Dec 17,
1:00 PM Giants at Saints
Game 14 | | 1st |
2nd | 3rd |
4th | Final |
Giants | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Saints | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
Giants
lose to the Saints 24-6
"The
Giants traveled to New Orleans to take on the Saints at the Caesars Superdome.
I was hoping they would be able to continue their three game winning streak, but
that didn't happen. It was encouraging at the start when the Giants managed to
score a field goal on the opening drive. That wouldn't have happened if there
wasn't a penalty on the Saints for running into Jamie Gillan kicking a punt when
they were going 3-and-out. Two plays after that, Tommy DeVito threw a nice pass
to Saquon Barkley that went for 17 yards. They gained five more yards before Randy
Bullock kicked the 56-yard field goal. The Giants defense also looked good
right after that, quickly getting the Saints off the field with a 3-and-out. When
the Giants lost yards on their next possession, and I saw the Saints looking impressive
scoring a touchdown on their drive, I was getting a feeling that the Giants might
be overmatched in this game. The Giants did come up with some good plays, and
ended the first half scoring another field goal, but there were four drive killing
sacks on Tommy DeVito, and Barkley couldn't seem to run anywhere with the ball. The
Saints had a 7-6 lead, and started off the second half with a touchdown, field
goal, and touchdown. That was interspersed with two Giants drives that lost yardage
as they went 3-and-out on both. The next time the Giants had the ball the score
was 24-6, and though they got past one 4th-and-2, on their next fourth down play
the ball went back to the Saints. The Giants had one last opportunity to save
some face on their final drive, but once again after converting on a fourth down
play, they failed on the next. The Saints finished the game with a 24-6 win, and
it was very disappointing to see the Giants play this way on both offense and
defense. They had looked to be putting things together well in their previous
three games, and now they have the Eagles coming up next."
"Tommy
DeVito got the job done last Monday night in an impressive fashion against the
Green Bay Packers. Aside from completing 17-of-21 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown
with no sacks or interceptions, he ran with the ball 10 times for 86 yards. If
they reflect back, the Green Bay unit - players and coaches alike, will have to
wonder how they weren't able to come up with a single sack on DeVito. Over DeVito's
past 6 games, he's taken 6, 5. 9. 6, 0, and now 7 sacks. As we mentioned, the
0 belongs to Green Bay. Even a measly one or two sacks might have given them
the win instead of the close loss they took in that game against the Giants. The
Giants offensive line fielded the same configuration of players for the fifth
straight game, but you wouldn't know that watching them play today. Aside from
the sacks that DeVito couldn't avoid, Saquon Barkley had no free space to run.
At the end of the first half, Barkley had 6 carries for 8 yards. DeVito was the
lead rusher with 36 yards on 4 carries. The sad note is that DeVito ended up being
the top rusher in the game with those 36 yards, even though he didn't have another
carry. The defense did hold the Saints to just one touchdown in the first
two quarters, but were ineffective after that. With the offense going nowhere,
the Giants gave up three straight scoring drives to the Saints in the second half.
At that point in the fourth quarter DeVito got his next shot, and with the Giants
trailing 24-6, he needed to come up big. It didn't happen on that drive or on
their last one as well. The Giants ended up converting on just two of their
16 third down plays. DeVito was under duress all game, and finished up completing
20 of 34 passes for 177 yards. Tyrod Taylor had to come in near the end of the
first half, when DeVito was unavailable, and completed 2 of 4 passes for 13 yards.
Taylor's efforts mad it a bit easier for punter Jamie Gillan, subbing for injured
kicker Randy Bullock, to successfully kick a 40-yard field goal after that. Darius
Slayton was the leading receiver with 4 receptions for 63 yards. Tight end Darren
Waller returned after missing five games with a strained hamstring, and he also
had 4 receptions for 40 yards. Wan'Dale Robinson caught all 4 passes for 25 yards.
Barkley finished with 9 carries for 14 yards, and had 2 catches for 23 yards.
The defense had no pressure on quarterback Derek Carr, and came up with just one
sack. They forced no turnovers, and
allowed running back Alvin Kamara to be effective running the ball 16 times for
66 yards, and to be the Saints top receiver, catching all 5 passes for 44 yards.
Carr was able to spread the ball around to 10 different receivers while completing
23 of his 28 passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Giants didn't travel well
today, and next they'll be on the road again in Philadelphia on Monday for a Christmas
day matchup."
First Quarter
| GIANTS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Randy
Bullock 56 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 9 plays, 37 yards, 5:00 Giants -
3-0 NEW ORLEANS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Keith Kirkwood 7 Yd pass from Derek Carr (Blake Grupe Kick) Drive info: 11
plays, 68 yards, 6:35 Saints - 7-3 |
Second Quarter |
GIANTS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Jamie
Gillan 40 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 13 plays, 39 yards, 2:55 Saints -
7-6 |
Third Quarter | NEW
ORLEANS -
TOUCHDOWN Play:
Juwan Johnson 23 Yd pass from Derek Carr (Blake Grupe Kick) Drive info: 10
plays, 68 yards, 6:21 Saints - 14-6 NEW ORLEANS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Blake
Grupe 50 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 5 plays, 25 yards, 2:03 Saints - 17-6 |
Fourth Quarter |
NEW
ORLEANS -
TOUCHDOWN Play:
Jimmy Graham 1 Yd pass from Derek Carr (Blake Grupe Kick) Drive info: 11 plays,
65 yards, 7:02 Saints - 24-6 | Next
Games:
Dec 25 Giants at Eagles Dec 31 Rams
at Giants
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