Live Updates From Giants-Saints Week 15 Game

Can the Saints get back to even with the season dwindling? We'll see soon enough when they take on the Giants in the Superdome.

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Dec 17, 2023 3:52 PM EST
Original:
Dec 17, 2023

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints have a good opportunity entering Sunday's game against the Giants. New Orleans can get back to .500 with a win at home, which would set up an interesting three-game stretch to close out the season. However, Tommy DeVito and company stand in the way before we get to that point. Follow along with our weekly game thread for updates, note, observations and scoring from Week 15's game.

Pregame Notes

We didn't see Chris Olave with the pre-game warmup crew, but he is in the building. Hopefully, he and Ryan Ramczyk will be able to go on Thursday with the team facing a short week.
Some have asked who will play for Ramczyk at right tackle, and that should likely be Landon Young. The Saints did call up veteran Cameron Erving from the practice squad, who could be an option. However, Young would be the likely choice. Now, assuming that happens, that could open the door for Trevor Penning to be the jumbo guy.
Offensively, the Saints need to lean on a heavy rushing attack. As I pointed out earlier in the week, the Giants come in ranked 29th against the run allowing 135.1 yards/game. Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara should be huge parts of the game plan.
Without Olave in the mix, the Saints will likely have Rashid Shaheed and A.T. Perry as their top receivers. Keith Kirkwood, Lynn Bowden, and Marquez Callaway will all see their numbers called at some point, but this does feel like a game to get the tight ends involved.
As expected, walkthroughs showed Landon Young at right tackle. He'll have his work cut out for him with the Giants defensive line today.
Looks like it's another game where the visiting crowd will have a good bit of representation. It's nothing like the Lions game, but a respectful showing from the Giants faithful.
Rueben Mayes is today's Saints Legend of the Game.
Saints offense will be introduced today, so the reception for Derek Carr will obviously be something to pay attention to. It was mixed reactions.
SeatGeek had tickets for a whole dollar today. That's incredible.

First Quarter - Saints 7, Giants 3

Scoring

Giants, 10:00 - Randy Bullock 56-yard field goal. (9-37, 5:00)
Saints, 0:29 - Keith Kirkwood 7-yard reception from Derek Carr. (11-68, 6:35)

Notes

Tommy DeVito tried deep on the first play of the game, but Paulson Adebo had the pass breakup.
Very nice run stop by Khalen Saunders on the 2nd-and-10 play. Saquon Barkley will get plenty of looks today.
The epitome of the Saints season. Make a stop on 3rd Down only to get a running into the kicker penalty on 4th Down to give the Giants back the ball with fresh downs.
That's some catch by Barkley near the sideline with Pete Werner all around him.
Demario Davis is playing extremely well out of the gate.
That's about as good of a kick as you can get from Bullock. The penalty costs the Saints three points.
Rashid Shaheed was in to return the punt, but Lynn Bowden was back deep for kickoff.
Randy Bullock hurt himself on the kickoff. He's being looked at on the Giants sideline. It appears to be a back right leg issue, and he's in the injury tent.
A three-and-out for the Saints offense to start. That was rather uninspiring after a long drive by the Giants.
Two really good defensive plays by the Saints defense with Demario Davis getting a sack to start and Khalen Saunders with the tipped pass at the line. They forced a big three-and-out and looked really good on that series.
Bullock came out of the injury tent for the Giants. He's clearly not right. That's something to watch as the game unfolds. Officially, he's questionable to return with a hamstring injury.
Good call on the Rashid Shaheed crosser on the 3rd-and-5 play. Saints followed that up with a good run by Alvin Kamara for 11.
Really nice hookup from Derek Carr to Juwan Johnson for 15 yards. Saints have a nice drive going.
Really nice catch by Lynn Bowden over the middle for 17. Saints are in the red zone.
Beautiful job by Keith Kirkwood to get open in the end zone and really nice patience by Derek Carr to find him for the first touchdown of the game. There were some really good throws and catches on that scoring drive.
Demario Davis in the first quarter: 5 tackles (4 solo), QB hit, a sack, 2 tackles for loss

Second Quarter - Saints 7, Giants 6

Scoring

Giants, 0:00 - Jamie Gillan 40-yard field goal. (13-29, 2:55)

