On a prime-time night when the playoff stakes have never been higher for these Brian Daboll Giants, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari will be asked to meet at the quarterback and wreck the game when it needs to be wrecked.
They need Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari to be their Batman and Robin against Taylor Heinicke.
Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale need their young Batman and Robin to save their season.
“We’re superheroes,” Ojulari told The Post, and laughed. “We try to get after it, man.”
Thibodeaux didn’t care for Batman and Robin as much.
“Nah, I don’t like Batman and Robin,” Thibodeaux said seated as his locker before turning to Ojulari seated at the adjacent locker. “You heard that?”
Ojulari nodded with a smile on his face.
“We’re like peanut butter and jelly. I say that because one isn’t more important than the other. One doesn’t taste better than the other. They’re different, but they’re equally important.”
Thibodeaux added: “He’s peanut butter, I’m jelly though.”
When Ojulari seemed interested in adopting jelly, Thibodeaux said: “All right, I’ll be peanut butter. I’m good for your health.”
It will be critical for the two young pass rushers to make a Heinicke sandwich early and often but especially in the fourth quarter the way closers do as the fourth quarter of the season is here.
Azeez Ojulari is one half of the tandem tasked with slowing down the Commanders offense on Sunday. Bill Kostroun“Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games … gotta be one of ’em,” Thibodeaux said.
Thibodeaux knows exactly what he expects the mentality of the Giants defense will be at FedExField: “Like a rabid dog with his back against the wall. Not too many options other than to win.”
Thibodeaux (two sacks) is emerging as the disruptive force he was drafted to be, and this will be the third consecutive game where he has his partner in crime playing with him at a desperate time when Xavier McKinney is still sidelined and Adoree’ Jackson is hoping he can return to a reeling secondary.
And what gives Giants fans hope is that Ojulari has announced himself as a difference-maker with three sacks and a forced fumble since his return (calf), which gives him four sacks in four games following an eight-sack rookie season.
“He’s very fluid,” Thibodeaux said. “I would say my playing skills gives you more hip-hop, and his is more like classical music. And I say that just because like when he does his moves it’s just so effortless. He has a feel for the football. And me, you could tell like, ‘Oh, he’s working hard to get his.’ He makes it look easy.”
Thibodeaux as a bookend makes life easier on him.
Kayvon Thibodeaux has teamed up with Azeez Ojulari to form a fearsome Giants pass rush. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST Photo“It pushes me and makes me go harder,” Ojulari said.
Ojulari marvels at Thibodeaux’s gifts.
“He has all the tools in the box,” he said.
Dexter Lawrence on Ojulari: “Unique. He knows how to keep his separation from offensive linemen, has a good speed rush. … I think he’s like a savvy rusher.”
Lawrence on Thibodeaux: “Kayvon is more of like a stronger type of rusher. They both do a good job of rushing off the edge and making the quarterback step up.”
The Commanders will be looking to smother Saquon Barkley and dare Daniel Jones to beat them without any receivers named Scary Terry McLaurin. The Giants (20.5 ppg) are 20th in scoring and the Commanders (19.5) are 25th. Chase Young will be back to chase Jones as the fourth first-round pick on Ron Rivera’s defensive line.
The time to ask Batman and Robin — or peanut butter and jelly — to be the best pass rushers inside FedExField is now.
“It’s critical, ’cause it could change the game,” Ojulari said, “so we gotta get there and pressure them guys and just try to disrupt the game, you know?”
Thibodeaux sacked Heinicke at the end of overtime in the first meeting prior to the Commanders’ bye and was disappointed that he didn’t force a fumble by the goal line.
“All they’ve been doing is licking their chops,” Thibodeaux said, “so being able to meet at that stage and kick those gates is gonna be real fun.”
Asked if he liked prime time, Thibodeaux said: “Prime time likes me. You guys can use that one.”
No one doubts that the best is yet to come for both of them. The best needs to come on Sunday night for the staggering 7-5-1 Giants.
“We done came too far and we’re at the end,” Thibodeaux said. “It’ll be a longer road to turn around and go back, so might as well finish.”
Peanut butter and jelly and Heinicke.
