Giants vs. Saints Preview
by Matt Shanley
In a battle of the unbeatens Sunday, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning travels to his home state of Louisiana to take on the dynamic New Orleans Saints.
Manning’s homecoming is only one of several storylines, however, as the Giants also battle their former stand-out tight end Jeremy Shockey, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees looks to continue to validate his most valuable player candidacy by increasing his already-outrageous statistics.
This game has all the ingredients for a true shootout, though, as the Giants defense hasn’t faced a true test this season, and Saints defenders are always capable of giving up a big play.
The last time these two teams faced each other, it was 2006, and Saints halfback Reggie Bush rushed for a career-high 126 yards. Since then, Bush has taken a backseat to Pierre Thomas, who pulled somewhat of a magic trick by appearing and making an impact completely out of thin air. No matter who starts in the backfield for New Orleans, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll do anything spectacular against the Giants’ feared front seven. With Pro Bowl bookends Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora anchoring the defense, even the best rushers have struggled.
If the Saints expect to win this game, it will be through the air. Brees, like always, has tons of weapons to utilize. In addition to Brees’ stellar quarterbacking abilities, the Giants secondary remains suspect. So far this season, they’ve faced Jason Campbell, Byron Leftwich, Matt Cassel, and JaMarcus Russel. The only worthwhile play-caller they lined up against was Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys, who just so happened to have an off-day for the ages against the G-Men.
Let’s put it this way. When a secondary is excited to have lackluster cornerback Aaron Ross return from injury, they simply aren’t that good.
From the other side of the spectrum, the Giants key to winning will lie in the hands on their backfield. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw has been listed as probable, although all football fans know that “probable” means “definite.” Because the Saints run defense isn’t anything noteworthy, Bradshaw and fellow running back Brandon Jacobs should feast on Sunday afternoon. In addition, by adding veteran Darren Sharper this past offseason, and drafting Ohio State product Malcom Kelly, the Saints made obvious improvements to their secondary. A key note to Sunday’s game is remembering that Sharper has six career interceptions against Manning, with three of them being returned for touchdowns.
Sunday’s game should be a classic match-up, and may be a preview of something fans will see in late January.
