Giants losr to the Saints 26-14

"The Giants started off great, up 14-3, and then what happened? They scored on their first drive when Jaxson Dart tossed a short pass to tight end Theo Johnson. The defense then held the Saints to a 53-yard field goal. The next time the Giants had the ball Dart hit Johnson again for a 15-yard touchdown, and to answer my question - nothing good happened after that.
Suddenly the offense couldn't move the ball. They came up with just one first down on each of their next two drives. Meanwhile the defense had let the Saints sneak up on the score with another field goal, and a real big 87-yard touchdown. They seem to have messed up in the secondary coverage on that play.
Maybe because of that, the defense was eager, or should I say over eager the next time the Saints had the ball. Back to back pass interference calls put the Saints on the Giants side of the field. After a few plays, there was a 52 yard field goal attempt, but it was wide left, so the Giants still had a 14-13 lead.
The 'nothing good' began on the Giants next drive, and lasted for the rest of the game. A fumble by Dart led to the Saints scoring a 29-yard field goal. That ended the half with them now leading 16-14. The third quarter started off with a sack-fumble on Dart, and the Saints adding a field goal. The next Giants possession was a fumble by running back Cam Skattebo, returned 86 yards for a Saints touchdown.
Don't the coaches teach the players to hand onto the ball anymore? The score was now 26-14 at the start of the fourth quarter, and the Saints didn't need any more. I didn't have much hope for this game after that, and even less when Dart got his next shot and ended the drive with an interception. Dart did that again on the Giants next series. I said the Saints didn't need any more points. They proved it when their kicker missed again on a field goal, this time wide right. How were we losing to this team?
It was just after the two minute warning, and the Giants had no timeouts. Dart did get them downfield, but a 4th-and-9 incompletion at the Saints 17-yard line ended their drive. It was a very disappointing game to watch, especially after enjoying their win over the Chargers last week. They could have won this one as well except for how poorly they played. I don't know what I'll expect to see with the Eagles coming up next."

"The Giants had three fumbles and two interceptions. That's not how you win football games. Who was the top receiver for this game, Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson, Beaux Collins, or Jalin Hyatt? You're wrong if you picked any one of them. Tight end Daniel Bellinger was on top catching all 4 passes for 52 yards. Running back Cam Skattebo was next, then came tight end Theo Johnson, and he had two touchdown catches. That reliable group caught 16 of Jaxson Dart's 18 passes for 130 yards. The wide receivers mentioned, pulled in just 9 passes out of 19 for 68 yards, no touchdowns, and had 1 fumble.
Wan'Dale Robinson caught 5, Slayton caught 3, and he's the one who fumbled it over to the Saints at around the one minute mark left in the second quarter. Instead of the Giants having an opportunity to add to their lead with a possible field goal or touchdown, that was granted over to the Saints with their 27-yard fumble recovery. They closed out the half with a field goal to have them take the lead for the first time in the game 16-14.
The Giants never scored again on their five remaining drives. It's not surprising since the next four resulted in turnovers. One of them was when Skattebo fumbled after being tackled at the Saints 14-yard line, and the ball was returned 86 yards for a touchdown. That made it 26-14, and that became the final score. The Giants defense gave up just one field goal in the whole second half, and that was after a turnover had the Saints starting their drive at about midfield. Another one of the earlier three field goals was after a turnover, putting the Saints at the Giants 41-yard line.
One big mistake was when safety Jevon Holland intercepted a pass, but cornerback Deonte Banks drew a pass interference penalty that took it away. The Saints went on to score their first field goal. The defense messed up again on the Saints next drive, giving up their only touchdown in the second quarter. Quarterback Spencer Rattler completed a pass to wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, and he got past the Giants secondary for an 87-yard touchdown.
I don't know if the defensive scheme was not to blitz, but there wasn't much pressure, and the Giants came up with no sacks on Rattler. They limited the rushing attack fairly well, if that was the goal, as running backs Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara came up with 68 rushing yards. Taysom Hill's return was a non factor, carrying the ball 6 times for minus 1 yard. Rattler took off a 6 times, and added 21 yards for a team total of 88 yards.
I'd say the Giants offense, or the lack of it, was the main reason the Giants lost this one, handing the Saints their first win of the year. They seem to have no answers for losing Malik Nabers with the receiver group they have. If nothing else the Giants can't continue to play sloppy football. It's back to the drawing board, because the Giants have a short turnaround before they host the Philadelphia Eagles this Thursday night at MetLife Stadium."

[Back to Team Giants] Click on the Team Giants logo to be informed of all Giants game previews, reviews and off season football news. Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet" at  MikesKeys.com