Big Blue View
Do the Big Blue View contributors believe the 1-3 New York Giants can keep the home-standing 0-4 New Orleans Saints winless on Sunday? Check out our Week 5 NFL staff picks to find out.
Can the Giants make it two in a row? It’s something they haven’t done since November 26th and December 14th, 2023. The defense seems as though the new pieces are finally starting to settle in, while Dexter Lawrence and Darius Alexander are rounding into form. The big question is, as always, on the offense. Can Dart follow up his debut with another winning effort? Can the Giants open up the passing game with the Saints will surely trying to clamp down on the running game without Malik Nabers on the field?
I’m not going to say that losing Nabers is addition by subtraction — it’s just subtraction. But removing him from the fold could force Dart to learn how to play with all of his weapons and not just lean on one superstar. The hope here is that having to diversify the passing attack ultimately makes the Giants harder to defend. That might be for the future however, and right now I think they have to lean on the defense to keep pressure to run up the score off the offense. This is a good opportunity to do so.
Pick: Giants
This is a game the Giants can win. That doesn’t mean it’s a game they will win. The Saints are not in the Chargers’ league. Still, the Giants had a perfect matchup last week in that their strength (pass rush) lined up against an LAC offensive line missing its three best starters for all or most of the game. The Saints’ OL isn’t great and they are missing a starting guard, so the Giants’ pass rush needs to dominate again. QB Spencer Rattler mostly throws short passes and hasn’t been great on long passes when he does throw. He puts the ball up for grabs a lot. He does have good receivers in Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks, though. If the Giants had a secondary I trusted (or if Shane Bowen disguised his defenses – h/t Rattler) I’d say advantage, Giants. But I don’t trust them. I also don’t trust the Giants’ run defense, and the run is the Saints’ offensive strength with Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller. On defense, the Saints are middling although they have a great linebacker in Demario Davis and a good rookie safety, Jonas Sanker. They also have a good pass rush off the edge, but I think the Giants’ tackles can mostly neutralize it. My big question is, how are the Giants going to score points, in this game and beyond, with Malik Nabers out? Can Jaxson Dart win with his arm if his hamstring limits what he can do with his legs? Depending on the answer, this game could go either way. The Saints were within 2 points of Buffalo...
