Well, New York went with an offensive mind but it was the one they already had.
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New Orleans Saints cornerback P.J. Williams was carted off the field in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the New York Giants after a scary-looking collision with Giants’ tight end Larry Donnell and a teammate. Quarterback Eli Manning threw for 368 yards, but failed to toss a single touchdown pass.
Brees didn’t throw any interceptions and the Saints didn’t turn the ball over. Let’s go get a stop and win it. The teams combined for 101 points in a 52-49 Saints win last season.
And just maybe, the Giants’ defence is that good this year after spending $100 million in the off-season to sign sack threat Olivier Vernon, run stopper Damon Harrison and shutdown cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Drew Brees completed 28 of 42 passes for 423 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Saints. We thought our output was going to be better, offensively, than it was today. If teams can’t jam the ball down the Saints gullet on the ground, like they have the past 2 years, the defense at least has a fighting chance. Now they’re not anxious about “don’t lose a game”, they’re saying ‘hey, let’s go win this thing. Last week New Orleans lost a 35-34 thriller to the Raiders, but Drew Brees was putting up video game type numbers in the defeat. No wonder they produced only nine points despite 417 yards of total offense.
That’s 20 extra plays and Brees can do a lot with that. “Right now we’re 2-0 and about to get ready for next week”. Another key is not letting the Saints get any big plays.
“All of the hard work we put in in practice and we’re supposed to come in and show it on the field”. The vibe is totally different. “We are able to find ways to make the plays that we need in crucial moments and a great job of guys making plays and communicating on the sideline”. The Black and Gold forced three turnovers in the second quarter, but failed to capitalize off any of them. “We are going to let you all decide the defensive rankings”, said Jenkins, who scooped a field goal blocked by Johnathan Hankins and raced 61 yards for the game’s first touchdown.
Shepard has played almost every offensive snap in the first two games of the season, mostly operating out of the slot with Beckham and Victor Cruz on the outside.
This was much more of a defensive struggle, but the Giants’ offense came to life with the game on the line. Next up to surpass Brees in passing yards is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
From 23 yards out, it was a chip shot for Giants. By no means is the Saints season over, but it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a victory, and counting the preseason this team hasn’t won in 2016.
After Vereen was stopped for a loss of two yards, Manning found Cruz for an 11-yard strike that pushed the Giants across midfield and rookie Sterling Shepard on a six-yard connection for a third and one. But I feel like I’m picking it up and getting more comfortable.
This week the offense looked like it had never played a game together.
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The Giants did their best in the offseason to make sure that it doesn’t. I understand motivational tactics, but to me, it just always seemed like such a bold, uncharacteristic statement from a head coach who usually doesn’t say things like that in the media. “We got into some third-and-long situations, or third-and-longer than probably we should have”. They fumbled the ball away three times and dropped a number of passes including two in the end zone.
