Fanpage
Team Giants

Fanpage

 

Giants - Saints
Mikefan - Gamegirl Reviews

Sept 18, 1:00 pm - Saints at Giants
Game 2
 1st2nd3rd4thFinal
Saints0301013
Giants073616
Game PreviewESPN ScoresESPN RecapESPN Stats

Giants win over the Saints 16-13.
Eli Manning was 32 of 41 for 368 yards and lost 1 fumble.
Shane Vereen rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries, caught 3 passes for 24 yards and lost 1 fumble.
Rashad Jennings rushed for 27 yards on 13 carries and caught 2 passes for 13 yards.
Orleans Darkwa rushed for -1 yards on 1 carry and caught 1 pass for 3 yards.
Sterling Shepard caught 8 passes for 117 yards.
Victor Cruz caught 4 passes for 91 yards and lost 1 fumble.
Odell Beckham Jr. caught 8 passes for 86 yards.
Larry Donnell caught 4 passes for 24 yards.
Will Tye caught 2 passes for 10 yards.
Landon Collins and Leon Hall each had 1 sack
.
Johnathan Hankins blocked a field goal attempt.
Janoris Jenkins returned the ball 65 yards for a TD.

Josh Brown missed on a 53 yard field goal attempt and hit on 48, 19 and 23 yarders.

Game Notes:
"I didn't know what to expect when I saw the Giants take the field for their first home game. They were coming off a close win over the Cowboys, but with the Saints and Drew Brees coming in, the competition would be tougher today. We all remember the high scoring 52 to 49 loss to them last year. Landon Collins was hot from the start and he got the first sack of the year for the Giants defense to stop Drew Brees on a 3rd and 9 play. Later everything came to a halt about halfway into the first quarter when Saints cornerback P.J. Williams went down after tackling Larry Donnell after a catch.
The medical staff carefully took their time getting him safely off the field. Later on that same drive, the Giants had a chance to put three points up with an easy field goal from the 3 yard line. Instead they went for it on fourth down and Saints safety Sterling Moore knocked the ball loose from Odell Beckham Jr. in the endzone. It was no points, but the Saints had very bad field position and punted after going three and out.
Eli Manning was moving the ball nicely at the end of the quarter, and then into the second until Shane Vereen fumbled the ball away to kill that drive. Then Leon Hall stopped the Saints on a 3rd and 10 at midfield with a sack on Brees. It was the Giants second of the day. On his turn, things looked good when Manning hit Victor Cruz with a short pass. Cruz took it 40 yards downfield before fumbling it away. Luckily the Saints didn't get far and had to punt. The Giants didn't get far either, because Manning was sacked on back to back plays and he fumbled the ball away on the second one.
The replay review sure looked like Manning's knee was down before the ball came loose, but the play stood. It actually worked in the Giants favor because the special teams unit blocked the Saints field goal and ran it back for a touchdown. They couldn't stop the Saints next field goal, and they were on the board for the first time. As I said earlier, I didn't know what to expect today.
I certainly did not expect to see the Giants offense turn the ball over three times by halftime and score no points, or see the defense hold the Saints to just three points, but here we were with the Giants up 7-3 at the break. I wondered if the offenses would suddenly open up from here on in, or if things would stay about the same.
The Giants got the ball first to start the quarter and Josh Brown missed on a 53 yard field goal attempt. He made a 48 yarder on the Giants next drive to make it 10-3. The quarter ended with the Saints driving and their ensuing touchdown tied the score at 10-10. The Giants followed up with a field goal as did the Saints for a 13-13 tie score. Next the Giants had the ball at their own 25 yard line with about three minutes left in the game. With the two minute warning and two Saints timeouts there was 1:49 left, with the Giants on a 3rd and 8 at the Saints 36 yard line. To everyone's excitement Manning hit Cruz at the 2 yard line, and Cruz held it this time! The Saints quickly called their last time out with 1:32 left.
Last year we all remember that mess with Manning near the goal line telling Rashad Jennings not to score so they could run the clock, and the Giants ended up losing that game. I didn't know how they would play it this time. Well, Ben McAdoo has studied up since then, and he
made sure Brees wasn't able to come back on the field to get his 'last licks'. Manning took a knee on three successive plays while the Giants carefully used all their timeouts. Then with two seconds left, Brown kicked an easy 23 yard field goal to end it all at 16-13 for the Giants win. It was a strange ending to a very strange game."

