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Giants - Saints
Mikefan - Gamegirl Reviews

Oct 4, 1:00 PM Giants at Saints
Game 4
 1st2nd3rd4thOTFinal
Giants07311627
Saints0777021
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Giants win over the Saints 17-14

"I can't say how excited I was to see the Giants win their first game of the season, and how did this happen? Last week I said that the Giants of today were not like their predecessors. That they didn't have it in them to come up with a surprise upset win when they needed it the most, and they proved me wrong.
They made it a thriller, taking the lead first on a one play drive with Daniel Jones throwing a 52 yard touchdown pass to John Ross. Then they let the Saints tie the score on the very next drive, and it was 7-7 at the half. I should mention that they had Jones try a long Hail-Mary pass right before the half ended, and it was intercepted. That's too bad, because he'd gone all three games without one.
The Saints must have figured at halftime that if Jones was airing it out, their quarterback Jameis Winston should do so as well. On their first play, Winston's 58 yard pass took his team from their 25-yard line to the Giants 17. Two plays later they had a touchdown. The Giants came right back with a field goal, and then James Bradberry intercepted Winston.
Things were looking good, but the next time the Saints had the ball, they added another touchdown. That put the Giants down by 11. Before you knew it, there was only about seven minutes left in the game, but C.J. Board returned a punt 26 yards to the Giants 46-yard line. On their first play Jones completed a pass to Saquon Barkley for a 54 yard touchdown! Going for two, Jones ran the ball into the endzone, and the Giants were trailing by just 3 points.
You wanted it to happen, but certainly weren't expecting the Giants defense to hold, but they did. You were dying for the Giants to get a touchdown in the last three minutes that were left, but they did tie up the score when Graham Gano kicked a 48-yard field goal after missing on a 35-yarder in the first half.
So here we go, it's overtime, and when the Giants won the coin toss, I had a feeling, I think everyone had a feeling, they would bring it all. They did, with Jones completing every pass he threw, on the nine play drive that ended with Barkley's six yard run into the endzone to give the Giants their first win of the season!
While a 1-3 record is certainly nothing to brag about, it sounds a whole lot better than 0-4, and it makes you think back to the two games before this one today with the Saints. There were just a few plays that could have gone either way, and the Giants would be 3-1.
None of that matters now of course, except maybe the players can believe in themselves more knowing that they can take things all the way. I'll keep my rose colored glasses on for this next game with the Cowboys, and hope the Giants can keep filling the half empty glass, well at least until it's up to half when they're at 3-3.

"The Giants surprised everyone by winning this game. The Saints were expected to blow it up, playing in New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Ida forced them out of town. Let's realize where the Saints were coming from. They had to move their Sept. 12 home opener against Green Bay to Jacksonville, and then spent the first three weeks of the regular season operating out of the Dallas area. Some of the players didn't have an easy time of it this week even though they had returned home.
The game was scoreless at the end of the first quarter, and the Giants had a chance to score first in the second, but Graham Gano missed on a 35 yard field goal. The Saints attempted their own on the next drive, and missed as well on a long 58 yard field goal attempt. That gave the Giants great field position near midfield. Daniel Jones took full advantage of that on the very next play. He connected with a long 52 yard pass to John Ross, who recovered his own fumble in the endzone. It's confusing, but when a receiver does that, it is considered to be a receiving touchdown, and not a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Jones had a good game overall, passing for 402 yards and two touchdowns, with a completion percentage of 70 percent. The offensive line gave him nice pass protection, and allowed no sacks. Surprisingly, no one on the line was called for a false start, despite the fact that they were playing in the Superdome in front of a full home crowd, seeing their team play for the first time since the 2019 playoffs.
The Giants knew that running on the Saints was going to be tough, as they were giving up just about 60 yards a game, and the Giants ended up with 83. Saquon Barkley carried the ball 13 times for 52 yards, a 4 yards per carry average. The Giants went with their passing attack with Jones throwing the ball 40 times. They were kind of forced into that no matter what, after falling behind by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
A big 54 yard touchdown pass to Barkley, with Jones running the ball for a two-point conversion, followed by a Gano 48 yard field goal, got the Giants what they needed. They won the coin toss to start the overtime period, and mixed between some runs, Jones completed all 5 of his passes for 67 yards, to set up Barkley for his 6 yard winning touchdown run.
So the Giants have given hope to the fans with their overtime win over the Saints, but there is still a long road to travel. Actual travel continues next week when the Giants visit the Cowboys, who have been playing very well. After that they're at home with the Rams and Panthers, before they have a Monday night matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. That's not an easy schedule."

First Quarter

NONE

Second Quarter

GIANTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: John Ross 52 Yd pass from Daniel Jones (Graham Gano Kick)
Drive info: 1 play, 52 yards, 0:08
Giants 7-0
SAINTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Juwan Johnson 15 Yd pass from Jameis Winston (Aldrick Rosas Kick)
Drive info: 13 plays, 75 yards, 8:28
Tied 7-7

Third Quarter

SAINTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Taysom Hill 8 Yd Run (Aldrick Rosas Kick)
Drive info: 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:36
Saints 14-7
GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Graham Gano 23 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 10 plays, 70 yards, 4:48
Saints 14-10

Fourth Quarter

SAINTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Taysom Hill 8 Yd Run (Aldrick Rosas Kick)
Drive info: 11 plays, 63 yards, 6:14
Saints 21-10
GIANTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Saquon Barkley 54 Yd pass from Daniel Jones (Daniel Jones Run - Two Point Succeed)
Drive info: 1 play, 54 yards, 0:09
Giants 21-18
GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Graham Gano 48 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 11 plays, 59 yards, 2:30
Tied 21-21

Overtime

GIANTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Saquon Barkley 6 Yd Run
Drive info: 9 plays, 75 yards, 5:06
Giants 26-21


Notes:

This was the Giants first victory in New Orleans since Dec. 20, 1993.

Daniel Jones two 50+ touchdown passes were the first since Eli Manning did so in 2017.

Saquon Barkley scored both rushing and receiving touchdowns for the fourth time in his career.

Graham Gano ended his 37 successful field goal streak - ties the fourth-longest in NFL history.
Next Games:
Oct 10 Giants at Cowboys
Oct 17 L.A. Rams at Giants
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