Giants Country

New York Giants Top Saints in Overtime, 27-21

Giants overcome an 11-point deficit to secure their first win of the 2021 season.

Patricia Traina

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants scored 17 unanswered points to overcome an 11-point deficit against the New Orleans Saints to secure a 27-21 win in overtime at the Caesars Superdome.

The Giants, now 1-3 on the season, won their game in impressive fashion, benefitting from several chunk plays that fans have been waiting to see ever since offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was hired last year to call the plays. The first of the chunk plays came on New York's first score, a 51-yard strike from quarterback Daniel Jones to receiver John Ross to give the Giants a 7-0 lead with eight seconds left in the first quarter.

The Giants also got a big 54-yard touchdown score on a Jones pass to running back Saquon Barkley, who was split out wide. Barkley had no trouble beating the Saints coverage as the Giants began chipping away at the Saints' 11-point margin, a lead that in part was fueled by two touchdown runs by Taysom Hill. 

Earlier in the game, both the Giants and Saints missed field goal attempts, the Giants from 35 yards and the Saints from 58.

Ross's touchdown reception was an alert play by the receiver, who initially caught the ball and then lost possession as he crossed the plane. He then alertly jumped up to recover the ball and secure the fumble, assuring the Giants would keep the 7-0 lead. hen lost possess ion as he crossed the plane,. He then alertly jumped up to recover the ball and secure the fumble, thereby assuring the Giants would keep the 7-0 lead. 

The Saints found themselves in Giants' territory on six of their ten scoring drives, including their first four in a row. However, they only managed to come up with seven points in those opportunities, that being the first of Hill's two touchdowns, a score the Giants defense gave up in the final two minutes of the first half.

The Giants made it a three-point game in the fourth quarter thanks to contributions from all three game phases.

On a 3rd-and-2 from the Saints 25-yard line, edge rushers Lorenzo Carter and Azeez Ojulari sopped Taysom Hill for no gain. Punt returner C.J. Board returned a punt 26 yards to set up a 1st-and-10 from the 46-yard line.

From there, Daniel Jones threw his 54-yard touchdown pass to Barkley, who was lined up out wide. Jones then converted on the 2-point play to make it 21-18.

After winning the coin toss to start the overtime period, the Giants ran a 9-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 6-yard touchdown run by Barkley, which ate 5:06 off the clock to give the Giants their first win of the season.

Giants Survive Losses of Shepard and Slayton

Receivers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney saw their pass targets increase this week, with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton sidelined with hamstring injuries.

Golladay caught six of seven pass targets for 116 yards, while Toney, the rookie, caught six of nine targets for 78 yards.

And not to be forgotten, running back Saquon Barkley, who saw some snaps lined up wide, contributed five catches (out of six pass targets) for 74 yards, including his big 54-yard touchdown catch.

Injury Updates

Giants safety Jabrill Peppers, who excitedly made the correct call in the overtime coin toss, was ruled out in the second half after suffering a hamstring strain. Also, receiver/kickoff returner C.J. Board injured his clavicle.

Daniel Jones Climbs Up Giants Franchise Leader Board

Jones's second-quarter touchdown pass to John Ross gave him 38 for his career and pushed him past Ed Danowski (37) for the eighth-most passing touchdowns in Giants history. Jones finished the game with two touchdown passes throw and now has 39 for his career.

Jones also finished with a passer rating of 108.5, which ties him with tie Eli Manning and Phil Simms (eight) for the most games with a passer rating of at least 100.0 by a Giants player in their first three seasons of a season.

Jones' 402 passing yards, his first 400-yard passing game in his career, also helped make him the fourth quarterback in franchise history to pass for at least 200 yards in each of the first four games of a season. 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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