New York Giants Week 15: Examining the New Orleans Saints Defense

Let's check in to see what the Giants offense is up against this weekend when they visit the New Orleans Saints.

Brandon Olsen | Dec 14, 2023

New York Giants Week 15: Examining the New Orleans Saints Defense /

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The New York Football Giants are 3-1 under Tommy "Cutlets" DeVito and have a legitimate chance to get to 4-1 against a New Orleans Saints team that hasn’t been impressive this season.

Personnel

The Saints defense still has a ton of talent at key spots. They’re also in a situation where they have some aging talent that’s lost a step or two and young players who are still trying to learn their way around in the NFL.

Cam Jordan isn’t what he used to be on that defensive front, but he can still use his raw power to overwhelm offensive tackles. As a run defender, he will make life difficult for Saquon Barkley to bounce runs outside of contain on whichever side Cam is lined up on.

Also on the defensive front is Carl Granderson, Khalen Saunders, Nathan Sheperd, Bryan Bresee, and Tanoh Kpassagnon. Bresee is the one that scares me the most this weekend, genuinely.

The rest of the defensive line is probably more talented overall, but Bresee has taken strides on film recently. Bresee had seven pressures last week against the Panthers and was bullying the Panthers guards. The week before that, the production wasn’t there as Bresee had just one pressure, but he was going up against an elite Lions offensive line and looked good while doing it.

Demario Davis is another experienced veteran, but he’s still playing at an elite level. While he might not be as athletic as he was early in his career with the New York Jets, he’s got one of the highest football IQs among inside linebackers.

Pete Werner is a chess piece on the Saints defense. He’s a weaponized linebacker that gets used in multiple ways that we’ll elaborate on in the next section, but his versatility opens things up.

The cornerback room comprises Alontae Taylor, Paulson Adebo, and former Giant Isaac Yiadom right now, a strategy that has unsurprisingly led to some very high and low lows. Last week against the Panthers, that group played absolutely lights out, but the Lions picked on them all across the field.

At safety, Tyrann Mathieu and Jordan Howden are a duo that probably gives that safety room the biggest variety of youth and experience. Mathieu has lost a step this year, an unsurprising result for someone with a great IQ who also relies on his athleticism on the wrong side of 30.

Howden is intriguing as someone who’s recently had to step into a starting role, but he’s had some strong moments this season. He’s also had some weak moments, but a rookie starting at safety being inconsistent shouldn’t surprise anyone.

New York Giants Week 15: Examining the New Orleans Saints Offense

Scheme

Defensively, I like what the Saints do most of the time. They run a system with four down linemen, don’t rely on blitzing to generate pressure, runs stunts so they can still have a creative pass-rush plan, and play a variety of coverages on the back end.

Pete Werner, as I mentioned before, is the chess piece. Almost every defense has one, and for the Saints, Werner is the guy that lines up frequently both as an edge rusher and off-ball linebacker. He’s their most-used off-ball blitzer who can rush from an off-ball spot or drop back from the edge.

Stunts are a big part of the pass-rush plan for the Saints, and this weekend should be no different when they face this Giants offensive line that has been dreadful picking up stunts all year. In a stunt, one rusher will attack an offensive lineman to occupy them, while another rusher loops around that initial defender, leaving the offensive lineman in an almost impossible position.

Coverage-wise, the Saints have probably the most versatile playbook around. We’ll likely see Covers 1, 2, 3, and quarters this week and might even see Cover 0 or Cover 6 (although the Saints call those maybe once or twice a game).

The most frequent coverage is Cover 1, which doesn’t bode well for a Giants receiving corps that struggles with consistently creating separation. There’s not a ton of disguising their coverages for the Saints, teams typically tend to disguise either the front of their defense or the back - the Saints are the front.

What This Means for the Giants

The Saints playing Cover 1 will cause issues for the Giants more likely than not, but there are still ways to attack and try to move the ball. The best and most likely option would be to use pre-snap motion for someone like Wan’Dale Robinson or Jalin Hyatt to get a clean release.

The Saints cornerbacks are physical at the line of scrimmage and both Robinson and Hyatt are receivers that can be thrown out of rhythm with press coverage. Use motion, and the secondary won’t be able to put hands on them - get your fast guys running.

I would also expect to see Saquon or Daniel Bellinger kept in to pass protect this weekend. The Saints don’t blitz, but with the amount of stunts they run, they’re bound to get a free rusher or two into the backfield. Having Saquon or Bellinger as block and release options would help Tommy DeVito handle the pressure.

Final Thoughts

Like most Giants games lately, expect this one to be a low-scoring affair that the Giants have a real chance of winning. There’s a legit route to victory that could put the Giants close to playoffs…somehow?