Giants Week 1 Secondary Report: Good Corners, Bad Flags

0:00This offseason, the New York Giants made significant upgrades to their roster, but there was one position group that we largely felt uncomfortable about going into the season. And that was the secondary. And in week one, the secondary actually wasn't so bad. And today I want to break into it into our secondary report for this week one kind of recap and review before we head into our previews for week two versus Los Angeles rims. How did Deante Banks play? What about Greg Newsom Jr.? Was Tyler Nuban solid? Was Javon Hollen solid? Well, I'm going to go ahead and dive into the secondary and give you guys all the stats behind their performance in today's episode of Fireside Giants, which is presented by prize picks. I'm Anthony Ravardo. Let's waste no more time. Let's go ahead and dive right in. So we're going to start this off talking about how the corners won the Sunday night matchup. So the Dallas Cowboys have two elite wider severs on their roster by pretty much every metric. And that being CD and Lamb and George Pickens. Pickens had a breakout season last year with over 1,500 yards. Tom was injured so he didn't play the full year, but we all know how good CD Lam is,

1:01whether that's from watching NFL Sundays or watching him against the New York Giants. He certainly had their number in the past. But on Sunday night, neither one of them got the Giants number. Dallas's two starting receivers caught eight balls for 72 yards in total between them. The longest completion anyone managed all night went for 17 yards. CD Lam finished the night with five catches for 44 yards on eight targets. George Pickens had three catches for 28 yards on six targets. And that price guy averaged just 5.1 yards per attempt. And even though he was never sacked, Deontay Banks allowed 23 yards on only seven targets. That is very impressive for Deontay Banks. This is a guy who at times last season was letting up a perfect pass of rating and coverage. Was letting up 100 yards of clip every single game. In the week one, Deontay Banks actually held his own and only surrendered 23 yards and coverage. And he had the impressive performance is there from the New York Giants defensive backs, particularly with Deontay Banks. Like I mentioned, 72 yards between Lam and Pickens, eight catches on 14 targets. Neither one of them had a catch longer than 15 yards.

2:03I will say though, there were a couple of drops in there. George Pickens had two distinct drops in particular, one of which could have easily been a 50 plus yard game down the right sideline with Greg Newsom and coverage. Let me just say that was an absolute dime from Dak Prescott. That should have been a long touchdown, but instead it wound up being a drop and then New York Giants benefit and were very happy about that drop. But it is just something to recognize and something to point out. Looking at the PFF coverage grades though, they weren't super good. And this is where I want to kind of bring up a new topic of conversation that has been going around New York Giants Twitter and just the fan bases of the NFL in general. PFF grades have, let me just put it kindly, fallen off. They just don't really hold the same weight anymore. When I'm looking at these PFF grades for the New York Giants secondary, it does not feel even remotely reflective of what I saw on film during Sunday night football. Drew Phillips got a 31.3 overall PFF grade, three defensive pass interference penalties

3:03of course weighing him down. But if you watch the game, you know that, hey, two of those penalties at least maybe all three were completely bogus calls. And I didn't think Drew Phillips looked that bad in this game. The penalties clearly had a significant effect on his PFF grade. But if you actually watch the game, I saw a good coverage on those plays like the one in the end zone to CD Lamb. He didn't even touch CD Lamb. He just played perfect coverage. CD Lamb kind of flopped his way to a penalty. Should Drew Phillips really be penalized for that? I don't think so. And again, this is why I'm bringing up just kind of my beef with the PFF grades. And that's why I'm hoping that you guys will tune in to a, the series that I think I'm going to do weekly just breaking down the secondary or any other key position unit for the New York Giants. So we can get past the PFF grades and take a look at what the stats really mean and just have a discussion on how well these players really played. Like I mentioned, Greg Newsom, the second he only started one catch for eight yards, but he had a 40.4 PFF grade. Now I understand that big drop to George Pickens. That's what we're in his grade because he was beaten coverage had pickens not dropped

