunities into the end zone and then they didn't get it, kick a field goal. But when he got the nine yards and it was third and one, they had to hurry, clocks running, they can't clock it, they got to run

a play. And he made a mistake. He had nowhere to go with the football and he unloaded it nowhere near a receiver. And that was a mistake, and it cost them three points at the end of the first half. And against a better team, that would have been a costly end of first half, you know, management error. You know, I don't mind the aggression by Quinn. I love that he looks at this offense and says, you know, I don't care if we started our own nine-yard line with 30 seconds left and one time out. We're going for it. you know, and he does do that more often than not.

And the QB draw, it's just a risk. I don't think it's a bad call because I thought there was a chance Jaden might score. And I bet they thought there was a chance Jaden could score on that play or at the very least get the first down so that they could clock it. But the result of that play is what ended up causing what it caused. And they also used a timeout earlier in the first half when you shouldn't be using timeouts. So not having one of those timeouts hurt them there as well. So end of first half,

not a good situation. Jaden's got to, in that situation, know that he can't ground the ball. So he's got to try to get out of Dodge and get outside the pocket and throw it away. Also on the list of things that I didn't like, I didn't think it was a great overall day for the special teams. They had a punt blocked by Abdul Carter, almost another one by Carter. They got nothing on punt returns, literally nothing. Jalen Lane, who was supposed to be when they drafted him, they thought they had their punt return situation solved. It's only one game, but he had two punt returns, zero yards. There was a good kickoff return by McCaffrey. Tress Way was good today, but Debo's decision to return the opening kickoff was a bad decision. Ball was one yard deep in the

end zone. That thing's coming out to the 35. You know, I'm sure he was anxious. His first game, he's back on kickoff returns, but he took it from one yard deep in the end zone out to the 21-yard line. So they lost 14 yards of field position on that decision. That was not a good decision. I saw that a couple of times during the 1 o'clock games. Teams taking the ball out from a yard or two deep in the end zone.

You should never do that. Never. Ball's coming out to the 35 on a touchback. Yeah, that is the list of first. things that I did not like. I don't see anything else. All right, other observations. Let me just start with this. Some of the numbers, I mean, got confusing. Like the early portion of that game, like I'm watching Marshawn Latimore wear number 23, except it wasn't him. It was Amos, who was wearing number 23. And then he was wearing number two. Like got confused.

a couple of times from writing down my notes, you know, where Amos was, where Latimore was. I wrote this down during the game because I was told early in camp that there was a belief that Johnny Newton was going to be a significant contributor in year two, and that especially as a pass rusher. I didn't see him out there. I saw him out there. He did have, you know, per the stats at TFL, But the snap counts won't come out until late tonight. I just didn't see a lot of number 95 on the field at all. Oh, by the way, one thing real quickly on the special teams, Nick Ballore, it was in my notes.

Nick Ballore number 57, huge hit on special teams. He is really an excellent. Their coverage units are really solid. They are. I probably shouldn't have put special teams on the list of things that I didn't like because the good maybe offset some of the bad, although punt blocked, another one nearly blocked, no punt return yardage at all, and Debo's 14-yard opening kickoff mistake.

How did they lose that challenge on Terry's catch on third and five, second drive, second half? That was a catch. I thought that was a totally legitimate challenge, and I was shocked when it wasn't overturned. Debo's touchdown run could have been called delay of game. That thing hit zero and I thought there was an extra beat there. And that would have been another penalty. But they didn't call it and he ended up scoring on that play. A couple of other quick observations.

Number one, I've already mentioned it. Russell Wilson looks shot to me. It just looks shot. He looks, you know, towards the end, he got a bit scrappy, but he looked unsure of himself. I thought the defense did a nice job of disguising things and confusing him. He just doesn't look anywhere near. like what Russell Wilson used to look like.

The Arizona State running back, it's not like he had any big time plays, but there was that one catch where, I don't know how he got the yardage he got. He is one physical dude that's hard to get down. They had an injury in that game, Micah McFadden that looks like he's lost for a while. That's a devastating injury for them.

And I did think that Abdul Carter number 51 in his first game, I noticed him defensively and obviously on special teams. Yeah, that's it. Remember last year, no punts basically in the game for Washington and maybe two for New York? A little bit different game today. Six punts for New York, five for Washington, 11 total punts in the game. I think it was sloppy. I think that the defense was great, but I also am not concerned about the sloppiness.

I think it's early season stuff. It's the first time they're on the field together. We did see some of this in the opening preseason game, but not with these players. Thursday night's going to be interesting. Thursday night's going to be interesting. Green Bay, by the way, has a 7-0-0 here on Detroit. Actually, it's now 10-0 on Detroit. All right, I was just texted.

Juan Martin's going to join me. It's going to be quick. He's got like five to seven minutes tops. But he'll join me and we'll finish up the show with Kwan Martin right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. Guys, football season is finally here. And my favorite daily fantasy sports app during football season is definitely prize picks. Prize picks is fun, exciting, a game of skill, and it's easy to play.

