Saints run away from Giants for 33-18 win

  • September 30, 2018
  • By Ken Trahan
  • Category: Saints
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Gallery by William E. Anthony:


It was the kind of game that you expected.

The New York Giants were at home and coming off of a win. They had an excellent scheme to combat the potent New Orleans offense. For quite some time, it worked. And then it did not.

The Saints put together a solid effort to get a solid road win. It really is that simple.

When you protect the ball (no turnovers) and force two turnovers, good things are going to happen. The same is true when you record three sacks.

Mature teams take care of business as favorites, even on the road in hostile environments.

That was the case Sunday.

Here are my Quick Takes on the Saints’ 33-18 victory over the Giants:

**Marcus Davenport was active after missing practice time all week.

**Andrus Peat returned to the starting lineup after missing the Falcons game.

**Zach Line has his second drop in as many weeks on the first play from scrimmage.

**Josh Hill committed pass interference to negate a first down completion from Drew Brees to Michael Thomas. It was completely unnecessary.

**The Saints defense picked up where it left off in all three previous games, allowing the Giants to drive 75 yards in 10 plays to take the lead. Eli Manning hit Sterling Shephard on a three-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 with 8:24 to play in the opening quarter. Shepard beat Crawley twice on the drive. Fortunately, that trend would not continue.

**After an apparent three-and-out, Sean Payton called a fake punt and Taysom Hill hit Justin Hardee for 10 yards and a first down to maintain possession.

**The Saints took advantage and drove to the Giants’ 14-yard line but B.J. Hill sacked Brees on third down to stop the drive.

**Wil Lutz then kicked a 42-yard field goal but it was negated as the quarter ran out prior to the kick upon review. The teams switched sides to start the second quarter and Lutz calmly drilled it home to cut the deficit to 7-3, capping a 16 play, 51-yard drive which took 8:29 off the clock.

**New Orleans got a stop and then drove 69 yards in nine plays but again, the drive stalled, this time an illegal formation penalty put them behind the chains before Brees threw incomplete on three straight passes and Lutz kicked a 34-yard field goal to make it 7-6 with 7:18 to play in the half.

**P.J. Williams then made a big play, forcing a fumble on a short pass completion to Wayne Gallman. Marshon Lattimore recovered and returned it to the 11-yard line of the Giants. He was bumped out of bounds by Eli Manning. Give Eli credit for hustling but Lattimore had a shot to cut back and score.

**The offense could not take advantage, going nowhere and Lutz had to kick a 37-yard field goal to make it 9-7 New Orleans with 3:36 to play in the half.

**Brandon Tate fumbled a punt forward and recovered it at the New Orleans 47-yard line.

**Odell Beckham went to the locker room late in the first half.

**The Saints then used the short field to drive to the New York eight-yard line. Then, Brees put one on the hands of Alvin Kamara in the end zone and he simply missed it.

**To make matters worse, Ben Watson dropped a touchdown pass on a perfectly thrown ball on third down. Lutz had to come on and kick a 26-yard field goal to make it 12-7 with 11 seconds to play in the half.

**It was a huge missed opportunity by the Saints, who were 0-for-4 in the red zone with no touchdowns in the half.

**New Orleans had the ball for 16:55 to just 13:05 for New York and held the Giants to 97 yards in the first half.

**Brees was just 9-of-18 for 102 yards but had three big drops in the half.

**This marked the fourth time in franchise history that the Saints scored 12 points on four field goals in the first half. The others included on Nov. 28, 1999 when Doug Brien kicked four field goals against the Rams, on Dec. 26, 1993 against the Eagles when Morten Andersen kicked four field goals and on Dec. 27, 1987 against the Packers when Andersen kicked four. The only win was against Green Bay.

**The defense got a stop to start the second half, thanks to a sack of Manning by Demario Davis on a blitz.

**New Orleans responded with an 80-yard drive in seven plays with Kamara scoring on a nine-yard run to give the Saints a 19-7 lead with 7:16 to play in the third quarter. Kamara accounted for 33 yards on the drive, including an 18-yard run to start the drive. Brees hit Watson with a 23-yard pass as well.

**New York responded with a 10 play, 75-yard drive, taking 5:14 off the clock but the Saints stiffened as Vonn Bell and Ken Crawley each broke up passes and forced a 33-yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas to cut the deficit to 19-10 with 2:02 to play in the third quarter.

**Demario Davis got his second sack on the next series to force a New York punt. Davis played superbly in his return to the Meadowlands, where he played previously for the Jets.

**The Saints came back with the kind of drive contenders deliver in key situations. Getting the ball with a nine-point lead on the road, they drove 75 yards on 10 plays, taking 7:20 off the clock and scoring on a four-yard run by Kamara to take a 26-10 lead with 6:06 to play. It was brilliantly orchestrated by Payton and Brees.

**The Giants came right back and drove 75 yards in 10 plays with Saquan Barkley scoring on a one-yard run and Manning hit Shepard for a two-point conversion to make it 26-18 with 3:44 to play.

**Ted Ginn, Jr. then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and had to fall on it to pin the Saints back at their own three-yard line. The Saints were protecting against an onside kick but one has to wonder why Ginn, Jr. was back and not Taysom Hill.

**Undaunted, Brees completed a key 21-yard pass to Josh Hill to get out of the hole and then an obvious pass interference against the Giants kept the drive alive for the Saints.

**Kamara then finished off another tour de force with a 49-yard touchdown run to give the Saints the win.

Despite dropping a touchdown pass, Kamara was brilliant again, accounting for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 24 touches. He is battered and bruised but simply brilliant.

Mark Ingram arrives next week to help relieve the load that the rest of the suspect group of Saints running backs could not.

It was a good sign that the Saints could win without Brees going off. Brees finished 18-of-32 for 217 yards. Of course, he had four drops, including two that would have been touchdowns.

The defense was much improved, despite the opening Giants drive and the fourth quarter drive in which the Saints were clearly backing off. That is another positive sign.

Now comes a Monday Night special against the Redskins. A year ago, the Saints overcame a huge deficit to win 34-31 in overtime against Washington in New Orleans.

It will not be easy but the Saints will be favored, at home before a frenzied crowd and improving.

Prior to the start of the season, I stated that the Saints needed to be 4-1 going into the bye. That opportunity is right in front of them. Let us see if they can get it done.

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Ken Trahan

CEO/Owner

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Born and raised in the New Orleans area, CCSE CEO Ken Trahan has been a sports media fixture in the community for nearly four decades. Ken started NewOrleans.com/Sports with Bill Hammack and Don Jones in 2008. In 2011, the site became SportsNOLA.com. On August 1, 2017, Ken helped launch CrescentCitySports.com. Having accumulated national awards/recognition (National Sports Media Association, National Football…

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