If you can’t make the quarterback uncomfortable, especially one with the ability of Drew Brees, you’re probably in for a long day. 48-27 constitutes a long day in my book. The Giants were unable to lay a hand on Brees all day and it resulted in the Saints converting touchdowns on five of their six possessions in the first half. A few things bothered me about the defense. First, where were the adjustments? Without watching the game film, it appeared the Giants were attempting to rush just four in the beginning of the game with no success. With that not working, was there any attempt to bring pressure via the blitz? Also, why did it seem the Giants were playing a lot more zone when man-to-man is their usual coverage scheme? Let’s face it, the Saints are a real good squad right now (tops in the NFC IMO) and are going to make a lot of teams look bad. That, combinied with it being a New Orleans’ home game after their bye week, made it an extremely tough game for the Giants. But we’ve come to expect a better effort from this team in that type of situation.
Offensively, the Giants were off this much (my fingers are about two inches part as I write this). Manning twice just missed big plays to Dominik Hixon and Steve Smith that could have been touchdowns in the first quarter. And despite all the horrible defense in the first half, a Jints’ goal line stand with just under a minute left somewhat incredibly left the game at 27-17, with the Giants to get the second half kickoff. Here’s where the turning point of the game was. With no timeouts and the ball at the 16 yard line (after a personal foul penalty on the Saints), the Giants elected to not take a knee. There’s your first chance to second guess. I say it was the right move. You’re indoors, and getting in position for a long field goal attempt is quite possible. Plus, you have to recognize the Saints are rolling and points are going to be needed. After a completion to Mario Manningham which put the ball on the Saints’ 34 yard line, the coupe de grace occurred. Manning, who is usually money in a two minute drill, elected to not spike the ball, allowing almost 20 valuable seconds to run off the clock. That waste of time, combined with the team obviously hurried to get off the next play, resulted in a sack/fumble/loss of football to the Saints who got a gift wrapped touchdown to close out the half. Game. Set. Match.
Final point. It has zero to do with the outcome of the game, but the officiating in the game was downright unacceptable. A multitude of bad calls: incidental contact on Corey Webster on a long incompletion (even the Saints receiver was laughing), late horse collar flag on a kickoff after Saints’ return man lobbied for it, phantom flag on Shuan O’Hara negating a terrific TD scramble/throw by Manning, several non calls on Saints’ DB’s interfering with Giant receivers down the field, Dominik Hixon being called for offensive pass interference (for what, breathing?). Ed Hoculi’s crew had a bad day and I am sure Mike Peoria will let them know about it.
