| Giants
(2-10) Saints (4-8)
Last
Sunday the new Orleans Saints held the Los Angeles Rams scoreless in the first
half. It was tied up in the fourth quarter and the Rams added one more touchdown
to give them a 21-14 win over the Saints.
The Giants lost their Thanksgiving
Day match with the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants played their best in the fourth
quarter, but it was too little too late, and they took a 27-20 loss. New
Orleans Saints
Sean Payton was the head
coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2021. During that time he led the
team to their first Super Bowl championship with Drew Brees as quarterback. The
Saints were in the playoffs for nine of the seasons Payton coached there, including
four of his last five. In that last one, Payton was working without Brees, who
had retired. The passing game nose dived to last place, and Payton retired right
after that season. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen took over as head coach,
and the Saints dropped to a third place finish in the NFC South with a 7-10 record.
With nine wins last season, New Orleans was tied with the division winning Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, but fell short of the playoffs.
Back then it looked like the
Saints were headed in the right direction, but after a 2-7 start this season,
they fired head coach Allen. New Orleans named special teams coordinator Darren
Rizzi to be their interim head coach. With Rizzi they won their next two games,
before taking a loss last week. New Orleans would have to win the remaining five
games to match last season's division winning numbers. The two teams ahead of
them, the Atlanta Falcons and the Buccaneers, have both been struggling along
with their 6-6 records.
New Orleans Saints Offense
Derek
Carr had missed three games dealing with an oblique muscle injury, but has played
in the last four. He's thrown 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, but none since
he's returned. Carr completes 68 percent of his passes, and knows how to work
behind his offensive line. They have given up only 7 sacks with Carr as the starter.
The Saints wish they were able to avoid the last one Carr took. They were facing
a 4th-and-3 from the Rams 9-yard line in an effort to tie the score when Carr
was sacked. That was their last drive, as the Rams were able to run the clock
in the last minute of the game and get the win.
Running back Alvin Kamara has
delivered for the team all season long. Kamara is the leading rusher, as he was
last year, and this year he's the leading receiver as well. He has carried the
ball 206 times for 894 yards, and has 6 rushing touchdowns. Taysom Hill is second
on the list as he was last year, and also has run for 6 touchdowns. The bad news
for the Saints is that Hill, who had one of the best games of his career in their
last win, suffered an injury to his left knee and had to be carted off the field
late in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Hill has since been placed on injured
reserve, and his varied skills will be missed. Running back Jamaal Williams hasn't
seen much action behind Kamara and Hill, but expect that to change this game.
Kamara and wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, and tight end Juwan Johnson have all
caught 5 touchdown passes, and the second leading receiver, Chris Olave has caught
4. Shaheed had a season ending knee injury, and the Saints signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Valdes-Scantling has played in only four games, and has caught four touchdowns. New
Orleans Saints Defense
The
Saints defense took a big drop since last year, ranking them 30th in the league,
allowing 385.1 yards a game. The rushing defense is giving up 130 rushing yards
a game. Last week the Rams had 156 rushing yards, with lead rusher Kyren Williams
running for 104 yards on 15 carries, including a touchdown, averaging almost 7
yards a carry. The Saints will be dealing with Giants star rookie running back
Tyrone Tracy, and will have to watch out for quarterback Drew Lock. Lock ran for
57 yards and a touchdown on four carries against the Cowboys.
The team has
come up with 27 sacks, and defensive tackle Bryan Bresee has 6.5 of them. That's
the second most sacks in the league by a defensive tackle to Giants defensive
tackle Dexter Lawrence, who has 9. The Saints secondary isn't that strong. Safety
Tyrann Mathieu is the leader in that group, and last week he left the game with
a shoulder injury and never returned. He is expected to play this Sunday, and
will be tested by Lock who likes to pass for big plays NY
Giants Offense
Drew Lock got his first start
on Thanksgiving Day in place of Tommy DeVito, who sustained a forearm injury in
the game he played the Sunday just before that. Lock didn't have much of a chance
to practice on the short week, which included having to travel to Dallas to play
the Cowboys. Lock made some mistakes, but he gets a fair chance to show what he
can do this week against the Saints. The extra time will help the offensive line
be more in sync with the quarterback switch.
Lock should have an easier time
passing against New Orleans, though he won't have tight end Theo Johnson available,
as he's been placed on injured reserve. Wide receiver Malik Nabers, another great
target, was questionable with a hip pointer, but is not on that list now. The
Giants should be able to run the ball against the Saints poor run defense. Tyrone
Tracy has 619 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, averaging 5 yards a carry. Giants
Defense
Pressure and sacks are what the
Giants are looking for, and their leading man in that area, Dexter Lawrence is
gone. Lawrence has 9 sacks, but he is on injured reserve after he suffered a dislocated
elbow, and he is out for the rest of the season. Even with Lawrence playing, the
defense has been letting down lately against opposing quarterbacks. They have
been able to avoid the pressure and hit their receivers for big plays. Saints
quarterback Derek Carr is a tough challenge for opposing defenses. Getting rid
of the ball quickly, he's been sacked just twice and hasn't thrown an interception
in the last four games.
The Giants are fortunate that Taysom Hill won't be
playing. There's no end to the options that are available to the Saints offense
when Hill's on the field. They have said that they will still be calling some
of the same plays they use for him with other players, but there is no replacement
for Hill. His absence gives the Giants a chance to focus more on Alvin Kamara,
and tight ends Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau. Overall
The Giants have been eliminated from the playoffs.
The Saints would likely have to win all five remaining games to get there. The
Giants have lost all six home games, with only three remaining. Here's an opportunity
for the Giants to show their MetLife fans why they should show up for these games.
NFC East Games
Sunday
at 1:00pm Saints (4-8) at Giants (2-10).
Sunday
at 1:00pm Panthers (3-9) at Eagles (10-2)
Monday at 8:15pm Bengals (4-8) at
Cowboys (5-7).
The Eagles are the only NFC East team favored to win in these
games.
Check out.
Giants
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Next Games
Dec
15 Ravens at Giants
Dec 22 Giants at Falcons
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