4:06it. That could have been a walk in 50 plus yard touchdown. Okay. I understand. But again, he made the plays in coverage when he was asked to the only surrendered one total catch a 40.4 grade looks harsh. And Paulson and Deba had a 45.4 grade. He only played nine snaps in the game. He was filling in as banks and Newsom were both banged up. And like I said, seven targets went the aunt a banks his wife. He only surrender 23 yards, but he was given a 48.9 overall PFF grade. I just don't think that's right. When I'm looking at that number specifically, 48.9. That was the highest grade in the New York Giants cornerback room was Deontay banks with a 48.9. Again, grade way down by specific plays, one of them being a touchdown CD Lam did score the touchdown against the auntay banks. But if you watched the game, CD Lam pushed off. I thought it was good coverage from Deontay banks. I thought he had a few plays where he made some nice plays on the ball. I thought he had a few plays where he looked like he had solid effort against the run. I walked away, impressed from CD Lam in this, I'm sorry, from Deontay banks in this game.

5:10In the past, CD Lam has gotten his number, has completely embarrassed Deontay banks. But on Sunday night football, I thought banks was the New York Giants best cornerback. And I thought he played a pretty good game. So I'm here to tell you guys to ignore the PFF grades this week. Consider them bogus and take all of them with a grain of salt going forward because this New York Giants secondary did not play nearly as bad as this board of PFF grades suggests. 31.3, 40.4, 45.4 and 48.9. No way. The cornerbacks were not this bad. They held CD Lam and George Pickens to a total of 72 yards in this game. You're not going to convince me that these cornerbacks played poorly on Sunday night football. So they didn't play perfectly. They do need to clean up the flags, whether they were bogus or not, whatever. They just can't happen, right? We can't be committing penalties. It will cost New York Giants games. And if we're talking about the secondary at large, if we're talking about the safety room, Javon Hollins penalty was a bonehead in mistake that just simply cannot be repeated.

6:13That's the kind way to put it. That's something that we do need to consider as well. But just going forward, I came away impressed from week one from the New York Giants cornerbacks specifically. I thought Javon Hollins' interception at the end of the first half was one of the best plays of the game, absolutely clutch moment. And I walked away impressed with the New York Giants secondary. So more stats and more coverage to dive into a little bit deeper. But first, I do have to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of today's episode, which is prize picks. If you guys aren't playing on prize picks, yeah, it's America's number one sports picks app. Super easy to use. All you do is pick more or less and a few of your favorite players stats and you lock in your lineup. You can go into the NFL section of the prize picks app right now. You can go find New York Giants versus LA Rams. And you can already start making picks on Monday night football. The New York Giants are underdogs in this game, despite having the better record between the two teams. Let me just put that out there. And yes, you can actually make picks on spreads. You can make picks on which team you think is going to win by using the prize picks app. But you can also make really fun lineups. I'm obviously high on the New York Giants going with a scataboo rushing touchdown, scataboo

7:16rushing yards. Isaiah likely receiving yards of Jackson's art passing yards and less on Matthew Stafford's passing yards. I think the Giants, they're going to give the Rams a run for their money. And if they play a good performance, all of those things, I think will happen. So that's my lineup for this Monday night football matchup. It might be a long one. That's why it has an 11 times multiplier. But as you saw there, there's power plays, there's flex plays. There's just plenty of ways to win. So check out prize picks right now at the link down below the description box. If you are a new user, you could use code HMA when you sign up, play your first $5 lineup. And if you win that first $5 lineup, you will get $150 in additional lineup. So check it out. Use code HMA. Have fun. And always play responsibly. So diving back into it, I think we have some more very interesting stats to kind of take a look at here within your Giants. And let me just go through some more of my takeaways first and foremost as I pull up these new graphics guys. I will also take a pause here and ask you to drop your feedback on these graphics. Let me know what you think. I'm trying to really upgrade the experience the season and enhance what we're doing here