Notes

Saints get their second sack of the day from Tanoh Kpassagnon working from the inside on 3rd-and-12. The New Orleans defense is really doing their part.
Good decision to go to Alvin Kamara on the first down play. Got to get him involved in the passing game too without Olave.
Giants brought the pressure on 3rd-and-4 and it paid off, as Jason Pinnock beat Jamaal Williams off the left side to get home to Carr. That was a good-looking drive too.
You knew the Tommy DeVito run was coming soon enough, and the designed run picked up 14. Carl Granderson got to him on the next play for a big 8-yard sack.
Saints gave up a 29-yard play on 3rd-and-12 via Darren Waller to see the Giants get across midfield. That's tough.
Solid tackle by Alontae Taylor on Wan'Dale Robinson. That's not always easy.
Bryan Bresee comes through with a huge sack on 3rd-and-10 to force the Giants into a punting situation. That could have been two-down territory with Bullock's hamstring injury. New Orleans has four sacks in the first half.
Not a particularly good spot on the Alvin Kamara reception in the flats that should have been a first down, but Jamaal Williams picked it up on the 3rd-and-1 play.
Ugly drive after all of that, Taysom Hill wanted the shot play, but it wasn't there and he missed a wide open Lynn Bowden that could have resulted in some major yardage. Carr then got called for an intentional grounding penalty and then a holding call on Juwan Johnson on the quick out to Bowden. That's definitely a drive to forget.
Good pass breakup by Isaac Yiadom to start the ensuing defensive series. The following play saw Cam Jordan get some pressure and a late flag after the throwaway by DeVito led to intentional grounding.
Alontae Taylor picks up an unnecessary roughness call for no reason after making a great hit and tackle. That's a case of it looking so bad they have to call it. Horrible call by the officials.
Nice job by Isaac Yiadom to stop Matt Breida short of the sticks and get him out of bounds.
Heck of a pop by Isaac Yiadom on Tommy DeVito that resulted in some after the whistle stuff. No flag on that play. DeVito had to be taken out of the game due to the head hitting the turf. That's got to be evaluated for a concussion. Tyrod Taylor enters the game.
Giants end up getting a field goal before the half with Jamie Gillan in for Bullock. The faux Alontae Taylor penalty helped their drive stay alive.

Third Quarter - Saints 17, Giants 6

Scoring

Saints, 8:39 - Juwan Johnson 23-yard reception from Derek Carr. (10-68, 6:21)
Saints, 4:17 - Blake Grupe 50-yard field goal. (5-25, 2:03)

Notes

First play of the 3rd Quarter saw Bowden drop a pass after being wide open over the middle. It was then followed up with a holding penalty on Andrus Peat.
Nice job by Rashid Shaheed to get 19 yards on 2nd-and-20 to setup 3rd-and-1. Carr to Shaheed is working for the most part.
Saints are really wanting that deep shot, but it's just not there. Smart decision by Carr to go with the safe option with Foster Moreau to get 8.
Offense goes from 3rd-and-2 to 3rd-and-7 after a James Hurst false start penalty with Taysom Hill at quarterback. The penalties kill.
New Orleans got a fresh set of downs after Adoreé Jackson was called for a defensive hold on Juwan Johnson. Saints are across midfield.
Jimmy Graham converts a big 3rd Down play that gets the crowd going. That was followed up by a nice 11-yard hookup to Shaheed. That was a silly move he put on the corner too.
Carr hit Juwan Johnson down the seam for the score on a pretty hookup. I've been waiting to see that all season.
Giants go backwards on back-to-back plays with an illegal formation penalty and false start. Saints defense needs to keep the clamps down.
Strong pressure from Tanoh Kpassagnon inside to get the pressure on DeVito, who came back in the game. He was on the sideline to start the half.
Excellent start to the drive with Carr finding A.T. Perry for 18. Very nice route by the rookie.
Big kick for Blake Grupe to hit from 50. The drive was helped out with that 3rd-and-10 quick out to Kamara to make it a little more attainable. However, good kick that would have went in from a lot longer.
Saints defense notched their fifth sack of the day after Kpassagnon picked up his second sack on DeVito. He's really having a killer game.
Obvious running situation for the Saints on their ensuing possession, but it worked in a big way with Kamara picking up 15.
Great time to dial up a screen play to Kamara. That picked up 17 yards and the Saints are threatening again.

Fourth Quarter - Saints 24, Giants 6

Scoring

Saints, 10:47 - Jimmy Graham 1-yard reception from Derek Carr. (11-65, 7:02)

Notes

Excellent throw by Carr to A.T. Perry on 3rd-and-16 that resulted in a Saints first down. That was a great effort by Perry to get it too.
Bad penalty to take by the Giants on the 3rd-and-Goal from the 6. A.T. Perry didn't have to be interfered with there.
Saints made the Giants pay after Carr found Jimmy Graham from a yard out. He's just catching everything.
Derek Carr is 23/27 for 218 yards and 3 TDs with a 137.3 rating.
The Giants ran the ball on 3rd-and-5 with under 10 minutes to play down 18.
Tanoh Kpassagnon picked up a half-sack after Zack Baun had Devito first. This pass rush is a lot easier when you have a lead.
Saints able to take over on downs and things are a bit easier for the offense to grind clock. There's little to no reason to throw again.
Carr took a home run shot to Shaheed on 3rd-and-7 but it couldn't connect. Giants are down to one timeout with just over 5 minutes to play in the game.
Very nice punt by Lou Hedley to pin the Giants inside their own 10-yard-line. The ball originally bounced on the 2 and came back.
Tommy DeVito came up hobbled after a play. He's obviously not had a good day, but he's hung in there.
Bryan Bresee absolutely steamrolled a guard on a rush play. Unfortunately he got taken down in the process.
Very nice heads up play by Jordan Howden on the 3rd-and-10 play. He showed blitz and backed off to cover the running back. That's a smart play for a rookie.
Lonnie Johnson Jr. got hurt on the 4th Down play the Giants converted. The trainers were checking on his left leg area. Dennis Allen came out to check on him. He was able to get to his feet and limp to the sideline. A reminder that it's a short week.
Bryan Bresee got a sack on DeVito, and it's just a party at this point. Again, what a lead does for you.