Storyline:Here are three things to look for in today’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants. Written by Andrew Rice, St. Louis.
In a rematch of last year’s thrilling shootout, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are heading up north to face Eli Manning and the New York Giants. While it may be a bit brash to expect that these two teams will again combine for over 100 points, like last season’s game, there’s no doubt it’s going to be an offensive-centric game.
With that in mind, here are three things that I’m going to watch closely from the Giants in Week 2:
1. Drew Brees against the Giants’ safeties
Courtesy: helmet2helmet.net
The Giants have talent and depth at corner, but a young and inexperienced group at safety. New Orleans has a dangerous group of receivers who are capable of making plays downfield. So just how will DC Steve Spagnuolo prepare for the deep ball? In particular, how will Spags use Landon Collins? He’s a box safety who can be exploited by a mismatch if he’s forced to man-up. Last week, the Cowboys made good use of this weakness in the Giants’ secondary by forcing Collins to go man-to-man against Dez Bryant in the slot. The resulting play would have been a touchdown for Dallas had Dez been able to get his second foot down in the endzone. As for the other safety spot, can Nat Berhe or Darian Thompson actually be trusted to handle the responsibility of playing single-high safety? They weren’t called upon much last week because Dak Prescott struck with short check-down throws, but Drew Brees and the New Orleans passing attack is a whole different animal. If Drew Brees gets a guy with just a bit of separation downfield, I’m nervous about putting my faith into an unproven safety in order to make a play.
2. What to expect from the pass rush
Courtesy: gossipextra.com
Last week, the Giants recorded exactly zero sacks on Dak Prescott. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. For starters, the Cowboys have the best offensive line in football. Secondly, Jason Garrett came into that game with a clear plan to have his rookie QB avoid mistakes, which he accomplished with quick, short throws to slot receiver Cole Beasley and TE Jason Witten. Towards the end of the game Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon were able to get some consistent pressure on Prescott. That pressure will need to translate into results this week against an elite QB, like Brees. The Saints’ offensive line isn’t quite the same caliber as the one the Cowboys have, but JPP is dealing with a hamstring injury while Vernon is bothered by a problem with his wrist. Both are expected to play, but neither is 100%. How will that impact their ability at getting to Brees? They won’t be able to throw Brees off of his game, but if you can keep him from getting comfortable in the pocket, hurry some throws, and make key plays at crucial moments, that can do a lot of favors for your secondary.
3. How will the Giants’ offensive line follow up a good performance from last week?
Marshall Newhouse (photo, giants.com)
The O line didn’t give up any sacks last week, even doing well in run protection by providing the holes for big runs from Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen. RT Marshall Newhouse, the resident weak link for that unit, actually graded as one of the best offensive tackles in the league last week (Pro Football Focus), a pleasant surprise, if a bit of an overstatement from PFF. This New Orleans defense is even worse than the one in Dallas, so I’m expecting more of the same from Weston Richburg and company this week. Eli will continue to make quick throws and stay locked-in, even when the pocket collapses at times, which makes things a whole lot easier for the o-line. What I’ll be looking for is this: How they do in run protection? The Giants need to get a solid and consistent running game going this year. The lack of it last season hurt when it came to closing games out in the fourth quarter. Last week’s performance against the Cowboys was a promising sign. I liked that they stuck with only Jennings and Vereen, rather than subscribing to a backfield by committee approach. But the line will need to keep it up, to ensure that opposing defenses are forced to respect the run more. That approach will open up better looks in the passing game and render a more balanced and potent offense. I think the O line and the running game will have another good week against this ‘suspect’ Saints defense.
