New Orleans Saints chase another 1-0 week against New York Giants on Sunday

'The margin for error is extremely small right now, and we need to make sure we're taking advantage of every opportunity'

Dec 11, 2023 at 03:55 PM

John DeShazier

Senior Writer

Check out the game action shots from the New Orleans Saints game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 14 of the 2023 NFL season.

It doesn't have to be picturesque in order to be true, and the truth is the New Orleans Saints are 6-7 entering Sunday's game against the Giants (4-8) in the Caesars Superdome, same overall record as Tampa Bay and Atlanta in the NFC South Division.

By virtue of the fact that the Saints are 2-2 in the division and the Buccaneers and Falcons are 3-1, each currently is ahead of New Orleans in the pecking order. But the Saints are in position, heightening the importance of their final four regular-season games.

"It'll be extremely, extremely important if we take care of business this week against the Giants," Coach Dennis Allen said Monday. "The margin for error is extremely small right now, and we need to make sure we're taking advantage of every opportunity. So we need to focus in on the Giants and trying to get a win against those guys this week."

The Saints maneuvered into position to raise the importance of this week by ending a three-game losing streak on Sunday in a 28-6 victory over Carolina.

While none will suggest it remotely resembled a balanced performance, there were items to build on, or extend.

The Saints were three of four in the red zone and now have scored touchdowns in seven of their last eight trips in the red zone. Defensively, New Orleans allowed 99 net passing yards and accumulated four sacks. Special teams contributed a forced fumble on a punt that was recovered and returned for a touchdown.

"We won a game in our league by three touchdowns, (so) it wasn't all bad," Allen said. "There are some things that we've got to improve on.

"I do think there are some things that stood out to me, like our red zone offense has been much better the last two weeks. I thought our pass defense was really good in the game and I thought from the standpoint of just being able to win the field position battle, I thought that was a huge factor in the game. Still, third down (8 of 20 conversion attempts allowed on defense, 3 of 10 converted on offense) has to be better, really on both sides of the ball."

Though Carolina's passing game was limited to 99 yards, New Orleans' wasn't significantly better, totaling 110 yards. But Saints quarterback Derek Carr threw 7- and 4-yard touchdown passes to receiver Chris Olave and tight end Jimmy Graham, respectively. He was sacked once and intercepted once.

"We never really got into a good rhythm in the passing game," Allen said. "There's some things that we probably could have and would have done a little bit differently. I think particularly our drop back passing – I thought some of the things we were able to do play-action wise, there were some things there that we took advantage of. Drop back passing, I didn't think we were as good as we needed to be, whether it be throwing it, catching it, protecting it."

GIMME JIMMY: Allen said that Graham, who has been active the last two games and has caught a touchdown pass in each, has warranted more offensive snaps. Graham has four catches this season, including three red-zone touchdown grabs.

"The number of snaps that he's played has been limited, even in the last couple of games," Allen said. "The one thing that we feel like there's an area of the field that this player can help us, and that's in the red area. And he has done that the last couple of weeks. But there's a lot of other snaps that go along in the game other than just the red area. I think we've got to continue to look at that balance, but I think he's earned the right to get some more snaps.

"We've got some players at that position that kind of have defined roles and things that they can do, and really it kind of ends up being about opportunities. Jimmy has gone out the last couple of weeks and gotten more opportunities, he's taken advantage of those opportunities. So, when you do that I think you should get more. So, I think that's what we'll look at as we move forward."

Photos: Game Action | Saints vs. Panthers | 2023 NFL Week 14