Episode II: Attack of the Rookies (3-1 Week 4 recap)

1st place in the NFC East. 3-1. Perfect on the 8-2 schedule prediction so far. This is why you Trust your Oracle. Always Trust the Oracle.

Before we get into it, I want you to ask yourself a serious question; Do I know a single Arizona Cardinals fan? Have I seriously ever met or even learned the name of ANY Arizona Cardinals fan in my entire life?

Because the answer is probably no. I just find that astounding. I truly believe I can give you a name of a personal connection (or at least someone I am aware of in my life at all) who is a fan of one of the other 31 NFL teams. I cannot for the life of me for the Cardinals. And why in the fuck would you be a Cards fan btw? Other than maybe Larry Fitz. But even then you’re a casual if that’s your basis for picking a fandom. (EDITOR’S NOTE: you’re a casual if you *pick* your fandom at all. Argue with a rock The Oracle is never wrong. I was born a Giant and I will always be a Giant)

Their team is ass, their new rivalry jerseys look like someone threw up on their classic away whites, no rings, and honestly I think it might be time to sell the team. Maybe move to Vegas and share the black hole with them - no Diddy. Maybe scrap it all and move to Utah? Something to consider. It’s not getting better and you’re just going to keep ruining top-5 draft picks like Kyler, MHJ, most recently my baby boy Jeremiyah Love, and whatever poor soul you’re going to send straight to hell on draft night next year - top 3 pick, dead on arrival. It’s week 4 and Jeremiyah Love already wants out - that’s impressive (Yes I am still mad about them drafting Love).

Without their generational incompetence along with the dear, simple, sweet idiot Jets whiffing on yet another first rounder, we would not have had the chance to pick Arvell Reese. And for that, all is forgiven.

That’s right folks, we’re about to get Reese’d up and rip it head-first down the slip n’ slide.

Fuck the DROY we are now in the DPOY conversation and I’m not exaggerating.

Through 4 weeks, Arvell Reese leads the NFL in solo tackles. He is also now the only non-db in the league with 4 pbu’s and a pick. This is his 4th NFL game!!!! He is the first rookie linebacker in TWENTY. YEARS. to record 9+ tackles, 3+ pbu’s, and a pick.

That’s a bit of a unique stat line, granted, but what does that actually mean? It means the coverage game is coming together after a less-than-stellar weeks 1 and 2. It means the open field tackling is there and has been there and is type of shit I’d bet my life on, and it means that the run stoppage in the A-gaps is there where Dexter Lawrence is crucially no longer (shoutout DJ Reader btw, only 2 tackles and a qb hit last game but he is part of this formula and is doing a *fine* job. We don’t need to replace Dex in his entirety, we just need whoever is at the nose to play the position well enough for Reese and Carter and Edmunds to feast in the aggregate).

And all of this, I shit you not, from a rookie in his fourth game in the NFL. Now I’m not saying our defense is perfect - it certainly wasn’t for the first two drives. But shoutout Dennard Wilson and the boys for making adjustments and forcing turnovers, shoutout Tae Banks, Greg Newsome, Dru Philips, and the NFC Defensive player of the month Jevon Holland for figuring it out and closing that game. Shout out Tremaine Edmunds holding it down next to Reese. And shout out, ladies and gentlemen, to Abdul Carter. Not gunna see a ton of numbers on the stat sheet (and zero in the sack column), but on that last drive after a BULLSHIT pass interference call, Carter was in Jacoby “Honey Butter Chicken” Brissett’s kitchen before he could get to the top of his drop back. On every play. That’s the type of effort we need and have been expecting from him. If he figures it out on pass rush, and Arvell keeps up this pace…….keep an eye on this defense! All this without Burns mind you, but in his absence we are seeing who is going to step up and fill that void. So far, we are answering the bell.

….

Oh yea, btw next week we go to Washington and they’re going to trot out Daniels on three wooden legs and a glass elbow. You want to talk about an incompetent franchise? Maybe they’re tanking for Arch next year because how can it be the decision to play an injured Daniels if this is your franchise qb? We’re going to injure him worse. This could honestly be a Joe Theismann situation. Or an Alex Smith. I’m really not wishing injury on Daniels here either. This is just simply a bad idea. Look at how fucked up AI is about it - I was only doing some light research on this for a possible bit and this is what came up:

Whaaaaat? Why would you even include that third bullet point???? Also why BOTH of them? I don’t even think the Mariott-a Hotel will be active on Sunday. Maybe Carter runs Daniels out of bounds into Mariota’s leg on the sideline, ending the season for both??? I don’t know man but I don’t like it.

But anyways, as we look towards Washington there is another side of the football that we must address….

Jameis Winston saved his job (for at least another week) with 5 specific throws in this game. Three of the 5 in particular were “off-script” and 2 of the 5 went to Malachi Fields who has shown that he is a reliable downfield weapon and knows where to go in a scramble drill - one of those for the first touchdown of his career.

You may recall the 15-yard td that Fields caught from Dart in the pre-season game against the Vikings. -“Huh wait a minute, The Oracle, wasn’t that one also after a bit of an off-script roll out scramble drill too? Is this why you said he was going to be a potential OROY candidate after we drafted him?” - Yes it was, dingus, good memory and good of you to mention. Fields is now the fairly-distant third on the team in target share 4 weeks into the Matt Nagy offensive experience behind Likely and Nabers, but he is firmly in that 3 spot and is 2 among receivers - outpacing and out-performing veteran Darnell Mooney. Nothing else on Fields for this post really, I just like the way he is playing. Just another rookie gamer making an impact only 4 weeks into the season. Also he’s the current non-Dart front runner for jersey that I am going to buy. Something clean about that 88 out there.

Anyways the five throws were the two deep balls down the sidelines to Nabers and Fields (each on third and long during a scramble drill, both just ever so slightly under thrown), the scramble drill to Fields for the td short right, and the DOT seam passes to Nabers and Theo Johnson (of all fucking people) - each for tds. Those last two throws in particular is the shit you want to see. We put up 30 points of offense last week against a bad defense, but we still put up 30 points. Have to have it there and we did on Sunday.

Those 5 throws outweigh the blatantly bad interceptions (the one going into half is inexcusable and was a direct 6 point swing) as well as the obvious lack of mobility in general. By how** much do they outweigh the bad? It’s tough to say, but a win is a win. JJ’s time is coming, it is inevitable. We are now one bad Jameis game away. But hey, he says he’s “heating up” and moved the ball way better than he did last week and that’s really all we can ask. If the coin lands on heads more times than it does on tails, maybe he can keep winning. That’s really all it comes down to with Jameis.

4-1 is going to feel really good next week. We take a chokehold on the division. We may never give it back. There are whispers that that Dart wants to come back for the playoffs…..

-Giants Oracle