Welcome everyone to another preview of the New Orleans Saints next matchup! This week, we look at the Saints taking on the New York Giants.
Last Week: The New York football Giants started off 2016 on the right note with a nailbiter of a win over NFC East rival Dallas by the score of 20-19. The Saints on the other hand, blew a 24-13 lead by allowing Oakland to score 22 points in the fourth quarter, losing 35-34.
Last Meeting: The Giants and Saints last met in 2015 in the Superdome Shootout where both teams racked up a total of 101 points and the Saints came away with the win late. The Giants lead the overall series 15-13, but the Saints have won four of the last five matchups.
What to Watch For:
Expect a Fantasy Football Player’s Dream: The last couple of meetings have been high scoring affairs with the winning team scoring at least 48 points in the previous four meetings. With Eli Manning having a bunch of his targets healthy, expect him to spread the ball through the air, especially against this Saints defense, which has been poor against the pass the last couple of seasons. Add the fact that star corner Delvin Breaux is currently out for six weeks and the corners that will be out there starting all have about one game experience in the league, it will be a rough day for the Saints D. But don’t count out the offensive power of the Saints with Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead, and rookie Mike Thomas. If you have anybody besides defense for either team, start them and you can thank me later.
Will the Saints Defensive Woes Continue? If last week’s performance is any sign of the season to come, the defense for the Saints won’t change in terms of overall performance. After week one, the Saints landed in a similar spot, second-to-worst in the league right behind their opponent Oakland. The defensive line didn’t get any sacks and only had a couple hits on the quarterback. The Giants might be thankful for that as they have had issues in the past at the offensive line position and that’s caused them to move toward the middle of the pack, much like the Saints. If the defensive line can cause pressure, they could make Eli’s day rough and it’d help this inexperienced secondary.
Redzone Battle: The Saints and the Giants couldn’t be any more different based on one week of regular season action in terms of redzone efficiency. The Giants looked flawless against the Cowboys while the Saints left a lot of points on the board with 20 yards to go. The Saints have had this problem in recent history of being able to score at will unless they’re within 20 yards of the endzone. If they want any chance to come away with a win, the redzone performance for this offense, they need to improve it and quick.
The Saints Will Win If:
The Saints can get to .500 if they can do what they did against the Giants in 2015: score more than the other team. It may seem like the most obvious take, but you look at the shootout last season in New Orleans, the defense for both teams just got burnt by the speedy wideouts. With that being said, Drew Brees needs to be ready to fire at will against New York’s defense to help the cause of the black and gold.
The Giants Will Win If:
If the Giants want to move to 2-0 on the year, then they’ll have to make the young defensive backs of the Saints work overtime trying to cover Manning’s primary targets. The Giants have a couple of bonafide all-stars in Victor Cruz and former LSU star Odell Beckham Jr. and that was one of the big points from last year’s loss that Eli didn’t have all of his usual targets so if you could contain Beckham, you’d have a puncher’s chance. But with a healthy receiving corps, this could be a different story.
-Clint Domingue