THE MATCHUP: SAINTS VS. GIANTS 2021 WEEK 4

The New Orleans Saints (2-1) will look forward to playing their first contest in a capacity crowd in from of their fans for the first time since the 2019 campaign, as they make their 2021 debut in front of their Caesars Superdome faithful, which was delayed three weeks, when they host the New York Giants (0-3).

New Orleans enters the matchup having won five of their last seven meetings against the Giants since Head Coach Sean Payton was hired in 2006, against the team for home he served on their coaching staff for four seasons, as offensive coordinator for three. During that period, New Orleans' record against New York has been unblemished in three contests at home, the last a Superdome thriller on Nov. 1, 2015 matching up Drew Brees and Eli Manning in a 52-49 Saints win there the signal-callers combined for 13 touchdown passes, Brees tying an NFL record with seven.

SAINTS-GIANTS SERIES HISTORY

New Orleans enters the matchup having won five of their last seven meetings against the Giants since Head Coach Sean Payton was hired in 2006, against the team for home he served on their coaching staff for four seasons, as offensive coordinator for three. During that period, New Orleans' record against New York has been unblemished in three contests at home, the last a Superdome thriller on Nov. 1, 2015 matching up Drew Brees and Eli Manning in a 52-49 Saints win there the signal-callers combined for 13 touchdown passes, Brees tying an NFL record with seven.

The Saints and Giants have met 30 times, with New York holding a 16-14 advantage. The Saints have posted a 9-4 record in home contests played in three different stadiums at the Giants and will be looking for their second consecutive victory against the Giants after a 33-18 win at MetLife Stadium on September 30, 2018.

THE LAST MEETING

WEEK 4: Saints 33, New York Giants 18; September 30, 2018 @ MetLife Stadium – The Saints posted an impressive victory against the Giants behind a powerful running game and Outstanding run-stopping effort.

The Giants scored on their first offensive drive, taking a 7-0 lead on a two-yard TD connection between QB Eli Manning and WR Sterling Shepard.

When the Saints got the ball back, QB Drew Brees engineered a 15-play, 51-yard drive that ended with a Wil Lutz 42-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter, the first of four successful kicks in the quarter to give the Saints a 12-7 halftime lead. The Saints defense then proceeded to clamp down on the Giants offense as they allowed only 65 rushing yards, fumbles were forced by DT Tyeler Davison and CB P.J. Williams and recovered by CB Marshon Lattimore and DL Taylor Stallworth, while Manning was sacked three times, the defense allowing him to average only 5.3 yards per attempt.

QB Drew Brees completed 18 of 32 passes for 217 yards as the Saints ran up 170 yards on the ground. RB Alvin Kamara carried 19 times for 134 yards (7.1 avg) and three touchdowns. In the passing game, Kamara led the team in receiving with five grabs for 47 yards, for a game-high total of 181 total yards from scrimmage. TE Josh Hil had three receptions for a team-high 63 yards.

LB Demario Davis led the pass rush with two sacks and added a team-high 11 tackles, while Davison Roman Harper added a takedown and forced fumble in the fourth quarter. Lattimore's fumble return was for 37 yards as New Orleans finished +2 in turnover ratio, not giving away the football.

SAINTS-PATRIOTS SERIES FAST FACTS

Saints' Largest Margin of Victory vs Giants:

38 points, Saints won 45-7 on 12/14/03 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Giants' Largest Margin of Victory vs Saints:

28 points, Giants won 31-3 on 10/24/99 at Giants Stadium.

Current Series Streak:

Saints won the last contest, 33-18, 9/30/18.

Saints' Longest Win Streak vs Giants:

Three games, 12/24/06-11/28/11.

Giants' Longest Win Streak vs. Saints:

Three games, 9/28/97-9/30/01.

