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Don Hahn
Talk about stepping up.
Rosenberg
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The electricity is palpable.
Rosenberg
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This is the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
Rosenberg
That sounds like heaven to me.
Podcast Announcer
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Rosenberg
504 in the big city. Don Han and Rosenberg hanging out with you until seventh. We got a full frontal show today. Always excited about that. Game time is brought to you by Tulliburdew Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, guys, it's taller time. It's tolly time, right? We've got the Islanders in the Capitals tonight. We've got the Knicks in Chicago to take on the Bulls. And We've got a game 76 of the World Series. Trying to force a game 7 will be the Dodgers into Toronto tonight. So that should make for a very interesting possibility here in LA if I'm going to be here on Saturday and the Dodgers force a game seven and win. Could be kind of interesting, could be kind of fun. We'll see what the general interest is going to be. Tullamore do the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Iris whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew and try the new Tullamore Dew. Honey, during today's action, glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. So the Giants are taking on the Niners. And while you were getting hooked up, Alan, I was mentioning how depressing it is that I think for a time the best rival outside the divisions was Giants Niners. Eight times they met in the postseason. Just some classic games, classic matchups. And there was a time in my life where Giants Niners week, which didn't happen every year, you were talking about a primetime game. You were talking about something that you were just obsessed over all week and now it's like an afterthought. Giants all banged up. We do learn that Mac Jones is going to start for San Francisco, but hits completely different with these two teams that have kind of underachieved as of late, especially the Giants. But we've been talking a lot about Jackson Dart and that's Basically the Giants 25 season, right? To just see what he can become. But what does everybody Else think about Dart outside of New York, including the opposition, the 49ers, kind of. Kyle Shanahan, their head coach, talked about Dart and he's impressed with what he sees.
Kyle Shanahan
I've been real impressed with him mixing a lot of RPOs and stuff which I think is really good for him. And he's got a good feel for him and just he's been real impressive watching the tape. He's got a very good knack for off schedule plays, attacking while scrambling. You drop any of your players in coverage, he finds them. His vision is pretty elite when it comes to seeing holes in the defense when he gets outside that pocket and just watching him even play in the pocket too. He knows how to play quarterback and he's been extremely impressive so far.
Rosenberg
I think we can all agree that Robert Sala left a lot to be desired as head coach in the NFL, but he's a hell of a defensive coordinator and he's back with San Francisco. His thoughts on Dark he is uber talented.
Robert Sala
I understand why day ball went to the blue tent. I probably would have went too. I mean, kid's good, man. He's a really, really, really good kid. I think New York hit on this one big time. He's dynamic, he's decisive, he's accurate. He's been a joy to watch studying his tape over the last. He's been what, five starts now, so. And they're doing a really good job with him. You know, there's certain things they're asking of them, but they're doing a good job hiding it within their weekly game plans. And I've always thought day ball's done a really good job, him and Kafka, and they put a lot of strain on defenses and this kid is. He's going to be special.
Don Hahn
Why still a day ball guy?
Rosenberg
Why is it still a thing, guys?
Peter
Why?
Don Hahn
Well, never. It'll never end. It'll never. It'll never.
Rosenberg
Well, you know why? Because outside of New York, they're not talking about the Giants for table so they probably haven't gotten the memo. Why would you. I mean you get Giants emails as spam unless you're playing them right? Like we have to talk about them, right? I'm a fan, I've got to be interested. But like outside of New York, why would you be interested in a perennial loser with a coach that probably is going to be out of a job in five minutes? But anyway, you don't you want. If you want to get praised, play somebody and they will praise you. So coaches are Always going to praise the opposition. But this seemed pretty genuine because they gave detail. I mean, you're talking about a guy that's job is to stop him and another guy who evaluates quarterbacks and offenses as good as anybody in the league sounds like they've got a wealth of praise for the guy and really believe that the Giants hit on something here.
Peter
Yeah. And you also have watched a lot of film on him because you're going to face him, you want to know, you know, what it is that he's doing and you don't have. He's a rookie, right. So there's not a lot of film on him. There's not a lot of tape. So when you watch it, that's, you know, what jumps out tells you, okay, yeah, there's something here. I think everybody sees it around the league. Right. I don't think this is something that has really surprised anyone at this point. When you do it for, what is it, four games now, I'm losing track. But when you do it for the amount of games he's done it, there hasn't been a game. I mean, again, even the loss in New Orleans, which is probably the worst of all the losses, I know Denver was a bad lot, but that wasn't on the offense as much as was on the defense. But the New Orleans loss was all turnovers and a disaster offensively at times, and it was him trying to do too much. And even that game, the first half, the first, the first couple of possessions, he still had it like you could see it. So I feel every game he has shown you that he's a guy like he's. He's a player that you can build with, go forward with and believe that you found somebody that can lead the way. There's still a lot of development to be done. But the film don't lie. These guys watch it. They know and, you know, and Sal has always been a guy like that anyway, when he talks about players, it usually is with great respect and he does hype up a lot of guys. And you talk about again, a guy like Salah who's emotional and a player like Dart who plays with emotion, that's right in his wheelhouse. So, you know, Salah probably does love.
