Giants lose to the Saints 14-11

"Coming off their Thanksgiving Day loss to the Cowboys, the Giants had a few extra days to prepare for the Saints. The defense looked sharp getting the Saints off the field with a three-and-out. The offense got to start at midfield, and Drew Lock was in for us as the starting quarterback. We saw some of his versatility when he scrambled 15 yards for a first down, but otherwise, there were incompletions, and an offensive line penalty. Faced with a 4th-and-8, I thought that Brian Daboll would have Graham Gano kick for a 54 yard field goal. Instead there was another incomplete pass, and to add to that, a 15 yard intentional grounding penalty.
That added yardage put the Saints at midfield for their next drive. It couldn't have been a much worse start, but the defense didn't give them much. On a fourth down the Saints tried for a 53-yard field goal, and it went wide left. After the Giants went three-and-out, the defense let down, allowing David Carr some big pass completions, the Saints went 98 yards, and scored a touchdown. The Giants defense did much better after that on the Saints next five drives, keeping them scoreless. The offense was able to come up with only one field goal during that time. They even threw away a 56-yard punt they returned for a touchdown because of a holding call. The only good things at the end of the half were the way the defense was playing, and that the score was close at 7-3.
The second half started out with the Giants going three-and-out on their first two possessions. The defense came up with an interception, but they couldn't stop the Saints on their second drive. Once again Carr had some big pass plays, and the Saints took a 14-3 lead. Right after that the Giants offense showed some life, and Gano kicked a 48 yard field goal. Unfortunately, those points came right off the board because of an unnecessary roughness penalty. Finally, thanks to two long completions from Lock to Wan'Dale Robinson and Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy was able run the ball one yard into the endzone for a touchdown. The Giants were even able to pull off a two point conversion on a pass to Nabers to give the Giants a fighting chance with a 14-11 score. The Giants blew their next drive when Lock threw an interception. The Giants defense had been doing its job, including Kayvon Thibodeaux coming up with a 10-yard sack. That gave the offense their last chance with less than a minute and a half left, to come up with some points. Lock started with a 13-yard pass to Tracy, and even ran one time for 25 yards on a fourth down play. Nabers took his next pass 23 yards to the Saints 12-yard line. They had a first down, and Lock spiked the ball to stop the clock. There were only 20 seconds left, and a chance to win this game outright with a touchdown. Next though, there was a false start penalty, and that was followed by two incomplete passes. Now could the Giants have tied up the game with a 35-yard field goal, and maybe gone on to win in overtime? Sure, but you know how it's been going this season. Gano’s field goal was blocked, and the Giants blew a chance to give the home town fans a win for the first time this season in their own stadium."

"The Saints came into this game missing one of their top players. Taysom Hill suffered an injury to his left knee last Sunday, and had to be placed on injured reserve. Whenever Hill is on the field, opposing defenses don't know for sure what the next play will be. Running back Alvin Kamara is the Saints leading rusher, and the leading receiver as well. You had to wonder going in, if the absence of Hill would diminish what Kamara normally achieves. The Saints felt it from the start. While they did score a touchdown in the first half, the Giants held Kamara to just 27 yards on 11 carries.
Drew Lock was in his second start for the Giants, and though he had more time to prepare this time, things were not going well. Lock's first eight passes were incomplete, though there were some drops. Lock's first completion came in the second quarter, a nice 11-yard catch by tight end Daniel Bellinger. His next pass was a 17 yard completion to Malik Nabers. Those catches got them to the red zone, but a sack on Lock had the Giants end this drive with a field goal. That possession was their longest in the first half, which ended with them trailing 7-3.
The Giants had 7 drives, and came up with only 4 first downs that netted them 86 total yards. Their defense was playing well, and they kept the Saints out of the red zone except on one drive where they scored their only touchdown. After the Giants gained only 21 yards on their last three possessions, I thought we might see Tommy DeVito take over the quarterback spot for the second half, but that didn't happen.
The Giants offense did better in the second half, but that resulted in just one touchdown. In the end, the Giants came up short when Graham Gano had a tying field goal blocked, so there was no chance for a much desired at home win in overtime. Tight end rookie Theo Johnson had season ending surgery to repair a foot injury. The Giants turned back to using Bellinger, who had seen only three passes come his way this year. In this game, he caught 5 of 7 for 45 yards. That made him the second leading receiver to Nabers, who finished up catching 5 of 10 for 79 yards.
Lock ended up completing 21 of his 49 passes for 227 yards, and he had one interception. Lock also ran with the ball 5 times for 59 yards. Tyrone Tracy came up with the Giants only touchdown on one of his 16 carries for 45 yards. The defense continued to do well in the second half, allowing just one more touchdown. Cornerback Tre Hawkins came up with an interception, and the Giants hadn't had one since the first week of the season.
Special teams was a big letdown for the Giants. Two penalties took a field goal and a punt return for a touchdown off the board. They also allowed Gano's field goal to be blocked at the end of the game. Brian Daboll will have to figure a way for his offense to be productive. It's hard to see the team come up with a loss when they gave up only 14 points. The Baltimore Ravens are up next on the Giants schedule."

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