Most Points by Saints in a Game vs. Giants:

52 points, Saints won 52-49 on 11/1/15 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Most Points by Giants in a Game vs. Saints:

52 points, Giants won 52-27 on 12/9/12 at MetLife Stadium

Most Combined Points (Both Teams):

101 points, Saints won 52-49 on 11/1/15 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Fewest Points by Saints in a Game vs. Giants:

Three points, Giants won 31-3 on 10/24/99 at Giants Stadium.

Fewest Points by Giants in a Game vs. Saints:

Three points (Tie), Saints won 17-3 on 12/15/96 at Giants Stadium (Most Recent). Saints won 10-3 on 12/15/84 at Giants Stadium (First).

Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams):

13 points, Saints won 10-3 on 12/15/84 at Giants Stadium.

NEW YORK GIANTS WEEK 3 RECAP

From Giants.com

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants have a propensity for playing close games. But they'll be the first to concede that they must start winning more of them.

Their run of frustrating defeats continued Sunday in MetLife Stadium, where the Atlanta Falcons scored 10 points in the final 4:13, including Younghoe Koo's 40-yard field goal that doomed the Giants to a 17-14 defeat.

The Giants fell to 0-3 and lost on a final play field goal for the second consecutive game. On Sept. 16, Washington's Dustin Hopkins kicked a game-winning 43-yard field goal as the clock hit zero. Since the start of the 2020 season, the Giants are 3-5 in games decided by three points or less.

"We just have to finish," said running back Saquon Barkley, who had a team-high 94 yards from scrimmage and scored the Giants' only touchdown on a one-yard leap. "0-3. Obviously, no one is happy. We just have to keep trusting each other and stay with each other. Starting 0-3 is where you're going to hear a lot of noise outside. As long as we stay strong in the locker room, we're going to be alright. We have to keep trusting each other, keep trusting the system, keep trusting the coaches and keep coming to work and try to figure it out."

Read More: Giants lose another close game to Falcons

Notes & Stats: Giants vs. Falcons Recap

Cover 3: What we learned from Giants vs. Falcons

Film Review: 5 factors for Giants to build on

Notebook: Latest on Shepard & Slayton; next man up after Martinez

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS WEEK 3 RECAP

New Orleans returns home after spending a month with their base of football operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area due to affects of Ida, touchdown down in the Crescent City following a 28-13 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. on Sunday, September 28. After taking a 14-3 halftime lead and a commanding 21-3, edge nine seconds into the second half when S Malcolm Jenkins picked off New England rookie QB Mac Jones for a 34-yard touchdown, the Patriots inched to within a score of tying the contests at 21-13 midway through the fourth quarter. However, New Orleans dug in with their offensive line and run game and a pair of key third down conversions by QB Jameis Winston, grinding out a 13-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up 6:45 off the clock and ended with a four-yard rushing touchdown by QB Taysom Hill. On New England's final change, the Saints kept the ball in front of them and ended their chances with an interception by CB Marshon Lattimore.

There were multiple positives in the New Orleans win after they rebounded from a 26-7 loss at Carolina the prior week, now taking advantage of finally being housed at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center for the first time since late August. Winston played mistake-free football, as he completed 13-of-21 passes for 128 yards with two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 110.8 passer rating. The Saints also controlled the line of scrimmage despite LT Terron Armstead departing early in the contest as they rushed for 142 yards, including a performance of 89 yards rushing and 29 receiving with an 11-yard touchdown grab by RB Alvin Kamara. WR Marquez Callaway had four receptions for 41 yards with one touchdown. Kamara leads the team in both rushing and receiving with 235 total yards from scrimmage and two receiving touchdowns.