Rosenberg
So, you know, the conversation always seems to come back to what's going to happen with Shane and D. I mean, right now, two and six injuries, toughest schedule in the NFL, right? Really? How many wins can we expect now, guys? Especially as you're missing all these opportunities to get wins when you had Easier teams on the schedule. You caught the Cowboys at the right time, couldn't finish. You lost to the Saints. You had the Denver Broncos on the ropes, couldn't do it. So the games that you should have won, you didn't. So really, how many more games can we expect this team to win? So Jordan Ronan was on with DNR this morning. Do wins matter when it comes to Shane and Dable keeping their jobs?
Jordan Ronan
I do think you have to produce results. I mean, every week you go out there and you lose more games, it's going in the negative column of your resume. Like, you can't just say, well, look, we have some good players. Yeah, but you went 4 and 13 again. You know, again, like, how are you going to sit there and claim you have all these good players if you're.
Peter
Going 4 and 13?
Jordan Ronan
Well, then the coaching is terrible because you're not getting anything out of the players. Right. That's one of the arguments that could be made for sure. So I do think that wins matter here and the way it looks down the stretch matters now. Are they that far off from what kind of we thought they were? I mean, I don't know where you guys were. I picked six wins. And you're hoping Jackson Dart showed some optimism, that that's kind of where we're at.
Rosenberg
Right.
Jordan Ronan
What makes it disappointing is they've blown some games that they should have won.
Rosenberg
Right.
Peter
So where they have nine games left. Right. They have nine. Do you think they got to get to six wins, which is four and five?
Rosenberg
How are they doing?
Peter
Which is. I know, but I'm saying what, what's it. Because you're, because what he said, you know, you go, you can't have four of another four win season. So there are, there are two, like two more wins out of the next nine. That's not cutting it. So is this three. Get it done. Like, what are you, what are we talking about here? Five or six. Six wins feels like, like, like it almost feels like you got to have something along those lines to feel if you can say, hey, we finished season winning for the last nine games and started showing promise. But there's just the excuse of the injuries is built in for the coaching staff. It's there. But defensively to me has been a bigger issue than the offense. And Dable can kind of like say, oh, my hands aren't on the, on the offense. It's, I mean, on the defense, that's something else. We got to make a change there. I could see them making a change to defensive coordinator before they make a change at head coach. All right, but I could see that.
Rosenberg
But if you're going to tell me it's wins and losses and I understand what Jordan's saying, you the coach.
Peter
I'm basing it off what Jordan said. That's why I said so.
Rosenberg
Basing it off of wins and losses, honestly, you'd be the biggest Giant fan in the world and believe that there's still something good in there. That dart may be able to win some games, but the schedule has a lot to say about doing that. All right?
Peter
Right.
Rosenberg
You take it on a 49er team that's banged up, you get them at home, then this is a game they're going to have to win. But what's, what's, what's the number? Anthony, what's the spread for this game? Remind me. They're home against the Niners, a banged up Niner team playing a one o' clock game. Those west coast teams playing a one o' clock game. So there's a lot of advantages to the Giants in this game. They're. They're a two and a half point underdog. All right. Yeah. So not so not crazy, but they're still a dog. So that has to be. If they're gonna have to win games, they have to win Sunday. Then they're going to Chicago to take on the Bears. They've lost 11 straight road games. Okay. So, yep, that's tough. Home against the packers, at the Lions, at the Patriots, home against the Commanders, home against the Vikings. Get it, get the candy ready. You're at the Raiders and home against the Cowboys. So looking at it, maybe three say win this week. Maybe you win at the Bears, you win at the Raiders.
Peter
Yeah.
Rosenberg
How? Maybe three wins. So you're looking at a five win season. So does five.
Peter
What are the Commanders look like when.
Rosenberg
You save their job?
Peter
Right?
Rosenberg
Yeah.
Peter
You don't know. Look like when you play them because you always play them tough. That's always a crazy game that's at home. Right. Because they lost in Washington to start the season.
Rosenberg
Yeah, that's at home.
Peter
Correct. Right. So like that could be like for me, if you wanted to wild card that as a fourth. Because what if Daniels just never really gets right? Never really. Like you don't know.
Rosenberg
All right, so.
Peter
So all you've got is that to deal with. But I mean, what's the last game of the season?
Rosenberg
Home against the Cowboys.
Peter
What is that again? Yeah. What's it. Does it matter? Does it. Yeah, you.
Don Hahn
You have no idea. With the Cowboys. They could be completely done. They could be fighting for a wild.
Rosenberg
Card that you, you don't.
Peter
That's why, that's why the win total thing that, that Jordan brought up and it's the right thing for Jordan to bring up here because it's true. You can't have a 2 and 15. 2 and 15. Like, you just can't. Like, you can't keep having these games, especially the Denver game was a bad look on the coaching staff. The New Orleans loss a bad look on the coaching staff. The earlier ones you could blame on, well, Russ wasn't really it. We had to make the quarterback change and once we did, everything kind of changed. Then we had all these injuries. You can make all these excuses, but 2 and 15 is still 2 and 15. They have to put a couple of wins to make up for these losses and make it look like you're ending the season with momentum so that the owner doesn't look and think, yeah, we got to bring in new people here. You need as a coach to convince the owner, look at the momentum we have at the end of the year, we can build off this into the off season and when we're healthy going into next year, just look how good we're going to be when we get neighbors back and scatter Boo back and like and add another piece in the draft. That's what you're selling. But you can't sell it with two wins. You can't do it well.
