Antrel Rolle stands behind JPP's prediction: "There will be blood"
Daniel Day Lewis as "Daniel Plainview," in the 2007 film "There Will Be Blood." He won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. Credit: AP
Antrel Rolle has been the outspoken voice of the Giants defense for the last several years, but there is at least one player on the unit whose words – though rare – even he must adhere to.
“If JPP says there will be blood,” Rolle said, “then there will be blood.”
He was responding to Jason Pierre-Paul’s comments about the upcoming game against the Cowboys. After Sunday’s win over the Packers, the defensive end who made the game-changing interception and returned it for a touchdown said that the Giants were “going to put it on ‘em” and that the game is “going to be a fight, it’s going to be a dogfight, and there’s going to be a lot of blood spilled out there.”
Rolle, appearing on his weekly radio spot on WFAN, was also asked about the idea that the Giants are facing Tony Romo on Sunday and not any of the hobbled or inexperienced quarterbacks they have faced during their four-game winning streak.
“Well, he’s going up in class as far as the defense,’’ Rolle said. “We’ve played Tony Romo before. We’ve beaten him before.”
He lauded Romo as a “great quarterback” and spoke about his athleticism and ability to throw on the run.
“We understand what we’re facing,” Rolle said, “but at the same time we’re not the same defense he faced the first time around. I expect for things to be a little bit different this time around.”
That last time was in the opened when the Giants lost, 36-31, despite turning the ball over six times. That put the defense in some difficult positions, and they played pretty well considering that 24 of Dallas’ 36 points were off of turnovers including two touchdowns scored directly off giveaways (a 27-yard fumble return and a 49-yard interception return).
“Even with all that, we were right there at the end of the game,” Rolle said. “We don’t really worry too much what the offense does. Did they get the better of our offense? Absolutely. Any time you can get six turnovers obviously you should win the game, hands down. I think Eli [Manning] and the rest of the offense did a phenomenal job fighting back, bouncing back, unfortunately we weren’t able to close it out. But like I said, this is a different team right now, we have a different mentality, and we’re going for a different outcome.”