Defensively and on special teams, in addition to the picks by Jenkins and Lattimore, CB P.J. Williams added an interception and LB Andrew Dowell had the first blocked punt against a Patriots team since the 2015 season. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and DE Tanoh Kpassagnon added sacks. The 42 points surrendered by New Orleans is the fourth-lowest total in the NFL and tied for the fourth-lowest total in franchise history through the first three games of a season, despite the team not having entered their home stadium for a regular season game until Sunday.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS-NEW YORK GIANTS 2021 STATISTICAL COMPARISON

League Rankings

SAINTS-GIANTS CONNECTIONS

• New Orleans Head Coach Sean Payton served on the Giants staff from 1999-2002 including handling offensive coordinator duties from 2000-02. His first season as coordinator in 2000, when the Giants captured the NFC title and went to Super Bowl XXXV, New York scored 328 points - the club's highest total since 1990 - and finished 13th in the NFL in total offense. When he served as Giants offensive coordinator, Payton tutored Giants Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett who played quarterback for the Giants and also had stints on the Saints practice squad from 1989-90 and whose late father, Jim, served as defensive backs coach for the Saints from 1976-77.
• New Orleans Secondary Coach Kris Richard served on Garrett's staff as the passing game coordinator/secondary from 2018-19 with the Dallas Cowboys
• New Orleans Offensive Line Coach Brendan Nugent prepped at and coached at Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) High School
• New Orleans punter Blake Gillikin and tight end Juwan Johnson played with New York running back Saquon Barkley at Penn State. Johnson prepped at Glassboro (N.J.) HS
• Saints Safety Marcus Williams and Giants running back Devontae Booker were college teammates at Utah.
• Saints cornerback Bradley Roby and quarterback Trevor Siemian were teammates with Booker and Giants punter Riley Dixon with the Denver Broncos.
• Safety Jeff Heath and Booker were teammates in Las Vegas in 2020
• Saints Senior Defensive Assistant Peter Giunta tutored the Giants secondary from 2006-14
• New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins prepped at Piscataway (N.J.) HS
• New Orleans Vice President of Football Administration Khai Harley graduated with a degree in accounting from Rutgers in 1998
• Giants Midwest Area Scout Brendan Prophett was a member of the Saints scouting staff in 2015
• New Orleans fullback Alex Armah, Giants cornerback James Bradberry and kicker Graham Gano were teammates in Carolina from 2017-19.
• Armah was signed in Carolina as an undrafted free agent by New York Senior Vice President/General Manager Dave Gettleman who served in the same position in Charlotte
• New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara and New York linebacker Lorenzo Carter were teammates at Norcross (Ga.) HS
• New York Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey served as special teams coordinator/defensive assistant at LSU from 2011-13
• McGaughey tutored Saints linebacker Demario Davis on special teams with the New York Jets in 2014
• Giants Defensive Quality Control Coach Carter Blount served on the South Alabama (2011-13) and LSU (2016) staffs
• New York Running Backs Coach Burton Burns is a New Orleans native who spent nine seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for his alma mater, St. Augustine High School in New Orleans before going to Tulane, where he served on their staff from 1995-98. Burns helped lead St. Augustine to district titles in 1987, 1992 and 1993, his second stint at the school. His first experience as a coach also was at St. Augustine, where he served as an assistant from 1977-79 and helped the school win three other district championships on the way to consecutive state titles in 1978-79. Burns also coached at New Orleans' Booker T. Washington High School in 1980 before a five-year stint as an assistant coach at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., from 1981-85.
• New York Offensive Quality Control Coach Russ Callaway served as a senior offensive analyst at LSU in 2020
• New York Tight Ends Coach Derek Dooley previously served on the LSU staff from 2000-04 and served as head coach at Louisiana Tech from 2007-09
• Giants Assistant Secondary Coach Jerome Henderson tutored Saints cornerback Desmond Trufant in Atlanta from 2016-19 as his position coach
• Saints kicker Aldrick Rosas kicked for the Giants from 2017-19 and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2018
• New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston and Giants quarterback Mike Glennon were teammates in Tampa Bay from 2015-16
• Saints running back Dwayne Washington and Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay were teammates in Detroit in 2017
• Saints guard Andrus Peat was college teammates with New York linebacker Blake Martinez at Stanford
• Saints wide receiver Ty Montgomery and Martinez were teammates in Green Bay
• New Orleans defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon and Giants linebacker Reggie Ragland were teammates with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2017-19
• Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard’s later father Derick, played for New Orleans in 1989