Rosenberg
You can't sell it with less wins than you had last year when the owner of the team said it's got to look better. Now if you get to six now, that's four wins in the last nine. Four and five. But we did look at there could be an avenue. Maybe you beat San Francisco, maybe you beat the Bears, should be able to beat the Raiders. Maybe the Cowboys don't care. Maybe the commanders are banged up at the end of the season because if you get the six wins guy, that's not a great record, but it doubles the win total from the year before. And then if you're trying to petition for your job, you could say, hey, we doubled our win total from last year. I got a rookie quarterback who's learning. I lost my best wide receiver midway through the season. I lost Scatterboo, you know, well, but.
Don Hahn
That'S why so much of this Don to me depends on, you know, we talked earlier and I understood where we were coming from a few weeks ago ago we talked about the win total and then after losing to Philadelphia, I've sort of like reassessed it. A, it's how it looks, of course, like we've discussed, and B, it's. It's so about how Dart looks like. I really think if Dart doesn't grow, guys, from right now till the end of game 17, that's a problem it needs for Dable. This has to be continued development because all we know so far is that the kid has talent. We know that everyone in the league knows he has talent. But guys, if he doesn't grow from right now to the end of the year, you. You could be going, oh, man, do we just have another Daniel Jones? A guy who's talented, but he'll be much better with someone else.
Peter
It that again, you're speaking with logic and I'm telling you, you sell it as well. He had no talent around them. Look at the throws, you know, like they like the one thing in all sports what happens is when you have to make a case for yourself and, and you can't use statistics, what you start to say is, well, if you see it like I do, like you do, this whole thing of my experience, you know, look, just watch the plays. Those throws are right there. He's just not, you know, that that guy wasn't good enough to go up and high point, that a good NFL wide receiver would have caught that ball, would have made that play. That's the stuff that, that, that you make the argument for to defend yourself if you're going there as an owner. I'm like, you know what? I'm moving on. Well, and that's, that's really. If, if you're married, you have to have a fallback plan now. You can't have it at the end of the season. I'll wait and see what it looks like. You have to right now already in your mind have at least two options of if I'm going to do this and I want to bring it, I know I have a quarterback. I know I have some talent on this team now. I don't think I'm going to move on from the gm, but I got to get a better coach. I got to get somebody that's not going to lose games like that in Denver.
Rosenberg
That.
Peter
That's not going to run into the tent and embarrass the franchise when the quarterback isn't out soon enough for him. I can't have this stuff. I need somebody that I can put at the podium every week and feel like this guy's in charge. He gets it and we're not going to like Again, what Sean Payton has done in Denver, what Vrabel's done in New New England, you got to find that guy if you don't think Dable's the guy.
Rosenberg
All right, so it's all how it looks. All right? Because we're sitting here playing the reindeer game of what they have to do, win wise. It all depends on how it looks. So let's look at the first eight games. They're 2 and 6. How does it look? All right, because you can look at the Denver game, having not watched it, take a look at the score and say, hey, they went to Denver, played a really good team, played them hard, came up short. That's, that's good, right? If you watch the game, you felt disgusted by the way it was coached. You felt disgusted how they handled that fourth quarter. It didn't look good. It looked good for three quarters, but it's about finishing the game, right? So. Yes. It just can't be about the result. It's got to be. Let's take a look at it. So I'll ask you, we're halfway through the season. They are 2 and 6. Has it looked good, bad or indifferent for this head coach?
Peter
Indifferent. Peter. Peter.
Don Hahn
I, I, I would say because the losses that you have are so bad. I, I, I got it.
Peter
Thing is bad. There's a lot of bad in there that you mix in with the, with the good.
Don Hahn
Yeah, I got it. I gotta say indifferent. That's the best. That's kind of the best you can do.
Rosenberg
Yeah. See, I'm leaning towards indifferent or bad. I can't say. Good.
Peter
No.
Rosenberg
All right. They lost neighbors. They lost scout, but they were gonna lose that game to the Eagles anyway. Okay, I know it was closed and all that, but you just saw Philadelphia was just a better team. Okay. That the Saints game. It's easy to say, well, your, your quarterback turned the ball over three times. Their defense couldn't get a sack. All right, so coaching was involved in that, if you want to tell me. Well, it's more about the defensive coordinator than the head coach. Well, who brought that defensive coordinator in? There's a reason why Wink Martindale isn't the defensive coordinator of the Giants and Shane Bowen is, is because of the head coach. So we can't excuse the defense away from the head coach because he's an offensive guy when one of the reasons Bowen is in here, if not the reason, is because of the head coach. So I will, I will err on the side of you guys and say indifferent.
Peter
Yeah.
Rosenberg
And now we're we're going to look at the second half of the season leaning towards indifferent and see if he can sway us towards, hey, it looks good for the coach and you keep his job. And I keep, I keep bringing this up and I'm tired, I'm sure you're tired of hearing me say it, but I still think it needs to be accentuated. Extending the coach so it's not just bringing him back, it's also extending him, which means the closer to indifferent you are to me, you're closer to done.
