Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, I break down the Saints win over the New York Giants.
1st Down: Balanced Offense
After seeing Drew Brees put the whole team on his back for much of the last three ballgames, the Saints offense showed what made them one of the best teams in the league in 2017 with an extremely balanced attack. The play calls were divided up almost evenly with 34 pass attempts and 32 run plays.
It seemed to be a preview of things to come once Mark Ingram comes back when they take on the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. They have this kind of performance next week, it’ll be a huge win for this team headed into a bye week.
2nd Down: Best Defensive Performance So Far
The numbers don’t lie and they showed that this might have been the best performance by the Saints defense all season. A lot of that has to do with the front seven attacking a Giants offensive line that has been god awful the last few seasons, but seeing the Saints allowing 5.1 yards per play is a very promising stat.
Also, having DeMario Davis ball out inside MetLife Stadium was a huge reason for how the game turned out the way it did with the former Jet putting up two sacked and 11 total tackles on the afternoon.
3rd Down: Thank Goodness for Wil Lutz
While the Saints offense was rolling on all cylinders in the second half, there were some roadblocks and that led to the Saints settling for quite a few field goals. In fact, Wil Lutz had to re-kick one due to time expiring in the first quarter. While that may have ticked off some people involved in football pools, the former Georgia State Panther is still one of the more consistent kickers the team has had in a good while.
4th Down: Slow Start to First Half a Little Concerning
Speaking of the first half, it’s a little concerning that the Saints had to settle for so many field goals, especially on their fourth drive after they forced a fumble to give them the ball at the Giants 11-yard line. They wound up being pushed back eight yards and settled for a chip shot field goal.
If there was any negative from this ballgame, it was on that drive. The Saints need to get at least six points on these kinds of drives against some of the really good opponents they’ll have in the next few weeks.
Extra Point: Run Kamara Run!
Seriously, I can watch this touchdown run into the tunnel a hundred times and never get tired of it. It’s so good.
-Clint Domingue