We’ve all had a few days to marinate on the Giants’ big win in Seattle last Sunday, and when Jonathan Casillas joined BT & Sal on Thursday for his weekly segment, the biggest thing he was still amazed by was the Giants’ offense basically shutting down Seattle’s biggest home weapon.
“I ain’t gonna lie to you, fellas, I was surprised! And it wasn't for the outcome of the game, it was more of how the game progressed,” Casillas said. “I played in Seattle, it’s loud; the 12th man is a real thing, but they had no procedural penalties on offense! I was some. But they held their water, and the offensive line didn't look rattled. They looked amazing rushing the ball, too – Tracy is an up-and-coming star, it looks like, so I’m happy right now.”
One of those Any Given Sunday games, or the start of something big heading into Monday Night Football against Cincinnati?
“It’s one game, and I don't want to make it more than that; Cincinnati has a good offense and they can score a lot o f points, so if you can't score with them, they're gonna beat you,” Casillas said. “I think that's the kind of recipe that you gotta go on. Joe Burrow can get sacked 20 times, but he's not gonna be a guy that folds because he's under pressure the whole game. The Giants have had a lot of sacks in their wins, but Burrow isn’t going to look flustered. He’s going to play like Joe Burrow.”
The division is still in striking distance, though, as a win pushes them to 3-3, but the question is, what is the Giants’ identity right now?
“I think if you look at the two wins, and look at the culture and the history of the Giants, historically, the Giants are led by the defense; that’s not to say that the offense is not there, but it has to be capable and it has to be efficient, and I think that's what you're getting from the Giants' offense,” Casillas said. “You're getting efficient play from the quarterback. He doesn’t have Lamar Jackson numbers, but he's efficient throwing the football, and if you take away a couple of drops, the Giants’ record looks a lot different than 2-3. Everybody wondered if Daniel Jones that first week was the guy we're gonna see the whole year, but it wasn’t; he has progressively gotten better throughout the year. It’s still early, but I like the way he looks. The ball placement has gotten better, and he looks confident.”
Casillas still has some issues with Jones, namely taking hits outside the pocket because he doesn’t slide, but not all of the troubles of the offense are on him – and as long as Danny Dimes keeps it going, the D can lead the way.
“Dexter Lawrence, oh my God – he might be the best player in the league, not just defensively; he's insane,” Casillas said.
Take a listen to Casillas’ entire visit above!