Prelude to New Orleans Saints Game

by jmark82 on Oct 15, 2009 11:56 AM EDT Comment 9 comments

I, like you, am excited to see the Giants and Saints square off against each other this Sunday. I would consider this the first actual "measuring stick" game the Giants have to play this year. The game against Dallas in Week 2 was too early on in the season for us to know enough about either team. But I'd like to bring to light some of the stats for us to get a glimpse of the Giants team and the Saints team thus far.

The opponent winning percentage against the Giants this year is an abysmal .240; in other words, the opponents haven't won 25% of the games they played, coming out to being about 1-4. Compare that with New Orleans strength of schedule thus far, and you will find that theirs hasn't been that much more difficult: .420. Their competition still has a winning percentage under .500, coming out to about 2-3.

On defense, the Giants have a slight advantage. Giants are 2nd in the league in average points against with 14.2 and 1st in the league in yardage allowed with only 210.6 average yards per game. Granted, going against some of the worst offenses in the league (TB: 26, KC: 30, OAK: 32) in consecutive weeks does help their cause. New Orleans has competed against some mediocre competition as well (DET: 21, BUF: 25, NYJ: 24), and put up some nice numbers. They are 7th in the league in average points allowed with 16.5 and 6th in the league in average yards allowed with 295.3 yards allowed.

Both teams have gone against one elite offense this year with the Giants facing #1 ranked Dallas and the Saints going up against a #7 ranked Eagles team. It is important to note, however, that the Eagles were minus the starting QB, Donovan McNabb, and Kevin Kolb put up almost 400 yards against them. He did get intercepted 3 times but Eli Manning won't be making mistakes like Kolb, forcing a ball into coverage on multiple occasions, the way he is playing this year. On defense, the edge goes to the Giants.

On offense, the Giants have earned an average of 30.2 points per game, good enough for 4th in the league. Drew Brees and the Saints, truly an elite NFL offense, average an astounding 36 points per game. The impressive part of this for the Big Easy is that they scored their highest point total of the season against the Eagles' 3rd ranked defense. This tells us that they can do whatever they need to in order to win. They can win games both on the ground (2nd) and through the air (12th), just like the Giants (4th and 10th, respectively). The Giants average just a bit more yards per game (almost a moot point, based on what was already stated) with 417.3 (2nd), versus the Saints 414.3 (3rd).

This could be the most highly regarded Giants game this season, depending on how the Broncos fair in the coming weeks. I am looking forward to this match up because this will be a REAL battle; a true test of class in the NFC. The story lines have been nice, too, talking about how this is a sort of homecoming for Eli. Of course, we cannot forget Jeremy Shockey wanting to stick it to the organization who traded him after their Super Bowl win without him, most likely considering it an addition by subtraction roster move.

Here's to an instant classic...or the Giants beating the garbage out of them for 60 minutes. That would be nice, too.

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Great analysis

JMark and very accurate (with the exception that a blowout in favor of the Saints is just as likely). I think we have the two most evenly balanced teams on both offense and defense out there and we will see how it plays out.

by DavidE on Oct 15, 2009 3:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm a little nervous.

If I’m the Saints, I attack the short-middle like a piranha on a corn dog. I run up the gut, I throw short passes and screens…I drive the linebackers nuts. And if I can get Shockey involved, I maybe get in the Giants’ heads – make them think they have to win a shootout.

That makes me a lil’ nervous. Not much else does. I don’t think they can throw the deep ball on us – between the sacks and the coverage, I think we’re ok there. And I think we can run and pass on them. But if they hold the ball and dink-and-dunk…I’ll be taking a lot of Alka Seltzer.

I left my swagger in my other pants.

by HughG16 on Oct 15, 2009 5:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

One overlooked factor

…. Is that the Gmen have been in these “Big Games”, a lot more than the ‘Aints, so I’d expect they’ll keep their emotions a little more in check. One thing I’m going to be looking for is with all the hoopla in the dome is if the Saints are jumpy and incur some false starts, encroachment penalties. But What scares me about NO was their unreal performance against the Iggles. As much as we G fans hate the cheesesteak boys, there is no denying they are usually strong on D. To see Brees and crew lay 48 on ‘em sends a shiver up my spine. That said, we should win by establishing the run and controlling the clock. Brees, Bush, Shockey, et al can’t score from the bench. And all it takes are a few 7-8 minute scoring drives to deny them establishing any kind of rythm on offense. I’m thinking back to last year’s Ravens’ game. No one could run on the Ravens…. except BJ and DW (now AB), so we go out and put up about 300 yds on ‘em. Would love to see BJ have his break out game in the Big Easy and have the team from the Big Apple go home with a W. C’mon G-men! And a note to the media, lay off BJ! He’s doing his job. Watch the video with Carl Banks, he explains the situation very well. It’s just a matter of a nano second in timing plus the fact teams are loading the box with 8 and sometimes 9 guys. Hell, a Mack truck would have trouble getting 3 yds.

by Low Country Giant on Oct 16, 2009 10:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bradshaw ran wild against the Ravens.....

and I do believe CJ said it best, the reason while Jake’s YPC is so low is cuz of the 1st-3rd down failures on the RZ that he’s had. He’s had at least 8 carries down there that resulted in about -1 yards.

..."I predict...the Giants are #1"...

...."That's not a prediction meatman, that's a FACT OF LIFE"!.

---Carl

by FreeBradshaw on Oct 16, 2009 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not too happy...

about the way the media has really called Brandon out the past couple weeks. I did write a post on it before the game against Kansas City that didn’t generate too much traffic, but people aren’t looking at circumstances. You are truly right about Jacobs.

Teams want to throw guys at him because they can’t take him down 1-on-1. So, they stack the box and as soon as they see him getting the ball, they swarm to the line before blocks can develop. They also want to avoid, like I said, the 1-on-1 plays in fear of getting their guy “Laron’d,” so they try to make sure he doesn’t get to the second level. Teams jump to the line to cut off running lanes forcing Jacobs to wait for a play to develop and he just doesn’t have that type of acceleration like Bradshaw.

The fear of Jacobs in defenses is really helping Eli Manning. I’ve never had a problem with Eli but play action is about the best thing for a QB with a guy like Jacobs in the backfield. Teams want to cut Jacobs out early so they key and bite on it (Eli has about the best fake hand off in the game, mind you), which leaves this quick, fast WR corps the opportunity to create seperation early and often.

I think the first play of the game will be either a handoff to B-Jake or a play action bomb 40 yards down the field.

In Reese We Trust

by jmark82 on Oct 17, 2009 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm WAY more excited for this game

Than for my own Eagles game. Watching you guys “scrimmage” Oakland last week was embarrassing, and I fully expect us to do the same.

I love the analysis…I would definitely give you guys the edge in defense…and the scary thing about the Saints this year is their ability to win games on the ground. In four games we have seen an even split: Brees lights it up for crazy #s in two, and the ground game lights it up in the other two while Brees doesn’t throw a single TD.

They definitely got the best of us w/ McDermott’s (our Def Coord.) second game, and I’m curious to see how good their offense is against another good D. Good luck, but you can’t blame me for being a Saints fan Sunday!

"What did it feel like? That collision, I didn't feel nothing, because he was pretty much defenseless. It was like running through a cardboard box. Seriously. Cardboard box."- Sheldon Brown on his pounding of Reggie Bush in the '06 Playoffs

by jalarsen1 on Oct 17, 2009 12:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

should be a good one

and if you guys don’t beat the Raiders by 35 minimum, the entire team should have to do a naked lap around Philadelphia (the cheerleaders too)

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Oct 18, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs