Sept 18,
1:00 pm - Saints at Giants
Game 2 | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
Saints | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
Giants | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
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
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