Five Keys for the Giants to Defeat the New Orleans Saints

Added by Vin D'Anton on December 9, 2012.

Here they are again, another December crossroads for the New York Giants. After a great win against the Green Bay Packers, the Champs seemed on their way to a possible second seed. Here’s the thing though, that is not how this era of Giants football does it.

They torture the fans and give them good drama from now till February. After last Monday, they will have to kick off this years run against an opponent that historically owns them in Drew Brees. Here are the five keys to a victory over Brees and his Saints:

5. Get the deep game going early: The Giants may be at somewhat of an advantage this week going against a Steve Spagnuolo defense. They know he likes the blitz and the one on one-man coverage.

That is a dream for the Giants and it showed last week against Washington with Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz being open all day. So it’s simple: complete the deep bombs early and take Spags out of his comfort zone. Do that and the run the game opens up to keep Drew Brees on the sideline.

4. Utilize David Wilson in the screen game: So yeah, Spags likes to blitz and David Wilson is pretty damn fast being a former track star and all. The Giants have been desperate to get their first round pick going and what a golden opportunity they have this week.

Dump it off to Wilson and get him into space. Not only is Wilson ready to take one to the house on a kickoff, but he is also ready to break out eventually. This blitz first defense sets that up perfectly for the rook to show what he’s got. 

3. Stop the run: Yes the Saints run game is not very good, but they have talented running backs in Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram Jr., and Chris Ivory. While the Saints rank 27^th in rushing offense, the Giants are ranked 21^st in stopping it.

Something will have to give and if the Saints run the ball well, Brees will have his way with the Giants defense. Stop the run early so Brees will force the issue.

2. Do not play zone defense: Watching the Saints in this Sean Payton era, they have ripped apart the zone defense. All they do is find holes in the zone with their quick receivers and we have all seen the Giants defense have their “swiss cheese” moments.

The Giants will need to listen to Jason Pierre-Paul this week and not be “soft.” Man up on the receivers and for the love of all that is holy; please do not let Prince Amukamara play ten yards off the receiver. Play them tight and hit them hard.

1. SCORE TOUCHDOWNS IN THE RED ZONE: Well folks back to this nonsense. They did it again on Monday Night with horrible 3^rd down efficiency in the red zone and sending out the weak leg of the overrated Lawrence Tynes.

The Giants are going to be in a shootout and if they don’t score touchdowns in the redzone, then call it a game and maybe a season.