Peter
You're right. And the extension, I think, I think I heard Jordan say this. The extension should line up with the quarterback. When the quarterbacks do, that's what you do. You don't give him, you know he's not going to get a four or five year extension, right? You give him what, three years or two years off this, whatever it is. And, and you know that in that time frame, if the quarterback's good, he'll be getting an extension off his rookie deal at that point because you can't waste any time. You don't want to wait. So I think you put it there. And if the quarterback's not playing well enough to get that extension, then he's out. But that's the only, the only way you do it so you're not stuck long term. But I keep, I keep coming back to the two things. Number one is this, is this the guy that can lead this team to consistent winning, but is he also the leader of men that you want in front of your team? I also think, though, the other one, that's one. And number two, who else you getting? You can't fire somebody and then go, let's just do a search. You can't do that. You've got to know who you can just bring in. And is Tomlin going to shake free? You go after him with, with guns blazing, who is going to shake free that you, you say that's a guy I want to bring in here. Because I think what the Giants need with a very young roster, neighbors, Scatterboo Dart, Abdul Carter. There's young guys on this team that are key pieces and key positions. Man, you got to have an experienced coach who can take charge and take control. You need your Tom Coughlin and I don't know if that's, that's available right now. No, you've got to see if there is.
Rosenberg
It's a lot that, It's a lot that John Mara is going to have to go through for sure. But I think you do have these nine games to see, you know, if things can, can change. It's, it's such a, it's such a tough, it's such a tough thing, guys. It really is to be able to just figure out how, how to deal with all this. It's not easy. It's.
Peter
Why did the Patriots do it, Don? Why did, why were the Patriots to do it?
Rosenberg
Because the guy they wanted shook loose. Right?
Peter
There you go.
Rosenberg
Now, I don't know if there's, is there a variable out there? I don't know the answer to that. We're going to have to see now. There's a lot of reasons why people buy at Ramsey Mazda. It's their selection, it's their customer service, and it's their savings. Least a new 2025 Mazda CX5 2.5s. Select for 229 for 36 months. Start shopping now at RamseyMonsda.com. choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for details. Vin S 059-5731 MSRP31915 0. Security deposit ends 1031 25.
Don Hahn
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Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
Don Hahn
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
Podcast Announcer
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
Rosenberg
Fifty years ago today, this. I can find. Anybody who doesn't enjoy this one, there's probably some haters out there.
Peter
It's like three songs.
Don Hahn
There are definitely people who hate this song.
Peter
Come on. Really?
Don Hahn
Oh, for sure.
Rosenberg
I think there are a lot of.
Don Hahn
People who probably think it's, like, theatrical and cheesy.
Rosenberg
I'm sure. I love it.
Don Hahn
I can see someone making the case. Even though I disagree.
Rosenberg
I believe I could be wrong about this, but I don't think I am. It's one of those rare songs that on three separate occasions, hit one. All right. Hit number one when it first came out. It hit number one when Freddie Mercury passed, and then it hit number one.
Don Hahn
No, no, no.
Rosenberg
Release the Wayne's World. No, it's.
Don Hahn
You have it. You're right, but wrong. It's.
Rosenberg
It. It.
Don Hahn
When it was released, when Wayne's World came out, and then when the Freddie Mercury biopic came out.
Rosenberg
Always interesting. Yes.
Peter
Yeah.
Don Hahn
So you are correct. Just not at the. Not at the. Those exact occasions.
Rosenberg
Yep. And they used it in Wayne's World. It was spectacular. It was so good.
Peter
Great scene.
Rosenberg
What was Wayne's role like? What? That's how.
Don Hahn
By the way, that's how people of my age range truly know that song.
Rosenberg
No, of course.
Don Hahn
That wasn't. It wasn't in my life prior to Wayne's World. That's what put it in my life.
Rosenberg
But 50 years ago today, Halloween. What a day. Wow. To release a song in. In 1975. And believe me, it was. If you saw the movie, you know that it was not received well by the record company because they're like, this is just a weird song. Plus, it's long. They don't want. They want to play songs that are, you know, 2 minutes and 35 seconds. And this thing's like, you know, sevens plus or whatever. They defied all the odds and still won because it's such a great song.
Don Hahn
And it's so weird, too.
Rosenberg
Think about.
Don Hahn
It's like, not only is it insanely long, it's like show tunesy. And what genre is it exactly? It's not rock. It's not pop. It's like, you couldn't. It's a really hard song to describe in. With.
Rosenberg
With.
Don Hahn
With basic terminology, but it is pretty terrific.
Rosenberg
1-800-919-3776 Talk about the Giants. They take on the Niners. Jets have the buy trade deadline coming up on Tuesday. Now usually the tread deadline goes by in the NFL and you don't even notice, but there's a lot of significant rumors that are riding out there really for both teams. And you know what the, what the Giants may do at the trade deadline. And Jordan Ronan was on with the boys this morning talking about what kind of action the Giants might get involved in on Tuesday.
Jordan Ronan
I don't see them doing anything major. I mean they're trying to trade Evan Neal.
Rosenberg
Who in the, in the world would, would be lining up to bring in Evan Neal?
Jordan Ronan
I said trying. You know, Jalen Hyde, I'm sure is available. He's inactive these days.
Rosenberg
Yeah, not exactly a crop of I wants out there.
Peter
Kayvon Thibodeau you would think would draw a lot of interest.
Rosenberg
I, I'm not so.
Peter
But it doesn't sound like they're, they're shopping him.
Rosenberg
I. Well, because he's, he, he, he's somebody compared to Evan Neal and Jalen Hyatt, that's attractive. But yeah, if you were committed, let's face it, you got to think there's a new defensive coordinator next year no matter what happens. Even if Shane and Dabel come back. There's a new D coordinator.
