Giants Look to Reverse Course Against Saints

The suddenly shaky New York Giants (6–4) head to New Orleans this Sunday to take on the high-powered Saints (7–3). While Drew Brees and company have put up 31.3 points per game—second in the NFL to Green Bay—the Giants have started their annual second-half swoon under Coughlin with a pair of losses following their 6–2 start.
Giants Look to Reverse Course Against Saints
Eli Manning (L) will need some better protection to succeed against New Orleans. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Dave Martin
11/25/2011
Updated:
11/28/2011
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Manning133850240.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-148373"><img class="size-large wp-image-148373" title="Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Manning133850240-676x450.jpg" alt="Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants" width="590" height="392"/></a>
Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants

The suddenly shaky New York Giants (6–4) head to New Orleans this Monday to take on the high-powered Saints (7–3). While Drew Brees and company have put up 31.3 points per game—second in the NFL to Green Bay—the Giants have started their annual second-half swoon under Coughlin with a pair of losses following their 6–2 start.

The last time these two teams met, Brees shredded New York’s defense for 369 yards on 23/30 passing and 4 touchdowns in a 48–27 blowout, just a few months before hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. In fact, the game was so bad that backup quarterback David Carr ended up with as many touchdown passes (1) as starter Eli Manning.

That loss in the sixth game of the season marked the beginning of the end for Giants which started 5-0 before losing 8 of their final 11. The disturbing trend was actually nothing new then and has continued into this season.

Coach Tom Coughlin, according to the Giant’s website, talked about the now-popular topic on Wednesday: “It is not going to be the history, believe me. I know that this is something fanatically involved with all of you, but each team is a new team and each year is a new year.”

Amazingly, during his eight years at the helm, each regular season under Coughlin has ended worse than it started. The Giants have been a stellar 47–17 in the first half of the season, but just 24–34 down the stretch.

Whatever the reason for the flop, Eli and company are treating this game like any other.

The New Orleans native said of his plans: “I’m not seeing any family or friends or [doing] any sightseeing. I’m going in there as a business trip and know that we have a big game. I want to go out there and make sure that our offense and our team is playing our best.”

They'll certainly need to play their best to get past Brees’s offense.

The five-time Pro Bowler has completed 70.9% of his passes for a league-high 3,326 yards—an average of 332.6 yards per game—in leading the Saints to the best record in the AFC South.

Their defense can be scored on, though. Three times this season they’ve allowed more than 30, while currently ranking in the bottom third in the NFL in points (22.8) and yards allowed (361.4) per game.

While the Saints’ defense hasn’t been too impressive, neither has the Giants’ protection for Manning. When asked about doing more three-step drops or moving the pocket, the quarterback wasn’t so sure that was the answer, saying: “I don’t think it’s about changing things up a whole lot. It’s just more about doing what we’re doing, doing it better.”

Doing it better, combined with a consistent pass rush on Brees, should result in an impressive win on the road—so long as Manning outplays his backup.

Dave Martin is a New-York based writer as well as editor. He is the sports editor for the Epoch Times and is a consultant to private writers.
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