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and they covered. I'm glad I didn't give out the Giants because I was certainly thinking about giving out the Giants. So far, my picks today, three and two, I was two, two, and one yesterday, although I think a lot of you probably won

with Iowa getting three and a half. The number I gave out on Friday was three. And I have the Titans plus eight and a half pending here this afternoon. Now, there's a new way to use my bookie if you are a listener of this podcast, go to the Kevin Sheeonshow.com slash my bookie, and then in the promo code section, type DC reload. DC reload.

That will entitle you whether you are a new customer or an existing customer to a 50% cash bonus match. The Kevin Sheanshow.com slash my bookie promo code, DC, reload. All right, we have Kwan Martin with us from the locker room on a day in which the defense was without question as good as it's been in a long, long time. Kwan, thanks for making time for me. There were a lot of discussions during the offseason

about the defense and would it improve because there were times last year, let's be honest, where the defense gave up a lot on the ground, gave up too much overall. today, though, a dominant performance, a defensive lead win on opening day. How did it feel to be a part of it? I mean, it's so good, man, just to go out there and kind of, you know, set the center for what we went our season to look like. And just being able to get off the film, man, through and out or a turnover, kind of, you know, I think.

So just continue to play fast, man, playing hard. The D-line got out of the quarterback. And he just made our job easy on the back end. It seemed like really from the jump. you guys dominated defensively at the line of scrimmage. Did you see it that way? Oh, yeah. No, definitely the whole game, man.

I'm guys up front. You know, they've been doing that since camp, and I'm not surprised, honestly, just, you know, that the work they put in up front of the skin. So you talked about takeaways. None today. You had one, and it was called back because of a penalty on that play. And you had a couple of big hits today.

The Giants coming in looked like they, you know, with a veteran quarterback that they wanted to be solid in terms of decision making. It seemed like Russell Wilson was confused a lot by you, by what you guys were doing in the secondary. How did you guys accomplish that? Just disguise, man. Just move the guys around pre-snap and just put out a dozen positions that, you know, we wouldn't be in with a ball snap. So just try to confuse them as much as possible, move guys around. And I just make it hard after the snap for them. What was the focus coming in in terms of the giant offense?

Was it Malik neighbors or was it stopping the run? What was kind of number one on the, you know, keys defensively against New York? Number one, just stopping a run. Just based on last year, man, we know that was kind of area where we needed to improve. And now we went out there and did that. and then just in the passing game, just knowing where Malik neighbors was at all turn. It seemed like you guys did a lot of different things against neighbors. How many things did you do?

It seemed like there was a lot of bracket or double coverage with different guys. It seemed like a lot of guys got a lot of work on Malik neighbors. Yeah, man. Just a defense, man. I think we rotated from guys throughout the game and just kept guys first, man. And, you know, guys just went out there and did what, you know, we know we could do. I thought Duran Payne had a big game for you guys today. Such an athletic freak and he's got so much potential.

What did you think of Big 94's game today? Man, he played amazing. Every time I ran down to celebrate, it was going to make him play. So I made just kudos to him, man, just the work he's playing through OTAs, through fall camp. He's looked like that all year. So I'm not even surprised about his performance. Do you think this size, you know, the off-season acquisitions of Kinlau and Goldman, et cetera,

wise, do you think this size made a big difference? Did you feel like it was a different defense out there, especially in the front seven in front of you? Yeah, man, them do so just hunting up front, honestly. Those guys came out, they played hard. And like I said, man, they just put it in the work all off-season. They've kind of been building. So, no, it was just great to get out there and go against another opponent. short turnaround, you're at Lambo on Thursday night to face the Packers.

What's crucial in getting ready on such a short week? You did it once last year going into Philadelphia, if you recall after that close loss to Pittsburgh. Yeah, man, just recovery. Just get the body, the mind, you know, everything just right with this short week so we can go out there for perform and play fast. Kwan, have you already started preparation for Green Bay? Does that start when the second week of the season is a short week? Yeah, a little bit. Every night and day, you sprinkle at some things.

But, you know, try as best as possible to keep the main thing, the main thing. You had a hell of a game. Congrats. It was a great defensive show today in the opener. Go get him in Green Bay. Appreciate it, Kwan. All right, man, thank you. Kwan Martin, everybody from the locker room.

He had a hell of a game. God, man, the list of players today. that defensively played well is long. All right, one in the books, 21 to 6 over the Giants. We talk about this team all off season, and they've finally got something substantive to talk about, and that is one game, even though I've said this many times before, it's really, really difficult to make any big-time declarations after week one.

Tomorrow I will have a podcast out late. I'll go through my notes, add to the game take. We'll have some Dan Quinn sound from whatever he has said, either post-game or Monday after he's had a chance to look at the film. And we'll go around the rest of the league. A lot of close games in this one o'clock window that just finished up. All right, that's it. Back tomorrow, everybody.