American Football

Giants news, 1/3: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Sunday schedule, John Mara, more

January 3, 2023

New York Giants headlines for Tuesday

Play or sit? Will Giants coach Brian Daboll go all out to beat Eagles, or rest key players?

The New York Giants are in the 2022-23 NFC playoffs. Yes, it’s real. Thing is, who the Giants will play is up in the air.

The No. 1 seed in the NFC and the NFC East title is on the line for the Eagles. There is also Giants lore, the memory of Tom Coughlin going all out to win in the final week of the season against the unbeaten New England Patriots in a game the Giants lost but that they credit with helping them on their Super Bowl run.

Daboll doesn’t care about any of that.

“We’ll talk about it and do what’s best for the team,” Daboll said. “Whatever we think is best for our team that’s what we’ll end up doing….Joe [Schoen] and I will have some conversations. Talk to the coaches. I don’t think we need to make that decision right now. We’ll do whatever we think is best for our guys and our team.”

Daboll knows it is a “damned if you do, damned it you don’t” situation.

“What we’ve got to make decisions on is do what’s best for our team, not any other team,” he said.

From Big Blue View

Other Giant observations

John Mara ‘not as miserable’, amid Giants success | New York Post

“As I’m walking out to my car at the end of the game, they’re not yelling, ‘You suck! Sell the team!’ ” Mara told The Post’s Steve Serby and a small group of reporters following the win.

Mara had endured boos and ridicule from fans, most infamously when he spoke on the field during Eli Manning’s jersey retirement last year. Among all the changes he’s noticed around him, however, Mara noticed a profound one inside himself.

“It feels like I’m not as miserable as I have been,” Mara said.

5 reasons Giants could go on a playoff run | The Athletic

ESPN’S Dan Orlovsky gives credit to New York’s coaching staff

The @Giants are as well coached as anyone pic.twitter.com/EMVli7Nfel

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 2, 2023

Inside victorious NY Giants locker room as they head back to playoffs | The Record

“This community, this city is demanding,” safety Julian Love told NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. “If you play here, you have to know that. When you’re losing, it’s not fun. When you’re winning, it is. This city brings out the best in you.”

NFL All-Pro team 2022: Best players at every position | ESPN.com

Left tackle Andrew Thomas, Giants. I saw a three-way race between Jedrick Wills (Browns), Tunsil and Thomas, who has become a building block protecting Daniel Jones for the Giants. Wills has become the most ferocious run-blocker of the three, but Thomas has been a prototypical left tackle for a team that desperately needed a reliable tackle. He also has committed just one penalty to Tunsil’s 10 and Wills’ nine while allowing a mere two sacks.

.@giants are improving in every area; but one thing that is SO noticeable is how everyone is helping everyone …It’s the hallmark of winning teams @allforgod_55 helping out his LG here helps give a clean pocket to his QB. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/YEC362kRaB

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 2, 2023

NFL Week 17 winners and loser | CBSSports.com

Winner: Brian Daboll. The Giants looked like a hopeless team last season at 4-13, but it seems the only thing they needed to turn things around was a new — and competent — head coach. In his first year on the job, not only has Daboll engineered a brilliant turnaround, but he has the Giants headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Comparing 2022 team to past two Giants Super Bowl teams | CBSSports.com

The 2007 and 2022 Giants had below-average passing offenses, above-average rushing offenses, and pass defenses right around league average. The 2007 Giants had a stingier run defense than this year’s squad, however, the 2022 Giants are surrendering just under the league average in points per game while both the 2007 and 2011 teams allowed more than the league average in points per game.

That 2011 team was far above league average in yards per play and points per game and significantly above league average in passing yards — hat tip to a 1,500-plus yard Victor Cruz out-of-nowhere eruption. Now, the 2011 Giants were more susceptible on defense — allowed higher than league average in all major categories — which likely was part of the reason why that club went 9-7 in the regular season. But they could really move the football through the air and score.

2023 NFL Mock Draft: C.J. Stroud makes his case as QB1 | CBSSports.com

Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame. Mayer is more Gronk than Kelce but that’s not a bad thing. And in New York, he’ll get plenty of opportunities — presumably, with Daniel Jones — in part because there are only two tight ends currently on the roster and one is set to hit free agency after the season.

3 Takeaways from Giants’ Week 17 Win vs. Colts | Bleacher Report

This week’s opponent

A wake-up call, or a worrisome trend for the Eagles? | Bleeding Green Nation

Did the Eagles peak too soon? Ever since the Birds blitzed the Packers, Titans and Giants at the beginning of December, they’ve struggled, with each game successively worse. They pulled off a win against the Bears in Chicago, sure, but needed to ride Jalen Hurts literally into the ground to do it. They lost a shootout to the Cowboys in Dallas thanks to four crushing turnovers, and then there was Sunday’s stinkfest against the Saints.

Phony MinshewMania has Bitten the Dust | Football Outsiders

The Eagles beat themselves with offensive line penalties and got outmuscled in both trenches in short-yardage situations in their 20-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

But if anyone writes a sentence in an offseason article along the likes of “Gardner Minshew deserves a chance to be the starter for the Jets/Raiders/Texans,” close your browser window, delete your history, reformat your laptop, pour some memory-cleansing vodka shots, and do everything else you can to ensure that such foolishness does not infiltrate your mind.

Overreactions and reality checks for NFL Week 17: Will Eagles blow No. 1 seed? | CBSSports.com

If the Eagles lost their last two games with Jalen Hurts at quarterback, there would be serious concern in Philadelphia. Instead, it was Gardner Minshew who threw an interception return for a touchdown to seal the Eagles’ fate, as Philadelphia put up season lows in points (10) and yards (313) to the New Orleans Saints.

This team just isn’t the same without Hurts, who is expected back for the must-win game against the New York Giants next week — with home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs on the line. The Giants may be resting their starters. Expect Hurts and the Eagles to get back on track.

Around the league

With meaningless Week 18 game looming, it would “bother” Tom Brady to not play | ProFootballTalk

Brady doesn’t like that. He told reporters that it would “bother” him to not play, pointing out that he has only missed games when injured (in 2008, after a Week One ACL) and when suspended (in 2016).

“This is football season,” Brady said. “We’re football players. It’s what we do. We play football.”

Titans QB Joshua Dobbs will start vs. Jaguars in AFC South title game | NFL.com

Head coach Mike Vrabel announced that quarterback Josh Dobbs will be starting over Malik Willis for the Titans matchup versus the Jaguars.

Alabama’s Bryce Young, Will Anderson Jr., Jahmyr Gibbs enter NFL draft | ESPN.com

ESPN’s Todd McShay predicts Young, a junior and the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, to be the No. 1 overall pick if the Houston Texans get the pick. The Texans have a 55.7% chance to select No. 1, according to projections by ESPN’s Football Power Index.

Anderson, who won back-to-back Bronko Nagurski Awards for the nation’s top defensive player, is predicted by McShay to be a top-three pick. And McShay projects Gibbs to be a late-first-round pick.