Big Blue View
The New York Giants travel to New Orleans to face the 0-4 Saints this week. The Saints had a respectable loss in Buffalo against Josh Allen and the Bills, 31-19. It was a three-point game midway through the fourth quarter before the Bills finished the job. The Saints were blown out in Seattle in Week 3 and narrowly lost their two home games to the Cardinals and 49ers in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.
The Saints are marching back into the Caesars SuperDome after a two-game road trip on opposite ends of the country, and they’ve been competitive each week other than in Seattle. Playing in New Orleans is challenging, and the Saints are playing better football than their record suggests.
New Orleans’ defense allows 30.3 points per game, ranking them 30th in the NFL, ahead of just the Cowboys and Ravens. The unit ranks 18th in the league, surrendering an average of 324 yards, with 118 of those yards coming on the deck, which ranks the Saints 18th in the league. New Orleans ranks middle of the pack (15th) in pass defense, allowing 205 yards per game.
The Saints allow a 42.5% third-down conversion rate, which ranks 27th in the league, just behind the Giants (42.3%). Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley uses the blitz moderately, blitzing at a 20.2% rate and earning pressure at a 19.4% clip. The Saints have 11 sacks on the season: Carl Granderson (4.5), Cameron Jordan (2.5), and Bryan Bresee, Alontae Taylor, Chris Rumph II, and Pete Werner all have one.
Bresee leads the team with 11 pressures; Jordan has eight, and Granderson has seven. Veteran linebacker Demario Davis has the third-highest run defense grade overall, according to Pro Football Focus. He has 16 STOPs, but has also missed six tackles (14% missed tackle rate); the 36-year-old is still playing at a high level.
Staley has relied more on middle-of-the-field closed looks than middle-of-the-field open. The defense is not overly aggressive and plays soft-to-off more than pressed up on the line of scrimmage, unless it’s short-yardage. The defense employs a variety of nickel formations, including 2-4-5 and some 3-3-5, with more base personnel (3-4), against certain 12 personnel looks.
The Giants’ red zone woes may be corrected by the Saints’ 30th-ranked red zone touchdown percentage. Through four games, the Saints have allowed a 76.92% touchdown rate when opposing offenses make it to the red zone. Only the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots rank worse in 2025.
The Giants had a rudimentary approach against the Chargers. They preserved a lead and allowed Jaxson Dart to take advantage of the defense’s actions through read-option plays and runs tagged with throwing options (RPOs). Nine of Dart’s 13 completions against the Chargers were either passes to the flat, a simple three-route shallow horizontal stretch combination, or a shovel pass underneath (the Theo Johnson touchdown).
Dart found the stick route (once to Malik Nabers and twice to Darius Slayton) on the aforementioned...
