Big Blue View
The New York Giants were buzzing in the Big Easy. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart led two eight-play drives to start the game, which resulted in a pair of Theo Johnson touchdowns (59 and 70 yards). The offense had a good rhythm with a solid mixture of run and pass plays, while the defense applied pressure on Spencer Rattler and the Saints’ offense. New Orleans kicked a field goal on their second drive, which was primarily due to an ill-advised Tae Banks defensive pass interference penalty against Chris Olave.
The mistakes and miscues were the story of the Giants’ Week 5 loss. The Saints were far from perfect, missing a pair of field goals, but the Giants were careless with the football. Brian Daboll’s squad turned the football over five times. Giants’ receivers dropped passes, and the Giants were culpable for eight penalties worth 95 yards.
The game delivered an instant jolt of adrenaline, but it faded quickly and gave way to disappointment – yet I question even if that brief rush was preferable to the lifeless product Giants fans have grown all too accustomed to. Let’s review the meltdown in this edition of five plays:
The Giants were cruising before this play. Two touchdown drives to start the game – the first time the New York Giants scored touchdowns on their first two offensive drives in five seasons. On the first play of the third drive, Dart threw this deep ball to Darius Slayton, and the football found the hands of the veteran receiver, but Slayton could not hold on.
Still, the Giants were able to pick up a first down with a Jaxson Dart 11-yard scramble to give New York a first-and-ten situation at the Giants’ 46-yard line. Brandon Staley had his defense in soft leverage presnap, so Dart targeted Devin Singletary at the line of scrimmage outside the numbers but the veteran running back dropped the football. What could have been a second-and-four resulted in a second-and-ten, with Jamie Gillan’s first punt quickly followed. That punt was fair caught by Rasheed Shaheed…
The two drops on the Giants third drive gave Spencer Rattler the football at his own 13-yard line:
Kellen Moore dialed up the perfect deep shot against Cover-6, targeting Shaheed – who hit 21.72 MPH on his 87-yard touchdown – matched up with Tyler Nubin, a safety repeatedly exposed by speed in 2025. Juwan Johnson (83) held Paulson Adebo (21) on the deep curl. Shaheed (22) just ate into Nubin’s leverage and exploded back outside the numbers. Rattler (2) delivered an excellent pass to his speedster, and New Orleans seized a massive momentum swing.
Two drives later, with the Giants tenuously maintaining a 14-13 lead, Dart found Slayton on a 9-yard slant, but DeMario Davis (56) punched the football out for Jonas Sanker (33) to find and scoop up:
Grupe kicked a field goal and the Saints went into halftime with...
