Saints Cornerbacks Can Define Giants Matchup

The most consistent bright spot of the New Orleans Saints season thus far has been the secondary and they will need to continue to impress against the Giants.

It has been a season on criticism and inconsistency for the New Orleans Saints who look to go on a run after last weekend's win over the Carolina Panthers. With the New York Giants up next, one area of the Saints' season that has not received a ton of criticism because it has bucked the trend of inconsistency has been the secondary.

Led by veterans like safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Marshon Lattimore (who will be eligible to come off of injured reserve after this weekend's game), the Saints defensive backs group has been solid all season long. Contributing to the majority of the team's 22 takeaways, the group will again need to be on point in Week 15 against the New York Giants.

New Orleans Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom celebrates interception against Buccaneers / Oct 1, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom (27) celebrates an inception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second quarter at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, the Giants and backup sensation quarterback Tommy DeVito are not challenging for the NFL's best passing offense. Not by a long shot. They currently rank as the NFL's worst passing offense by measure of yardage and are No. 25 in scoring through the air. But there are two key factors that will still put pressure on the New Orleans secondary, in particular the cornerbacks.

First, the Giants target the middle of the field at the NFL's second-lowest rate. Tied with the Buffalo Bills, the Giants are only attacking the middle of the field in the passing game on 14% of their attempts. That percentage has even dropped with DeVito at the helm who, per Pro Football Focus (PFF), targets the middle of the field at a lower rate than starting quarterback Daniel Jones.

This means that perimeter defense in the passing game, cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Isaac Yiadom specifically, should expect see the majority of the action on Sunday's game. 

That should make Saints fans feel pretty comfortable, however. Both Adebo and Yiadom rank within the top ten in PFF's coverage grading scale and excel in several raw stats as well. Among the 119 corners that have taken at least 150 coverage snaps this season, Yiadom leads the league in forced incompletion percentage (35%) while Adebo (22%) sits comfortably within the top five.

Saints Porous Run Defense Must Meet Challenge of Giants Top Weapon

The second factor where these players will be important will be in the run game. The Giants tend to run outside of their tackles when they turn to the ground game. They do so at a 41% clip, No. 8 in the NFL in terms of frequency. Some of that comes from DeVito and Jones being better-than-adequate scramblers. But of course, you can not talk about the Giants without talking about star running back Saquon Barkley.

Much like their passing game, the ground game ranks low for the Giants. Sitting at No. 29 in the NFL in total rushing yardage and No. 31 in yards per attempt, New York may seem like they are no threat to the Saints defense in this category. And if this was the same run defense of old, that would be true. But this year's defense ranks No. 26 in the NFL against the run.

Why the corners are again so important here comes from that 41% outside run rate. Not only will Adebo and Yiadom have to be solid as perimeter run defense, but so too will slot cornerback Alontae Taylor. The good news for New Orleans is that, in the run game, Taylor has made his tackles just 3.3 yards downfield on average. More important to the actual act of tackling though will be maintaining the outside contain.

New Orleans Saints slot cornerback Alontae Taylor celebrates after breaking up a pass :: New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor reacts after breaking up a pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) on Sunday, September 24, 2023, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers came back from a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit to win the game, 18-17. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Adebo, Yiadom and Taylor will need to do a good job of not surrendering the sideline in the run game. They will instead be trusted to contribute in redirecting the runners to the inside where more defenders and a greater level of congestion will be located. Doing this rather than giving up the sideline could be the difference in a three-yard run and a house call.

Defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson preaches that it is the defense's responsibility to make the offense take another snap. A great example of this was Adebo's chase down tackle on a 48-yard run by Panthers running back Miles Sanders. 

After Sanders was able to get to the sideline on a run up the middle, Adebo did not give up on the play, forcing the runner down at the one-yard line in the third quarter. After that, the Panthers would lose a yard on a Sanders one, take a sack to lose another nine yards and then throw the ball away on third down thus having to settle for a field goal.

Ideally against Barkley, he never gets the sideline to begin with, but the mentality of that play against Carolina will be crucial against the Giants. Look for New York and their young, exciting quarterback to stick with what has worked for them in their three-game win streak and attack the perimeter with both the pass and run, even with tight end Darren Waller's possible return. This makes the continued success of the Saints cornerbacks pivotal to a key win late in the season.