Giants Open as 5.5-point Underdogs vs New Orleans Saints
The incredible story of quarterback Tommy DeVito lives on, and so does the New York Giant's postseason dreams.
Standing under the bright lights of Monday Night Football in an arena where the team has struggled, the Jersey kid flipped the script in a performance to remember, posting 158 yards and a touchdown to lead the Giants a 24-22 victory to end the primetime spell.
Now the Giants stand just one game back from being in the postseason hunt. The stakes have risen, and the next big opportunity will await them on the road in the Big Easy.
According to FanDuel, the Giants will face the New Orleans Saints as 5.5-point underdogs in Week 15. The trend continues to be unsurprising for the Giants, who’ve steadily carried the underdog role for most of the season, a role in which the Giants have often seen at least a six-point margin in the odds.
The Saints have had one of the most rollercoaster seasons in the NFL. Sitting at 6-7 and in the thick of “the hunt” for the conference playoff picture, the journey has taken them through some thrilling victories and even more gut-wrenching losses. Still, they have survived the storm to maintain a presence in the postseason discussion.
The Saints will enter this matchup with the Giants on the heels of their 28-6 win over the Carolina Panthers last Sunday that ended an ugly three-game skid and propelled them into being one game out of the NFC South crown. Their recent stretch hasn’t seen the prettiest offensive performances, but the team has still managed to post 24 or more points in four of the last six contests.
Commanding the Saints huddle in his first season is quarterback Derek Carr, who signed with the team in free agency. The ten-year veteran and former Raider is in the midst of his worst season as a pro with 279 completions out of 420 attempts for 2,880 yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, but a major cause for that has been the inability to protect him on the field.
While he has played in 13 games this season, Carr has dealt with several injuries, including two concussions. A lot of the Saints’ contingent wants to blame the horrific offensive line—which ranks 30th in the NFL in pass block win rate—for his absences and turnovers, yet the rest of the unit continues to produce around him at the top half of the league.
The Saints are currently ranked 19th in total points at 21.5 per game and 11th in total yardage, carried significantly by their aerial attack. On that side, New Orleans is third in passing attempts, 10th in yardage, 19th in touchdowns, and 16th in average yards per throw.
They are led by receiver Chris Olave, who’s chasing his second 1,000-yard campaign. In the trenches, the Saints are led by Alvin Kamara, whose season-long production has been stifled by a four-game suspension to start the year. Along with his 564 yards and five touchdowns at the helm, they hold the ninth-most rushing attempts in the league, move the football at the 19th-best pace, and score at the 14th-best rate.
If New Orleans poses any weaknesses this season, they can punch in six points while inside the red zone. The team does a good job at converting third and fourth downs to get themselves inside the 20-yard line, but once there, they rank 26th in red zone scoring percentage and 22nd in average points per drive at 1.71 points.
It often takes them a quarter or more to find payday in their games, a feat that could play into the Giants success if they can pack some points early in the game. New York should also be able to move the pigskin on the ground with this Saints squad, whose defense ranks near the bottom of the league in attempts (21st), yards (24th), and average yards per carry allowed (27th).
Coming off their win against Green Bay, the Giants' annual numbers haven’t earned them enough respect to be a closer underdog in this matchup. They rank 31st and 32nd in total yards and points tallied this fall and struggled at moving the football consistently, especially on third downs (30.9%) and inside the red zone (40.0%).
The strength of their defense has helped them do well in recent weeks, which has forced a barrage of turnovers and slowed down the passing attack to force a game of attrition in the trenches. On Sunday, the Giants will look for Wink Martindale’s unit to keep the trends going at the Superdome and put them into easier positions to score points.
That and the weakness of the Saints at stopping the run are two elements the Giants could take advantage of to keep the win streak alive in what's become a very crowded NFC picture.
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