Peter
Yes.
Rosenberg
If you bring in the right guy. I think that I'd like to find a way to keep him. Remember, the Giants are in a very cool situation as far as the cap is concerned, that if Dart's the guy and you don't have to pay him for a few years, that's a lot of money you could really pay other players with. Right. Because it's going to be a while before you're going to have to address the quarterback position, which is always the most expensive of any roster spot. So I, I could be dead wrong, but I think there's something there with the right coach. You did take him seventh overall. I, I want to see if I can make it work with him for what I'd end up getting back at the end of the day, guys, I think I might want to hold on to him and see if the right DC could bring the best out of him because I see that there's something there with it.
Peter
You got. Again, it's, it's, it's the, the trio and he's going to be due. You got to pay him. But the other issue with the Giants and their defense is their secondary is all hurt and that's what I worry about this weekend as well. Against, you know, even against Mac Jones, it's still, I mean, it's. It's always things to be concerned with. They might have to make trades just to make up for injuries that they're having. Right. They might have to do something along those lines. But I don't see anything that they have a value worth trading. Like it's different than the Jets. Like the jets are. A lot of people look at the jets and think fire sale and you can maybe get something worthwhile off that team. But, you know, Giants wise, I thought they should have been buyers, but all the injuries happen and they're two and six, so it doesn't make sense to be buyers now. But had they come away with. If they just came away. Don, tell me if I'm crazy. If they came away from the game and won that game in Denver and now their record is 3 and 5 instead of 2 and 6, would you. Would you think, you know, I mean, the scatterable injury changes things too, but they still have two capable running backs. Would you think, be a buyer, go find yourself a wide receiver, see if you can pick somebody up because you got.
Rosenberg
It's twofold. One, hey, we're three and five. Maybe we can sneak into the playoffs. And also I want to have some weapons for my young quarterback. Throw the ball to by. Jalen Hyatt's supposed to be one. He's fast, but he's inactive. We just lost neighbors. Now we lost Scatterboo. If you're three and five, there's two reasons to do it now. There'd only be one, and that is to develop my young quarterback. But I'm sorry, you're going to have to find other ways to evaluate him than giving up commodities to bring guys in. Unless you're telling me you're getting a guy that's under contract beyond this year that you can build around, but that gets very expensive. Those deals usually don't happen in the middle of a season, so I'd have to see what's available. But I think that loss to Denver, followed up by the way they played against Philadelphia. You're no longer talking about trying to salvage a season as far as the standings are concerned. Now it's just about making sure that you develop the quarterback. And you're gonna have to find different ways to evaluate. I can't give up draft capital for a rental just to have a weapon to throw the football to. I can't do that. James is in New Jersey. You're On ESPN New York. What's up, James?
James (Caller)
Hey, guys. Big fan of the show. Thanks for taking my call.
Rosenberg
Always.
Don Hahn
Thanks, man.
James (Caller)
Yeah, so a couple points here with the Brian Dable thing and you know, whether he keeps his job, whether he doesn't. I'm actually a pretty big Brian Dable fan. Besides a couple of the losses, I don't think a lot of the losses were his fault, but we, I've been hearing this thing with the quarterback for, you know, years now. You work with Josh Allen. I still hear that to this day. Oh, you used to work with Josh Allen? Heard that with, with Daniel Jones. It didn't work out. And now I'm hearing that with Jackson Dart. I don't know whether Jackson Dart's just a really good quarterback and he's making Brian Dable look good because, you know, ultimately I think if Brian Dable does lose his job, it's because the Giants do, you know, lose out this thing. And it's because of the quarterback play that Daniel Jones is, you know, you know, he's going off this year, you know, so that's, that's where I'm at there.
Rosenberg
I think that there's James. It's, it's, it's that whole thing, first of all, how responsible he is for the play of the quarterback. And if he is responsible, is that enough to extend them? Like there are really bad coaches, head coaches that are really good coordinators and really good quarterback whisperers. We just talked about Robert Sala. Robert Sala is a terrific defensive coordinator. He is. Oh yeah, he was not a good head coach, but he found his ballywick in the NFL as being a really good D coordinator. And I think that's where his career is. I think same thing with Rex Ryan. Not a great head coach, but a really good defensive coordinator. Maybe Brian Dable is just a really good oc, A really good evaluator of quarterbacks and groomer of quarterbacks. But unfortunately there's. That's just one of many things you got to be good at if you're going to do a, a decent job as a head coach in the NFL. So you got to decide exactly how important is the quarterback play to have him be the head coach of this team. For what Alan was suggesting and what Jordan was suggesting in line with Dart, which could be, you know, a two or three year contract extension on top of bringing him back next year a lot.
Peter
What else are you going to do? Like, honestly, like, what else are you going to do? I don't like the idea where the Giants are right now. I know fans just want the pound of flesh and they want to hear that he's fired because you get sick of someone's face when they're not winning. So it's. As a fan, you have to. You can approach it that way, and you have every right to. You have every right to say, I want him out. But as somebody that's running a franchise, you got to think to yourself a couple of things right now. Are we heading in the right direction? Even if it's slightly in the right direction, even if it's a slow crawl back up the hill, if you're heading that way, you hesitate to make a change to someone who has zero experience and hoping it works out right. You need to make sure. Who do I have that I could bring in that I already know is available or might become available, that I can make this move? It's why what the jets did last year, you think about derailing a franchise, not only moving on from Salah when you did early in the season, which completely blew the whole season up, but it also set you off course because now you didn't have a plan for who was going to be your next coach. You went into the off season and what'd you do? You asked Mike Tannenbaum and the 33rd team to help you find your next coach, which means you didn't know who to get. You needed someone to help you get a coach.
