A winless New Orleans Saints squad returns to the Superdome this week after two consecutive games on the road. The 0-4 Saints host the 1-3 New York Giants on Sunday, with the Giants getting their first win last week on a 21-18 defeat of the Los Angeles Chargers. The last win for the Saints came against these Giants in Week 14 of last season.
New Orleans comes into this contest ranked 18th in total defense, but 30th in points allowed and 27th in third down defense. They’ll face a New York offense that is 20th in total yardage and 27th in points scored. The Giants are led by first round rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, making the first road start of his career. The best way to support a young quarterback is with the running game, which is the focus of today’s analysis of Sunday’s matchup.
Giants Rushing Attack
- 112.2 yards per game (16th)
- 4 yards per carry (21st)
- 3 touchdowns
After an extremely slow start to the year on the ground, New York’s rushing yardage has increased with each game. Their 161 rushing yards against the Chargers was a major factor in their first win. Not coincidentally, that’s coincided with the usage and effectiveness of rookie running back Cam Skattebo. The fourth round choice got his first start of his career against the Chargers and responded with 79 rushing yards on 25 attempts. On the year so far, Skattebo has 181 yards and an average of 3.8 per carry. An extremely physical back, Skattebo plows through tacklers for extra yardage and has the speed to pull away from defenders in open space. Expect him to be the primary ball carrier for the New York offense going forward.
Last year’s leading rusher, Tyrone Tracy, had 839 yards as a rookie in 2024 and has similar traits to Skattebo. However, Tracy is dealing with a shoulder injury that has him listed as doubtful to play against the Saints. If he can’t go, quality veteran back Devin Singletary will see more action. After averaging 810 rushing yards over his first five years with the Bills and Texans, Singletary is a capable back that had 437 yards with the Giants last season.
All eyes will be on how the rookie Jaxson Dart performs as a passer. However, Dart is also a good athlete capable of making plays with his legs. Against the Chargers, Dart made several key gains that way and rushed for 54 yards. New York likes to run primarily over their left side, behind veterans Andrew Thomas at tackle and Jon Runyan at guard with center John Michael Schmitz getting excellent push in the middle. The Giants are still waiting for Evan Neal to show why they made him the seventh overall choice in the 2022 draft. Moved from tackle to guard this offseason, Neal was a healthy scratch for the second time this season last week and doesn’t look to be in the team’s plans despite their blocking struggles up front.
Saints Run Defense
- 118.8 yards per game (18th)
- 4 yards per carry (12th)
- 4 touchdowns
New Orleans had shown great improvement against the run in weeks 2 and 3 before giving up 165 yards on the ground to Buffalo last Sunday. Still, it’s a better unit so far than the one that was gashed over 141 yards a game and 4.9 per carry last year, both tied for worst in the NFL.
Davon Godchaux and Nathan Shepherd need to stalemate the middle of the line to keep opponents from running inside. On the edge, Cameron Jordan is still a tremendous run defender with both Carl Granderson and Bryan Bresee showing tremendous improvement in that area. Alontae Taylor is often brought up to the line of scrimmage and is the team’s best defensive back against the run.
Ageless Demario Davis continues to defy Father Time and leads the Saints with 38 tackles so far. Davis is the key to the Saints defense, with his elite instincts and athleticism making him one of the league’s top off-ball linebackers. Pete Werner is Davis’ running mate at the position. Werner is simply not good against the pass and has issues in space, but is a heady run defender between the tackles with good instincts.
New Orleans linebackers have an important matchup against Skattebo and Singletary, but the Saints defensive linemen must win their matchups for Davis and Werner to flow to the ball. The Giants need to establish balance with their rushing attack to reduce the pressure on Jaxson Dart. Knowing this, New Orleans has a big test defensively to strip them of that running game.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints vs. Giants preview: New Orleans run defense must show up