Game Notes:
"The Saints had a tough task ahead of them going into this game. With starter Delvin Breaux out, they had to rely on an inexperienced group of cornerbacks. Two of them were making only their second career appearances for the Saints. One of them, P.J. Williams, was injured in the first quarter and he was out for the rest of the game. You would think with that edge, and the thought that the running game was improved over last year, the Giants would be moving the ball downfield with ease. That didn't happen.
They did move the ball, but after fumbling it away on three consecutive drives during the second quarter, they were going nowhere fast. Meanwhile the Giants defensive players were doing their part on Drew Brees and running back Mark Ingram, and even more than what was expected. Johnathan Hankins blocked a field goal attempt, and Janoris Jenkins ran it back 65 yards for the Giants first touchdown and only touchdown on the day. The Giants held the lead, but somehow with top notch quarterbacks and talented receivers on both sides, there was a measly 7-3 score at the half.
The defensive unit held Drew Brees to 10 points over the rest of the game. The offense managed to get 9 points on three field goals to win this one 16-13. Jennings struggled a bit running the ball, and didn't see much action in the fourth quarter. It's hard to believe that the Saints plan was to go all out to stuff the run and force Manning to make more throws to Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and, Sterling Shepard.
Shepard caught all eight passes Manning threw to him, and in so doing ended up with 117 yards to lead the team. Cruz was next with 91 yards, catching four of eight, and Beckham followed with 76 yards on eight catches out of eleven. The three running backs were six for six on their catches and the tight ends six of eight. So why wasn't there more scoring? I'm still trying to figure that out.
If this was a Super Bowl game some longshot bets would have paid off. Special teams scored the first touchdown. No running back on either team scored a touchdown. Drew Brees threw only one touchdown. Eli Manning threw none, and so all his receivers caught none. That includes Beckham who had eight catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns last time against the Saints. To sum up, the Giants offense scores no touchdowns, and commits three turnovers, and they beat the Saints, unbelievable!
With all that, the Giants have now started their season with a 2-0 record, and with a margin of just 4 points over their adversaries. That's thanks to the defense both adding points, and keeping more off the board.
The Redskins are up next and I think people are hoping the offense will chip in a little bit more for that game."

First Quarter

NONE

Second Quarter

GIANTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Janoris Jenkins 65 Yd Return of Blocked Field Goal (Josh Brown Kick)
Drive info: 4 plays, 5 yards, 1:36
Giants 7-0
SAINTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Wil Lutz 39 Yd Field Goal
Drive info:11 plays, 54 yards, 2:23
Giants 7-3

Third Quarter

GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Josh Brown 48 Yd Field Goal
Drive info:
11 plays, 54 yards, 5:58
Giants 10-3

Fourth Quarter

SAINTS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Willie Snead 17 Yd pass from Drew Brees (Wil Lutz Kick)
Drive info:
9 plays, 74 yards, 4:01
Tied 10-10

GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Josh Brown 19 Yd Field Goal
Drive info:
11 plays, 74 yards, 4:59
Giants 13-10

SAINTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Wil Lutz 45 Yd Field Goal
Drive info:8 plays, 47 yards, 3:13
Giants 13-13

GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Josh Brown 23 Yd Field Goal
Drive info:
11 plays, 70 yards, 2:54
Giants 16-10


Notes:
Giants start a season at 2-0. Last time was in 2009 when they won the first five.

Giants returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown for the first time since 2008.

Giants last won without scoring an offensive TD in 2013 (Josh Brown five field goals, 15-7).

Giants have won 6 consecutive games when holding the opposition to fewer than 20 points.

Giants defense limited Drew Brees to 1 TD, 263 yards passing, and 288 yards total team offense.

Giants Ben McAdoo won his first home game as the Giants head coach.

Giants Ben McAdoo joined Dan Reeves (1993) and Joe Alexander (1926) as the only head coaches in franchise history to win their first two games as a Giants head coach.

Saints Drew Brees passed Dan Marino (61,361 yards) for No. 3 in NFL history.

Saints have now started 0-2 for the third year in a row.
Next Games
Sept 25 - Redskins at Giants.
Giants Tickets  -  Buy or Sell

OCT 3 - Giants at Vikings.
Giants Tickets  -  Buy or Sell

Click on the Team Giants logo to be informed of all Giants game previews, reviews and off season football news.

Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet" at  MikesKeys.com
Website by Mike