Rosenberg
Yeah. You put the cart before the horse. You fired the coach.
Peter
That's the danger. That's the only reason why I'm giving the devil's advocate here.
Rosenberg
Right.
Peter
I'm just telling you the dangers that could come. As much as a lot of fans are sick of Dable's face because he loses, and that's all you see. If you feel like it's somehow chugging up the hill, even if it's slow, you're better off extending for a short term than blowing it up and hoping that you have someone. If you don't have a plan or you have your variable or you have your. Your obvious next coach that you know can come in and get you. Right.
Rosenberg
You've been around NBA people, I've been around hockey people.
Peter
Yep.
Rosenberg
If I go and. And talk to an executive, I see him in the press box all the time. And I said, give me your top five assistants you think would be good head coaches. They rattle them off like that. Yeah, I'm sure it's worked in the NBA too, you know. So the problem with Woody is he decided to fire the coach before even asking anybody. And because he's not an insider, he. He has to hire a committee of people that are insiders to do it for.
Peter
And then how many people said, I'm all set?
Rosenberg
Yeah, well, exactly.
Peter
Now, you know, he's arrogant enough to think I can hire anybody. He doesn't realize that his. His list is shorter than everybody else's list exactly because of who he is and who they are as a team.
Rosenberg
So John Mara, who is respected around the NFL, decides to bring Shane and Dable back last year, but under the pretense of, hey, it better look a lot different. So I would think John had spent the entire summer and all of this season picking people's brains. So who's out there? Who is. Who's a hot commodity? Who is somebody that's the next great coach in this league is compiling a list just in case he has to make the decision. So I would hope he has spent the last few months compiling a list of people. We don't have the list, but hopefully he does. To know, A, who's available, B, who might be somebody that's itching to take this job and circumstances that could actually be good at it. Now, he may not be good at it, but there's got to be a list of people that we aren't even thinking about that Adam Schefter is not even thinking about that's on the list of the people that are in the know that'll get that shot. So I don't think it's as much an unknown as we believe it is, because we don't. We're not out. I. I have to think that there is a list on John Mara's desk right now of people that he will be in touch with.
Peter
Here's what I want to do. I think Monday or probably Tuesday's show, we should have somebody on, an NFL insider, somebody that knows who can tell us. Give me the. Give us the names. Let's find out who the people are saying in the league. Who are people saying, this guy. This guy's gonna be a coach. He's next.
Rosenberg
Right?
Peter
That's what I want to know. Who is it?
Rosenberg
Right now there may not be someone that can do that because the people that might talk to John Mara don't go public with this. Right. But that doesn't mean that there aren't. They aren't out there. Like, if I. If I go. If I go to the Devil Kings game and I run into some executive that I known for years and say, who you think the next Three. He might give me two or three people. If I ask him to. Come on. He won't say anything. Well, you know.
Peter
Yeah, but.
Rosenberg
You know what I'm saying?
Peter
Like in the job. But, but, but these guys know. They all. Like Dan Graziano. Knows Dan Graziano.
Rosenberg
There's got to be. Because somebody.
Peter
Because they talk to people, though. They do exactly what you did.
Rosenberg
You just said there could be seven, eight jobs available during the off season. One. One of those coaches is going to work. Maybe not to win a championship, but one of them is going to work. So somebody is going to be hired this off season that is going to be a good coach in the NFL.
Peter
Yeah.
Rosenberg
The Giants have to make sure if they make the change that that coach is the one they hire.
Peter
Exactly.
Rosenberg
And when you're the New York Giants and you're John Marin and there's no cap, Peter, for how much you could pay for a coach, the Giants can't lose that face off. They listen.
Don Hahn
It's one of those situations where even if you're not sure as of October 31st, where you stand on the new head coach of it all, you have to be aware that by the time you get to January, it might be your top priority. So they have to be all over this right now.
Peter
Yeah.
Rosenberg
Well, you're doing six, so you have.
Peter
To be thinking that.
Rosenberg
Yeah, you're not thinking if they're 6 and 2, but a 2 and 6 right now. It should have been on his mind for the last six or seven weeks. All right, our picks are coming up next. I didn't even notice I did it. That's how out of the loop I am. Isn't that crazy? I did do it, Peter. I did it and I didn't even know I did it. Old. I'm an old man. Never been prouder.
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Don Hahn
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
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Don Hahn
What's the game called?
Rosenberg
Football.
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These are the Don Hahn and Rosenberg pro picks.
