The win followed a much different philosophy for the Giants than last year’s loss at the Superdome where these same two teams combined for 101 points.
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For the third year in a row the Saints started the season 0-2 after falling to the Giants 16-13.
The Giants’ improvements – the additions of cornerback Janoris Jenkins, defensive end Olivier Vernon and defensive tackle Damon Harrison – proved to be the bigger improvements. It was a complete reversal from last season’s matchup when the Giants surrendered 608 yards in a 52-49 loss to the Saints. Shepard had a pair of 32-yard catches and a critical 6-yard first down catch on third-and-1 during the Giants’ final drive. Defensive end Paul Kruger fell on the ball which came on a sack.
“It wasn’t fifty-plus points”, he said.
“I think both teams know what happened past year, and both teams went out and made improvements, at least on the defensive side of the ball”, he said.
As for Coleman, he committed a pair of critical penalties and got his hands on two passes that, while they would have been very good catches, were not caught. However, the team’s offense was unable to capitalize on those three turnovers.
The Giants had way too many drops on Sunday which is the key reason they failed to put the game away earlier than they did. But if you had a fantasy roster of Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard and, uh, Rashad Jennings, where are you putting your money? With physical cornerbacks opposing him, Cruz struggled to make an impact in the first half, even getting stripped after a 40-yard run after the catch.
The rookie second-round draft pick built on his Week One performance to catch eight passes for 117 yards. Luckily, the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons have missed out on 2-0 starts, so they’re not completely out of this. The conventional wisdom is to take the points, but at that point it was hard to presume the game wouldn’t be a shootout. “Looking forward to it”. “We can go out there with anybody, no matter what talent level they have, no matter how young we are on defence”. “We thought we could get one because the wings open up wide and then turn their backs, so our special-teams coach preached all week that we could possibly get a blocked field goal, and it happened”. The Giants aren’t just winning on the defensive side of the ball, they are completely dominating.
But the fact remains that they lost a big game and are now 0-2 for the third-straight year and fourth time in five seasons. It finished 8-8. In the end, it was a good day for the Giants.
2016 New Orleans Saints football after 2 weeks is nothing but unexpected misery and sadness.
Giants RT Marshall Newhouse left with a calf injury and S Mykkele Thompson had a knee injury.
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After killing the clock to assure Drew Brees wouldn’t have time for a game-winning drive, the Giants lined up for the game-winning 23-yard kick from Josh Brown.
