Saints at Giants
The New Orleans Saints and New York Giants gave the scoreboard operator a workout and fantasy football owners a thrill with high-octane offense in their explosive matchup last season. Drew Brees and the visiting Saints look for more of the same on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium as they attempt to rebound from a season-opening loss.
Brees threw for 505 yards and seven touchdowns in a 52-49 track meet-style victory over the Giants on Nov. 1 and followed in those footsteps with 423 yards passing and four scores in a 35-34 setback to Oakland on Sunday. New Orleans amassed a league-best 507 yards of total offense, with Brandon Cooks reeling in two touchdown receptions versus the Raiders to match both his and Willie Snead's total in the last meeting with New York. Eli Manning threw for 350 yards and a career-best six touchdowns against the Saints, but his three scores last Sunday was enough to lift the Giants to a slim 20-19 triumph over Dallas. Odell Beckham was limited to just four catches for 73 yards in that contest, but corralled three touchdown passes versus the Saints last season to go along with eight receptions for 120 yards.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Giants -4.5. O/U: 52.5
ABOUT THE SAINTS (0-1): While Cooks and Snead garnered the majority of the attention, tight end Coby Fleener was limited to just one catch for four yards in his debut despite playing on 56 of the team's 69 offensive snaps. On the other side of the ball, New Orleans finds itself short-handed as the loss of top cornerback Delvin Breaux (broken fibula) elevates second-year P.J. Williams and undrafted rookies De'Vante Harris and Ken Crawley at the position. Williams showed bravado in welcoming the challenge of facing Beckham, Victor Cruz and rookie Sterling Shepard by saying, "We're looking forward to getting challenged by those guys."
ABOUT THE GIANTS (1-0): New York received early dividends last week after investing $141 million to bolster its defensive line, notably holding prized rookie Ezekiel Elliott to just 51 yards rushing behind Dallas' highly touted offensive line. "We were physical and heavy-handed at the line of scrimmage,” coach Ben McAdoo said of defensive ends Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul along with tackles Damon Harrison and Johnathan Hankins. Pierre-Paul has recorded at least six tackles in two games versus New Orleans while Vernon had five and a sack in his last encounter against the Saints while playing with Miami.
EXTRA POINTS
1. New York RB Rashad Jennings rushed for 75 yards last week and faces a defense that allowed 167 on the ground last week.
2. Shifty RB Travaris Cadet is expected to get more involved in the passing game after the Saints released C.J. Spiller on Tuesday.
3. Giants K Josh Brown will return to the field after serving a one-game suspension stemming from a domestic violence arrest last year.