Rosenberg
There's football. There is football. Picks haven't been great this year. Getting better, at least for me. I'm 11 and 13, but I got 20 points. I'm in first place. Allen is nine and 15. He's in second place with 18 points. And Peter is 7:17 with 15 points. So I get to go first, guys, since I am in first place as we enter week nine. Hard to believe we do it all the time. Can't believe it's week nine, my one point play. I think the packers are turning the corner. I do. And I think they're going to be the team that everybody thought they were going to be at the beginning of the season. And the Panthers are probably going to slide away from being contenders. But 13 and a half, that's a pretty zoptic number. Carolina is 12 and 4 against the spread in their last 16 games as an underdog. So I think the Panthers will hang out. Packers will win the game. They'll probably win the game handily. But 13 and a half is a little bit too juicy for my blood. I'm going to go with the Panthers getting 13 and a half as my one point play. God, Cincinnati stinks. They are just bad. We don't even know who's going to start a quarterback now. Flacco may not be able to go. And the bears, they're a 2 1/2 point favorite on the road in Cincinnati. I like that number. I think Chicago's going to win the game outright. So I believe they're going to cover the two and a half. Enough confidence that I've got it is my two point play, my three point play. Even though this team's burned me this year and burned Peter too, if I'm not mistaken. I'm going to go with the LA Chargers. They're a 9 1/2 point favorite out on road in Tennessee. But Tennessee, they're done, right? They're. They're 1 and 6 against the spread in their last seven games. It's under 10. The Chargers should be able to take care of business against one of the worst teams in football. Under a 10 point favorite. So that's my three point play. The Chargers to cover the nine and a half in Tennessee against the Titans. So I've got the Panthers getting 13 1/2 as my 1 point play. The Bears is a 2 1/2 point favorite on the road again. Cincinnati is my 2 point play and I love the Chargers in Tennessee as my three, three, three point play to cover the nine and a half.
Don Hahn
One, two, three point play.
Peter
Okay.
Don Hahn
All right.
Peter
I like it. You know, you said it with your chest too. You were very close. You move into first place and now you feel like you're rolling now. So there's your momentum going into week nine. I love it. All right. I am going to now see if I can recover from what was a just devastating 03 week. The first one I've had all year. It was tough and then some of them were just painful losses. But I'm going to start believing in some teams. And the first team I'm believing in in as the Denver Broncos, they are at Houston. Now, Houston has won some games this year, but you know what they do? They get teams when they're down, when they're banged up, when they're injured or they're going through stuff like. Like that's been there. That's been their thing. Now Denver is down. They don't have Patrick Sutton. He's going to probably be out of this game. He's not in their secondary. But their front is so good. We just saw it and I think, I think they're going to go on the road. It's. I'm going to take the one and a half and I'm going to take the win. With Denver on the road in Houston as a one point play, their defense is tough enough. Stroud in, that offense has gotten better, but this defense is legit. So that's my one point play. Don, I'm with you on the two point play. I like the Bears too. I like the Bears laying two and a half. Cincinnati is the home team, but their defense stinks and Flacco's got a shoulder issue. Give me the Bears. I'll lay the two and a half. That's my two point play. Now for my three point play, I'm gonna get aggressive. I have to. I gotta make a comeback. This is how you do it. First, I gotta wait till Monday night. That's right, boys, Monday night. Oh, so you saw Brian Schottenheimer went off on his team, right?
Rosenberg
Yeah.
Peter
About how the offense and it doesn't matter, he sended a message. Enough's enough. They score 30, they give up 30. But one thing that stood out to me is at home, they don't score 30, they score 40. The last three home games for the Dallas Cowboys, 40 points. 40 points, 44 points.
Don Hahn
I love the point.
Peter
I am taking the Cowboys. I am laying the two and a half. Kyler Murray's back and they'll score. But the Cardinals give up a lot early in games. And that's where Dallas will win this game. Three point play.
Don Hahn
You know what? It's a three.
Rosenberg
Three, three, three.
Don Hahn
Three things are funny. I'm sitting there staring at that game and it didn't move me. And then you said it and I'm like, that's a short number against.
Rosenberg
They sold it.
Don Hahn
Well, no, he did. And you never know.
Peter
You got the coach calling you out, right? Like there's a lot going on here. The motivation game.
Don Hahn
Big Motivation.
Peter
Yeah, motivation.
Don Hahn
The big, big motivation. I haven't gotten involved with this team really yet and every week I go what am I doing? Why not? Who are the Falcons? I don't know but I know the damn Patriots are.
Rosenberg
Yeah and it's at home this game.
Don Hahn
It's under six.
Peter
That's a good one.
Don Hahn
At this point you see the Patriots under a touchdown at home. You know, the Patriots have become a home juggernaut again. Foxborough's become Foxborough. So the, the Falcons have burnt me. They certainly did last week. They were pure hot trash. Knowing this league that you can't read at all. They'll beat the Patriots by 20 and we won't understand anything. But I'll take the Pats given the five and a half and make it my, my one point play, my two point player, my, you know, old faithful, my reliable guys, my sweet, sweet lovable Leones. The Vikings are actually just laying out a parking like a park parking cone as quarterback this week. They don't so I'm going to go ahead and roll with the Detroit Lions. It's a big number. It's a zofting nine and a half in Detroit but I think they found their sweet spot. I love them at home. Always give me Detroit covering in a divisional battle against the Vikings and you guys want to talk about sacking up and just saying, you know, it's been enough. I've been bad enough. My team's been been bad enough. Give me the commanders at home with the season on the line. I'm doing it. Jaden Daniels officially a starter at today they are a dog at home against Seattle.
Peter
Here we go.