8:16at fireside Giants. So we've got new graphics on the screen, figure that will help you guys stay more engaged and informed. If you let me know down below what you think of these brand new graphics. But let's talk about what the grade does not count, right? Like I said, I have beef with these PFF grades and I'm attacking them in today's episode. So PFF grades, a cornerback, down when his man comes open, targeted or not. So they're looking at specific plays like that Greg Newsome in coverage against George Pickens when he dropped the ball because George Pickens got open. That's a negatively graded play for Greg Newsome. But here's what doesn't make sense. Dac Prescott finished the game with a higher PFF grade than Jackson dark. First of all, what the hell? Jackson dark literally played a better football game than Dac Prescott in every single metric and every single eye test in my humble opinion. But if you're going to make the argument as PFF that PFF is going to grade these cornerbacks

9:17negatively when the players break open, if the receivers are open so often that the giants cornerbacks are getting such a low PFF grade, why isn't Dac Prescott hitting them more frequently if they're so open? Like I just think it's such circular reasoning. I don't think it makes sense. So whatever, a 40.4 PFF grade and one catch allowed by Greg Newsome on 52 snaps in coverage. That doesn't add up to me. I thought Newsome looked really good to be honest. Again, you could circle that George Pickens drop. You could say that he would have let up a big play there. Sure, but he didn't. And I don't want to penalize him for that. I'll say, yeah, you got to win that rep next time, but you won the majority of them. You only let up one catch. I think that's a pretty solid night at the office for Greg Newsome the second. And same thing with Paul Sanedibo. He only played nine snaps. I don't really understand why his PFF grade was so bad. He didn't seem to be a liability to me when he was out there in relief. And like I said, my eye test. I know at the lot of sports gave the auntie banks an A and the secondary a B for the game.

10:20I would also give a B. I think these PFF grades that we're looking at, they're failing grades. They're in the 30s and 40s. I don't think they're accurate. I would give the unit a B, a solid B at the very least for their performance in this game. Take a closer look at some of these stats. Let's look at the auntie banks and Greg Newsome in week one. As I mentioned, banks was targeted seven times in coverage. He allowed only four receptions for 23 yards. Ended up with a 48.9 PFF grade. Yes, he did. So render that touchdown. But again, CDLAM pushed off. I don't really blame him for that. He had two past defenses, which is a big time metric for the auntie banks. When you look at the auntie banks's career to this point, getting those past defenses has been a tremendous challenge for him. He doesn't get his head turned around. He doesn't get his hands on the football. He consistently gets Randy Moss or just can't make a play on the ball. So to see him even get his hands on two footballs, I think is tremendous progress and something to be really excited about with the auntie banks. I thought he looked good on Sunday night football.

11:20Greg Newsome didn't get any past defenses, but the ball barely came his way. He only surrendered one catch for eight yards. He had three tackles, but still the 40.4 PFF grade. But again, we're just going to circle that and say ignore it. So I thought that banks and Newsome held their own. They demonstrated that if the giants need to get by with these two, as they're starting outside cornerbacks for 17 games this season, I think that banks and Newsome can do it. Now, that doesn't necessarily prevent them from looking at an upgrade. In yesterday's episode, we did talk about potentially trading for Joey Porter, Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers. And we'll touch on that again in a little bit here. But I don't think that it's necessary to make a trade. The giants can get by with banks and Newsome. I think that much was proven on Sunday night football. And there's a couple of reasons why I think they can get by. Number one, the two players are not nearly as bad as some people claim they are. Number two, the defensive scheme is a lot better than people realize. This is a great defensive scheme that the Nordwolson is deploying this season. It's got a lot of disguised coverages and it doesn't ask its players to do

12:23anything that they're not good at. So banks and Newsome, they're going to be put in positions to make plays and to succeed in the Nordwolson's new defensive scheme. Plus, the giants pass rush. It got home. They didn't get any sex in week one, but they were constantly pressuring Dak Prescott. He had a few errant throws and inaccurate passes as a result of the pass rush affecting his throwing lane and mechanics. So you take that into consideration. I don't see that slowing down at any point. I think that this pass rush is going to continue to be a really solid unit all season long. And with that in mind, I think that the secondary will continue to benefit. I don't think you necessarily have to upgrade the cornerback spot because I think a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of the coverage is being done by the pass rush, forcing the ball out of the quarterbacks hands very early in these snaps. Dak Prescott's time to throw had to be very, very low on Sunday night football. He was getting the ball out fast. That was clearly part of the Cowboys game plan. It was an effort to try and neutralize the pass rush of the New York Giants.

