This is finally the week. The New Orleans Saints will be getting to play in the Superdome with fans for the first time in well over a year. The team has been so excited for this moment but a lot of obstacles have came into their way since then. For example, Hurricane Ida threw them off course to Dallas. The team stayed there for weeks while everything calmed down and played all three games on the road. Then the Superdome caught on fire last weekend. I think it’s time they make their return.
The Saints were able to get a dominant win over the New England Patriots last weekend, stonewalling Mac Jones and the rest of the offense. They now face off against the New York Giants this weekend and should have all of the momentum in the world to carry them through it. New Orleans forced three turnovers against the Patriots last weekend, returning one interception for a touchdown. Their pass rush looked strong and their secondary wasn’t allowing Jones to get comfortable whatsoever. Offensively they had their ups and downs but were consistent enough to win the game. Jameis Winston made a couple of poor throws but one resulted in what Sean Payton called a “fortunate” touchdown. Winston through the season has only thrown for 387 passing yards, though he has seven touchdowns to just two interceptions. There has basically been zero passing game for the Saints to start the year, but their run game looks ten times better so I guess it evens itself out.
On the other hand you have the Giants. Honestly, this team has been pretty good, they juts can’t convert to wins. Back to back weeks now they have lost on last second field goals, you got to feel for New York fans right now. Daniel Jones is definitely not the problem though I’ll tell you that. He has thrown for 782 yards on the year with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He is limiting his turnovers so far, his offensive line just can’t help get their run game going at all despite Saquon Barkley’s return to the lineup. Defensively they are struggling and it’s interesting as to why. They were supposed to be a great defense but they just aren’t ever on the same page. To make matters worse, starting linebacker Blake Martinez suffered a season ending injury in their last game against the Atlanta Falcons.
If I had to make an early prediction regarding this matchup, I would roll with the Saints here. However, this team tends to go the complete opposite of everybodies perdictions this year. New Orleans was the heavy underdog in Week 1, then dominated. They were the favorites Week 2 and were dominated themselves. Then in Week 3 they were underdogs again and they dominated. It seems to be a consistent cycle, but give me the Saints in a rambunctious home stadium.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers get a mention here as well. They get the Patriots in Gillette Stadium this weekend, the first time Tom Brady has played there since his Patriot days. They should be more than locked in to avoid losing two in a row and they are the far better team overall despite some secondary issues. Brady is going to want to put on a show for his old fans.