Don Hahn
I, I don't know what this team is but I know one thing you lose your you lose this game at home against Seattle, the season's over. So I will take them putting their season on the line. And I will say one thing. I really loved what they showed defensively against Kansas City in the first half that showed me there may be another gear here that this team hasn't gotten to yet. It just they weren't able to at any point start scoring and give that defense anything to sort of get behind. I think with number five back at the helm they will solve that problem and score, score some points. So give me the commanders to save their season, at least keep it going and beat the Seahawks at home wearing the classic burgundy and gold white unis. Don. It's everything but the Redskins logo that they'll be wearing on Sunday night. So commanders by three point play Detroit. My two and the New England Patriots. My one point play.
Rosenberg
So we'll see if I can get above.500 if see if I can actually win a 3.0 point game. But it should be a lot of fun as we enter week nine.
Peter
Peter, we gotta. We gotta play. When you do these, these picks, especially when it's the com. When you decide to pick on your team with pick the commanders. We really should have like, you know, Whitney Houston. I get so emotional. Wait, we. We have to play that while you're doing it.
Don Hahn
I don't like that.
Rosenberg
How about emotional Arrested you by the Rolling Stones?
Peter
You can do that. Rolling Stones. That's a good one.
Don Hahn
Or something about heart. You know, there's. There's options here.
Peter
There's options, but caught in emotion, right, Lisa?
Rosenberg
Lisa?
Peter
Cult jam got seven.
Don Hahn
That is so horrible.
Rosenberg
But maybe it all turns around this week. Enn Coming up next, Don Hannah Rosenberg, ESPN New York.
Peter
But first, I want to tell you about my friends at Bath Fitter, everybody. Because we updated a bath in our house. We actually converted a bath into a shower, which they do that too. If you don't want a bath bathtub anymore and you want this gorgeous shower that we have now in this place of this old bath. They do that and it really looks great. My sister liked it so much. She said, oh, they do. What else do they do? They do the bath renovation as well. Yes, they do. She had that done in her house. So all you have to do is call them up and a Bath Fitter consultant will take you through a process like they did with us with a free in home consultation. As Rosenberg would say, you can pick style, color, all the specifics and accessories to update your bath. Customize just the way you want it. Now, Bath Fitter offers all types of custom bath renovations. I've told you about mine where they take out the tub and they put in a shower that's really nice. But they also have their unique permafit solution. That's what they did for my sister's bath. You get a watertight fit, by the way. No bubbles, no nothing. Here's the best part too, because you know Bath Fitters, the permanent fit solution, the lead bathroom renovation, they do it in a day. It's durable, it's easy to clean. There's no demolition, lower cost than a full replacement. And here's the best part. Lifetime guarantee. If you're looking to do this, now's the time. No money down, no payments, no interest for 18 months. That's no interest until April of 2027. This is the time to get it done. Get it done before the holidays. So people come in and say, oh, you updated your bath. It looks gorgeous. It must have been a mess. And you say, no. Took one day and Bath Fitter did it for me. You can trust the Bath Fitter team like we did. Start designing your bat today. @batfitter.com there's only one bat fitter.
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Don Hahn
I don't want to know how the.
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Peter
I just want to know. It's good.
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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – "Giants Preview" (Hour 3, Oct 31, 2025)
Podcast: ESPN New York | Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
This hour centers on the state of the New York Giants as they approach a pivotal matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The hosts analyze the Giants’ season-to-date, focusing on rookie QB Jackson Dart’s development, the job status of head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen, and speculate about potential shakeups on the coaching staff. Insights from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh add an outsider’s perspective on Dart. The hosts weigh scenarios for the remainder of the Giants’ season, touch on trade deadline chatter, and close the hour with their weekly NFL picks. Their signature playful banter and deep New York sports knowledge set the tone.
Shanahan on Jackson Dart, 02:41:
"His vision is pretty elite…he knows how to play quarterback and he's been extremely impressive so far."
Saleh on Jackson Dart, 03:19:
"He's dynamic, he's decisive, he's accurate. He's been a joy to watch…he's going to be special."
Rosenberg on external Giants perception, 03:56:
"You get Giants emails as spam unless you're playing them, right?...outside of New York, why would you be interested in a perennial loser..."
Insider Jordan Raanan on job security, 06:57:
"Wins matter here and the way it looks down the stretch matters... Six wins feels like...you've got to have something along those lines."
Don Hahn on rookie QB growth, 12:41:
"If Dart doesn't grow...do we just have another Daniel Jones? A guy who's talented, but will be much better with someone else."
Peter on coaching succession, 17:32:
"You can't fire somebody and then go, let's just do a search. You can't do that. You've got to know who you can just bring in...I don't know if that's available right now."
Rosenberg on Giants’ coaching contingency, 33:20:
"I would hope [Mara] has spent the last few months compiling a list of people...just in case he has to make the decision."
The episode is candid and analytical, with the hosts’ trademark mix of directness, sarcasm, and self-aware New York sports fatalism. There’s a thread of hope — if guarded — in Dart, but strong realism (bordering on cynicism) about the challenges facing the Giants’ leadership. Throughout, the hosts keep the discussion accessible to both die-hard fans and casual listeners, explaining context as they go and always punctuating serious talk with humor and personal interjections.
Hour 3 gives listeners a sharp, no-nonsense diagnosis of the Giants’ 2025 struggles: There’s hope in the rookie QB, skepticism about coaching, and urgency for change—but only if that change is truly ready. The Giants’ next nine games will set the tone for the franchise, but the future hinges on progress, not just on paper but in spirit, discipline, and the eye test. The debate is open and urgent: Develop, or detonate? The pressure is on, both on the field and in the front office.