13:23And it didn't even work because Abduk Carter was getting through in like a nanosecond. He was screaming past the line of screaming past the offensive line in such a short amount of time. And I think that's going to continue all season long. So the New York Giants defensive line is going to make the New York Giants secondary even better. And that's why I think that an upgrade would be welcomed, but it's not a necessity. And so let's take a look at some more of these stats as well as we continue to dive in here. Let's go over to here and discuss how the Dallas Cowboys actually did move the chains. And I think this tells a deeper story of how the New York Giants defense shut down the Cowboys offense and how the secondary really won here. 38 yards on one flag. This is the one that moved the sticks for the Dallas Cowboys. If you guys were here for the live play by play reaction on Sunday night football when I was live streaming, I said it. George Pickens was flag hunting on that play. It was a bad under thrown ball by Dak Prescott that got rewarded by the referees.

14:25I hate when that happens. I think it's something that the NFL needs to crack down on. And it was very clear on that specific rep that George Pickens knew the ball was under thrown. And instead of trying to make a play on it, he was trying to draw a contact from Greg Newsome to get the DPI. If you're a Cowboys fan, you say that's a savvy play and you praise George Pickens. If you're a Giants fan, you say that's BS and that the refs shouldn't throw that flag. I'm a Giants fan. I think it's BS. Also, three DPI's on Drew Phillips. All three came in the first half. And the last one was dubious. That's one way to put it. I think all three of them were debatable at least to this summer. Christian nationalists are using the 250th anniversary of the declaration to divide us. They're pushing the lie that America was founded to be a Christian nation. Instead of the truth that America was founded with liberty and justice for all, America and United for separation of church and state is here to fight back against this dangerous misrepresentation of our founding documents. Do something patriotic this summer. Become a member of AU. Learn more about how you can support and how AU protects everyone's rights at AU.org slash summer.

15:30Have a work injury, DTLA log group, California's injury law firm. We can get you compensation for your injuries. Pay zero upfront. Text injury help to 40222. That's injury help to 40222. Or visit us online at call downtown dot com. Message and data rates and usage may apply. This has brought you by free. DacookaLessquire from dot com LA log group. It's been number two eight two four seven six five forty south Santa Fe. Los Angeles California, no guarantees or predictions are made. We're going to the outcome or value of your case. This ad doesn't constitute an attorney client relationship. This football season control your game day your way with passes from sling. Choose a one three or seven day sling pass to get instant access to life football on top channels like ESPN. Starting at just 499. Watch or stream your favorite college or pro matchups at home or on the go. Because watching football shouldn't be complicated. Or the expensive sling lets you do that. Learn more at sling.com. Having the right people in your corner for life's biggest milestones makes all the difference.

16:35Like a friend who's there when you're house hunting or checking out a new ride. State Farm is there too. Helping you choose the coverage you need. With a State Farm agent, you know someone is there to help you along the way. And with so many coverage options, it's nice knowing you have help choosing a plan that fits your needs. So you can continue celebrating all of life's milestones. Head to state farm dot com to get a quote. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Summer is not over yet and I'm making the most of every last minute. A crisp white wine is my go to for these late summer days. So I always stop by total wine and more to stock up for the weekend. Whether I'm grabbing a refreshing logger, a ready to drink more garita or trying something new. I know I'm getting the lowest prices. Make the most of the end of summer with great fines at total wine and more. Spheres are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina drink responsibly be 21. For them should not have been called at all. So five free first downs from Dallas. They had five drives restarted due to New York Giants penalties.

