First Look: Giants vs. Saints
The last time the Saints had a full-capacity crowd on hand was January 5, 2020 when they lost the Wild Card game in overtime to the Vikings. Sunday sees the Superdome as normal as anyone could ask for as the team welcomes the Giants for their Week 4 matchup. New Orleans (2-1) looks to improve on last week's road win over the Patriots, while New York (0-3) is seeking its first win of the season. Here's a few areas to watch for this game.
What to Watch For
The Superdome Impact. It's a real thing, and opponents don't take it lightly. This game figures to produce an environment that will be tremendously loud with full of energy and emotion. While it won't measure up to the Domecoming game from the 2006 season, it certainly is a welcomed distraction for fans who have still been dealing with the aftermath left behind from Hurricane Ida.
Sean Payton said on Wednesday, "All last season you're not really playing with any type of fan base that's making any noise, so it's significant, especially when you have a venue like ours where many think it's one of the most difficult places to play."
With over 70,000 screaming fans in attendance coupled with everything that has been going on with the team being away, it certainly feels like there's little to no team that could come in and take this from the Saints and their fans.
Daniel Jones will pose an interesting challenge for the Saints defense.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) rushes as offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and head coach Joe Judge look on in the first half at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford. Nyg Vs Atl
Handling the mobile quarterback. Daniel Jones is no stranger to scrambling, as he's rushed 23 times in the first three games for 161 yards. The Giants have plenty of question marks for their passing game going into Sunday, as they could be without Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard in the receiving department due to hamstring injuries. Sure, they have other players who could do step up potentially, but this type of quarterback tends to keep the Saints on their toes all game.
Of course, you can't mention the running game the Giants have without highlighting Saquon Barkley. He hasn't had a strong start to the season, but was used a bit more in the team's loss to the Falcons. On the ground, he had 16 rushes for 51 yards and a score, while adding 6 catches for 43 yards on 7 targets in the receiving department. New Orleans has been strong against the run in the first several games, and Jason Garrett will have to dial up some creativity to get Barkley going.
Offensive attack. The pass protection was better against the Patriots, but there were some times where the offense had plenty of opportunities with Jameis Winston needing to pull the trigger. Sean Payton said that wins don't have to be aesthetically pleasing. He actually said last week that the team wanted to focus on running the ball, and it worked. The Giants defense is giving up 107.0 yards/game on the ground, while being in the bottom half of the league in pass defense giving up 267.3 yards/game.
As always, the key here is winning on first and second down to set yourself up in a manageable third down situation. James Hurst looks to fill in in place of Terron Armstead, and it doesn't look like we'll see Erik McCoy return just yet based on the initial injury report. Perhaps we see Winston open things up a bit more here and have more of a game like he did against the Packers.
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