Giants present measuring stick for unbeaten Saints

Written by Kimble Wright | Saturday, 17 October 2009 10:28 | Saints News

NEW ORLEANS - After a hype-building bye week the New Orleans Saints face their biggest challenge so far this season when they take on the New York Giants in a battle of undefeated teams at noon on Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome.

Saints head coach Sean Payton said he is ready to see how the his team stacks up against one of the best in the NFC.

“When you look at all the categories that lend themselves to winning, this is a team that has done most of those things real well,” Payton said. “This is a good challenge for us and a real good football team. Not only looking at the film and looking at all the numbers in all phases, they’re very well-coached and very talented.”

Payton expects the Giants to be very physical on both sides of the ball. “We’ve played some good, physical teams and we understand the type of game that it’s going to be,” Payton said, “and I think we’ll be ready for the challenge.”

Protecting Drew Brees, specifically blocking the Giants defensive line, will be one of the Saints’ priorities all game long.

“They do a good job of mixing in the pressure with more than four players and certainly their front is very active and very athletic,” Payton said. “They’re a handful and that’s going to be an important part of this game. Both with a four-man rush and then with additional players in their pressure packages, we’ll have to do a good job with our protections and then do a good job with getting the ball out.”

Defensively, the Saints will have their hands full as they try to stop two local products: quarterback Eli Manning (Newman High School) and running back Brandon Jacobs (Assumption High School).

Manning provides plenty of problems for opposing defenses. “This is certainly the best quarterback we’ve seen to date and he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Payton said. “He’s throwing the ball accurately, it comes out of his hands, he does a great job with his plays at the line of scrimmage and getting them into the best plays in the running game as well as the protections in the passing game. He’s been in that system now and he’s operating with a lot of confidence.”

Payton said he has been impressed with the improvements Manning, currently the second-rated passer in the NFL at 111.7, has made since first coming into the league.

“I think he’s playing at an extremely high level in the system now, Payton said. “He knows exactly what to do with his protections and what to do with his run checks. He does a great job of really orchestrating the offense. He’s very accurate and he does a great job as well in the two-minute. He’s had a lot of two-minute success. He has certainly established himself through a lot of hard work; you can just look at the numbers. The most important job for the quarterback is to win games and he has been able to do that as their starter.”

Jacobs is a big part of the Giants’ run success in recent years. “He’s a hard runner,” Payton said. “He’s a guy that if he gets going, he can be a load and has had a great career there. They do a great job up front and they’re a team that has rushed the ball very well in the last three years and he has been a big reason for that.”

This season, Jacobs is averaging a respectable 3.6 yards per carry. The Saints will also have to focus on Jacob’s running mate, the speedy Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw is averaging 6.5 yards per carry and has two touchdowns through five games.

Although Brees acknowledged the Saints could see the Giants again come playoff time, he said he is focusing on Sunday’s game for now. “It’s already a big game,” Brees said. “The fact that it’s two undefeated (teams playing one another) and (the Giants being) a very good opponent. The Giants have been a playoff contender here for the last three or four years in a row. I think we all expect to be in the playoffs and I guess certainly there would be those implications, but let’s just take it one game at a time and not take it too far ahead.”

New York Giants (5-0) at New Orleans Saints (4-0)
Date:	Sunday, October 18th
Kickoff:	12 p.m. (ct)
Site:	Louisiana Superdome (68,000) -- New Orleans, Louisiana
Surface:	Sportexe Momentum
Home Record:	New York 2-0; New Orleans 2-0
Away Record:	New York 3-0; New Orleans 2-0
Versus N-F-C:	New York 3-0; New Orleans 2-0
Versus N-F-C South:	New York 1-0
Versus N-F-C East:	New Orleans 1-0
Current Win/Loss Streak:	New York 5W; New Orleans 4W
Current Road Win/Loss Streak:	New York 3W
Current Home Win/Loss Streak:	New Orleans 2W
Television:	FOX
Announcers:	Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver
All-Time Series:	New York (14-10)
Last Meeting:	December 24, 2006 (New Orleans, 30-7 at New York)
Series Streak:	New Orleans has won two of the last three meetings.

Season Schedule/Results

New York Giants Sep 13 - W vs. Washington, 23-17 Sep 20 - W at Dallas, 33-31 Sep 27 - W at Tampa Bay, 24-0 Oct 4 - W at Kansas City, 27-16 Oct 11 - W vs. Oakland, 44-7 Oct 18 - at New Orleans, 12:00 PM Oct 25 - vs. Arizona, 7:20 PM Nov 1 - at Philadelphia, 12:00 PM Nov 8 - vs. San Diego, 3:15 PM Nov 15 - Open Nov 22 - vs. Atlanta, 12:00 PM Nov 26 - at Denver, 7:20 PM Dec 6 - vs. Dallas, 3:15 PM Dec 13 - vs. Philadelphia, 7:20 PM Dec 21 - at Washington, 7:30 PM Dec 27 - vs. Carolina, 12:00 PM Jan 3 - at Minnesota, 12:00 PM

New Orleans Saints Sep 13 - W vs. Detroit, 45-27 Sep 20 - W at Philadelphia, 48-22 Sep 27 - W at Buffalo, 27-7 Oct 4 - W vs. NY Jets, 24-10 Oct 11 - Open Oct 18 - vs. NY Giants, 12:00 PM Oct 25 - at Miami, 3:15 PM Nov 2 - vs. Atlanta, 7:30 PM Nov 8 - vs. Carolina, 3:05 PM Nov 15 - at St. Louis, 12:00 PM Nov 22 - at Tampa Bay, 12:00 PM Nov 30 - vs. New England, 7:30 PM Dec 6 - at Washington, 12:00 PM Dec 13 - at Atlanta, 12:00 PM Dec 19 - vs. Dallas, 7:20 PM Dec 27 - vs. Tampa Bay, 12:00 PM Jan 3 - at Carolina, 12:00 PM

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Sports Network: Saints-Giants matchup