17:37That's how they move the ball in this game. The Giants defense completely shut down this offense. And the secondary, yes, had an impact and they did their jobs because this offense of the Dallas Cowboys was not moving the ball the way that they normally move the ball. They were moving the ball through penalties. 10 flags, 114 yards at the New York Giants gave up. But they controlled the game. 36 minutes, 40 seconds time of possession. They absolutely dominated on the offensive side of the ball. And I think when you look at these stats specifically, it tells the story that the Giants defense dominated as well. And the only way that the Cowboys were in this game is because the refs were keeping them in the damn game. But nevertheless, these flags do need to be cleaned up. While I don't agree with many of them and I do think that the refs were taking advantage of a situation and making some bad calls, I still do think that these flags, some of them are problematic and that the Giants should be looking to clean some of them up. So that's a fair criticism of the New York Giants is that these penalties are just, they were out of control. Five of Dallas's 21 first downs came on New York Giants flags.

18:40Their biggest gain of the night was the 38th-Earth Pass interference as we just discussed. Like we said, Drew Phillips had three flags. At Von Sports described one as highly dubious and I completely agree with that description. The Giants finished with 10 penalties 114 yards. But Dallas's longest real play from scrimmage was only 17 yards. Talk about a shutdown defense. Talk about a defense that didn't give up explosive plays. That was the New York Giants defense on Sunday night versus a Dallas Cowboys offense that is known for being rather explosive. So once again, I think we're making the argument that this secondary actually did its job. All right, but let's talk about Joey Porter Jr. This is kind of a follow-up to yesterday's conversation. Yesterday we discussed how Joey Porter Jr. is the hot name on the trade market for the cornerback position. The 26-year-old Pro Bowl talent. I don't know if he's actually been to a Pro Bowl, but he might have had a selection. But either way, he's Pro Bowl talented. He allowed only a 55.9 pass of rating in 2025. He's a damn good player and he's young. Now the Giants, if they want to trade for him, they're going to have to pay up to the Pittsburgh

19:43Steelers asking price. So far, Ian Rappapore is saying that nobody has shown an interest in paying that price. We don't know what the price is. However, there have been rumblings. Now, one price tag that we heard mentioned was at least a first round pick. I don't think the Giants are going to go that far. But another price tag that we heard mentioned online was a second round pick and a fourth round pick. Now, that's something I think the New York Giants should absolutely consider. For a couple of reasons, number one, that mid-round pick, that fourth round pick. I think the Giants are going to get a fourth round pick through the compensatory, the comp picks, the compensatory picks in free agency. They lost a bunch of players, particularly to the crappy Tennessee Titans in free agency this off season. So they should get compensator for that. So they should have an extra fourth round pick to play with. The second round pick, it's tough to part ways with a top 100 pick, a top 50 pick even possibly in the second rounds. But I do think Joey Porter Jr. is a good enough player to justify such a trade. And I think he would have a big enough impact on this defense to help them push into the post-season

20:46in 2026-27. So I think it's worth kind of making the difference. I'm sorry, the Detroit Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the New York Giants have been specifically reported as teams that might be interested in Joey Porter Jr. So there are some legs to the situation. I do think that the New York Giants should get involved here. They should call the Pittsburgh Steelers and see, hey, what is the true price tag and would we be willing to pay it? Because personally, I think that despite me kind of praising the secondary in today's episode, we saw injuries occur in this game. We saw Deonte Banks get banged up, we saw Greg Newsom get banged up. Now, there weren't significant injuries and I don't think that these players are going to be out for any games even. I think they're going to be playing on Monday the football. But then we had Paulson and Debo and Colton hood going in and it just kind of highlighted how in this secondary is. It's kind of one injury away from disaster. But if you trade for a Joey Porter Jr. Well, now you're not one injury away from disaster. You have one bona fide star at the

21:46position. And I think that makes you just feel a whole lot better about the secondary in total. So I am pro a Joey Porter Jr. trade, but I will say it's not a necessity at this point because I do think that the New York Giants could get by with the secondary that they are currently deploying. Now moving on though to a couple of other points here. Let's preview the Los Angeles Rams for this New York Giants secondary. This isn't going to be an easy matchup even though the Rams are all in one. The Giants are 1-0. There are many reasons why the Giants are still underdogs in this game. Going into the season, the Los Angeles Rams were super bowl favorites for good reason. Matthew Stafford had a 15 for 25 completion and attempt in week one only 155 yards and one pick. He played a terrible football game, but he was still the league MVP last year and he is still throwing Tupukin Nakua who had nine targets in week one to Devonte Adams who had six targets in week one. Now he only had a 61.2 pass rating in the 2020 and the 27 to seven loss for the Los Angeles Rams. It was a bad outing for the Rams offense, but this is still a Rams offense that has the firepower

