Giants Fall to Saints: Week 5 Recap and Reaction
Two possessions into the game this afternoon, it looked once again like Jaxson Dart was going into Dart Knight mode, with two touchdown passes to tight end Theo Johnson. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down after that, and the Giants didn’t score again. Here are three things we learned:
The Giants Need to Play With a Lead
As with any rookie QB, Jaxson Dart needs to play with confidence, but it may be even more important for a player like Dart, who feeds on a swagger that comes with playing well. The plan got off to a great start Sunday, scoring touchdowns on their first two drives for the first time in five seasons. However, after the Giants had five consecutive turnovers and the Saints took their first lead, we saw Dart start to push and try to do too much, which led to his first two interceptions of the season.
Even ignoring the confidence piece of the equation, without Malik Nabers, the Giants simply don’t have the receivers to get back into games if they don’t have the lead. Dart’s two interceptions came on targets for Jaylin Hyatt and Beaux Collins, and the top three receivers for Dart today were Johnson, Daniel Bellinger, and Cam Skattebo.
The Pass Rush Needs to Be There
Just one week after harassing Justin Herbert and the Chargers to the tune of two sacks and 12 QB hits, the Giants' defense had no sacks and only one QB hit on Spencer Rattler. This is a quarterback who has been sacked nine times through his team’s first four games, so that’s not a great sign.
If the Giants can’t generate pressure and affect the opposing QB, it’s going to be a long stretch of games coming up here with Philly twice, Denver, and San Francisco in the next month.
The Sky is (Still) Not Falling
Look, there are plenty of things to be disappointed in with today’s performance. Like Daboll said after the game, you can’t win games in the NFL if you lose the turnover battle five to nothing. That’s not a recipe to win with any quarterback, let alone a rookie QB down his best receiver.
However, there’s still plenty to be excited about. The run defense held the Saints to under three yards per carry, while the Giants averaged 4.7. There were some positive drives in there, and a failed flea flicker that would have put the G-Men up 21-13 before halftime could have completely turned this game around. Losing to a winless Saints team is never ideal, but it doesn’t spell disaster for the Giants. I still think this team has the potential to scrape together some wins this year, as long as they don’t get behind early.