22:51to light up the scoreboard especially in their home opener on Monday night football. So the New York Giants secondary, they did their absolute best versus the Dallas Cowboys in week one. I think that they can hold their own versus Los Angeles Rams in week two, but this is still a really good Rams team coming off of yes, a very poor performance in week one, but not one, not a team that you want to sleep on going into week two. Ultimately, one of the keys to winning this game is going to be the secondary. Can they put in another great performance like they did in week one? The Dallas Cowboys have CDLAM in George Pickens as their two star receivers. The Los Angeles Rams have Pukin Nakua and Devonte Adams. Can the Giants put together a performance to shut down these two wide receivers just like they did this prior week versus the Cowboys? That will be a key in this upcoming week two matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. So I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a fun one. I'll probably be live on the channel. I don't think I'm going to the game. Initially, I was planning on going to it, but I don't think that's going to work out for me anymore. So I'll be

23:54live doing the play by play here on fireside Giants. Now, I want to hear from you guys down below in the comment section. Do you think the New York Giants four cornerbacks, George Pickens? I'm sorry, not George Pickens. Greg Newsom, De Aute Banks, Drew Phillips, Paul Sennedivo, an author of the fifth one out there, Colton Hood. Do you think these guys can compete on Monday night football? What do you feel is the biggest matchup weakness for the New York Giants? And also, let me hear from you down below in the comment section. Is the Giants cornerback room actually a problem? Now that we've kind of dived into it, looked at all the statistics for the New York Giants secondary in week one, how do you feel about the unit? Is it a problem? Is it a unit that you can get by with for 17 games? Or would you like to see the New York Giants go out there and make some sort of an upgrade? Whether that be Joey Porter Jr. or somebody else? Let me know what you think down below in the comment section. I'm very curious to hear your thoughts. There will be a pin the comment as well, so definitely make sure to drop your takes underneath that pinned comment. And like I said, give me your reactions and feedback on the new graphics. I appreciate everybody tuning in. I think

24:58it's going to be a really fun game on Monday night. I'm looking forward to it. Super excited. It's still riding the high of the New York Giants win in week one. But again, drop your thoughts down below. Leave a like if you enjoyed. Subscribe if you are new and ring the bell so you do not miss an episode. I will catch you all on the next one. Have a good one and let's go New York Giants. This summer, Christian nationalists are using the 250th anniversary of the declaration to divide us. They're pushing the lie that America was founded to be a Christian nation. Instead of the truth that America was founded with liberty and justice for all, American United for separation of church and state is here to fight back against this dangerous misrepresentation of our founding documents. Do something patriotic this summer. Become a member of AU. Learn more about how you can support and how AU protects everyone's rights at AU.org slash summer. Do you have a work injury? DTLA log group California's injury law firm. We can get you compensation for your injuries. Pay zero upfront. Text injury help to 40222. That's injury help to 40222 or visit us online

26:02at calldowntown.com. Message and data rates and usage may apply. This has brought you by free. DacookaLessquire from downtown LA log group has been number 282476 by 40 South Santa Fe Los Angeles, California. No guarantees or predictions are made with going to the outcome or value of your case. This ad doesn't constitute an attorney client relationship. Having the right people in your corner for life's biggest milestones makes all the difference. Like a friend who's there when you're house hunting or checking on a new ride. State Farm is there too. Helping you choose the coverage you need. With a state farm agent, you know someone is there to help you along the way. And with so many coverage options, it's nice knowing you have help choosing a plan that fits your needs. So you can continue celebrating all of life's milestones. Head to statefarm.com to get a quote. Like a good neighbor, state farm is there.