Giants Vs. Saints Matchup: How Will New York Attack The New Orleans Defense?

The 3-1-1 New York Giants host the 1-4 New Orleans Saints, who are -1.5 favorites with a 45.5-point Over/Under, in Week 6. The Giants have covered the spread in the last two weeks, but Vegas isn’t fully buying the Giants’ recent success. The Saints have faced a difficult schedule:

The Saints almost pulled off an epic come-from-behind upset victory in Week 1 at Detroit before pulling off the upset in Week 2 at Baltimore. However, they’ve lost three straight games at home against the Raiders, Falcons, and Vikings, with a combined score of 103-64. 

Quarterback Tyler Shough threw for 96 yards against Brian Flores’ defense last week and he struggled against Atlanta in Week 4, but the second-year signal caller was solid through the first three games. However, the Saints defense has played very poorly through five weeks. With that, let’s look at that Saints defense.

The Saints defense

Former Chargers’ head coach Brandon Staley coordinates the defense. The Saints allow the second most points against with a high 30.2 points per game. They surrendered the seventh most yards per game – 371 yards. Their run defense has struggled; they allow 148.8 yards per game (second most) and a league-high ten total rushing touchdowns. The Robinsons of the Falcons – Bijan and Brian – ran all over them in their building two weeks ago.

New Orleans’ pass defense ranks 20th in yards against (213.4 yards per game). New Orleans’ defense ranks 27th in turnover percentage forced, and they have ten sacks on the season, which ranks in the middle of the league.

The Saints allow a touchdown on 63.6% of their red zone trips (20th in the NFL), and they’re 29th in the NFL in third-down conversion rate, with a concerningly high 48.3% rate. The Saints blitz at a 31.8% rate, which ranks ninth most in the NFL, with an 18.2% pressure rate, which ranks 29th in the league. 

New Orleans uses middle-of-the-field closed at a 71% rate, with a lot of Cover-3. Their nickel 2-4-5 package is their most used, and they are a base 3-4 team. Teams have done well to attack the right side of their defense with the run.

The Saints’ defense has played poorly through five weeks, but former Washington first-round pick, Chase Young, has turned his career around in New Orleans. The 27-year-old has 20 pressures and four sacks on the season; we should see a good Young vs. Andrew Thomas matchup on Sunday – throwback!

Carl Granderson mans the other edge position. He has eight pressures and 2.5 sacks on the season. Veteran Cam Jordan is playing in the twilight of his career; he pressured Kyler Murray twice last week and has six pressures on the season. Anfernee Jennings missed the last two games with a knee injury, but he is the fourth rotational edge. Chris Rumph II and Tyree Wilson may see snaps on the edge as well.

Colby Wooden and Khristian Boyd are the starting defensive tackles, but New Orleans have rotated their defensive line quite a bit this season. They lost Bryan Breese in training camp and Nathan Shepherd missed last week with an injury, but has seven pressures on the season. Davon Godchaux hurt his groin in Week 4 but played 18 snaps in Week 5; he has played 125 total snaps this season.

Vernon Broughton has provided some pass rush juice to the defensive line; he has six pressures on the season. Rookie Christen Miller returned to the lineup in Week 5 and played 28 snaps. Veteran John Ridgeway plays a depth role as well. Overall, the defensive line is a work in progress that has lost more than they’ve won in 2026. 

Second-year linebacker and former Oklahoma Sooner Danny Stutsman has started the last two games with Kaden Ellis injured, and he’s played well. He is second on the team in STOPs behind Chase Young. Stutsman joins Pete Werner, who is a quality starting linebacker in the league. 

The defense uses three safety looks often in their nickel packages, but Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley are the starting cornerbacks on the outside. The former has allowed a 60.7% completion rate with three passes knocked away, while the latter allows a 56.5% catch rate with two PBU. Martin Emerson Jr. is the third outside cornerback.  

Safety Jonas Sanker plays slot cornerback for the Saints. He has surrendered two touchdowns with a very high 88.9% completion rate. Sanker is, however, one of the better tacklers in space and he operates well around the line of scrimmage. Justin Reid and Julian Blackmon are the Saints two starting veteran safeties. 

The matchup

The Giants are in an interesting position against the Saints, who struggle to stop the run. New York wants to be a heavy personnel, under center, team; the Giants have used 22 personnel at a 20% rate this season, 21 personnel at a 15% rate and 12 personnel at a 19% rate. They often use 13 personnel, too, with Chris Manhertz, Isaiah Likely, and Theo Johnson. 

Heavier personnel usually means a run-first to play -action team, but the Giants have struggled early in the last two games when they leaned on this approach. However, the best of Jameis Winston was unlocked once the Giants transitioned to spreading the offense out and attacking out of the shot-gun.

It wasn’t always out of 11 personnel, though, the Giants have went EMPTY out of 13 and 12 personnel over the last two weeks, and it’s led to their best personnel usage per EPA. The Giants will likely attempt to attack the Saints on the ground, specifically the right side of the defense, but I would like to see New York move to a more under center approach earlier if they can’t establish the run. 

The Giants were down 14-3 and 27-13 over the past two weeks, and successful offense was sparked through the shot-gun Jameis Winston approach, so Matt Nagy and Greg Roman should incorporate those concepts earlier. 

McKinstry and Malik Nabers are familiar with one another, and the latter can win that matchup. Neither of the linebackers are a good match for Isaiah Likely, who could see a lot of Sanker in the slot; Likely should be fine uncovering against this defensive personnel. A hefty target share of Nabers and Likely should remain.

Malachi Fields was open several times deep last week, as Dan Quinn focused adjacent zones on Malik Nabers. If Staley utilizes a similar approach, New York should look to take a deep shot to Fields, who will see a lot of Quincy Riley. 

Designed touches for Mooney aren’t the only way to get him involved in the offense. Similar to Fields, Mooney uncovers often on deeper concepts, and a deep shot could be dialed up for the 28-year-old receiver. 

The Giants running back situation is a big topic of conversation. Cam Skattebo is splitting time with Najee Harris and Tyrone Tracy Jr. Skattebo’s devastating fumble that cost the Giants a win in overtime will not help his case. Skattebo still led the room with a 63% snap rate, but Najee Harris had an 18% snap rate with Tracy Jr. playing 19% of the snaps.

Tracy Jr. has earned the third down role, and Skattebo disappears for stretches of the game. I don’t love the rotation. Despite the fumble, I would like to see Skattebo more, and I would also like to see Devin Singletary active instead of Harris. The Giants ground game has been abysmal since Week 1. 

There’s a solid argument that Singletary has the best vision of the backs. If Nagy wants to roll with three backs, I do hope to see Singletary over Harris, although the former Pittsburgh Steelers physical running style seems to fit the identity that the Giants’ are still trying to establish and impose on opponents. 

One question on the offensive line – should the Giants continue to start Bryan Hudson? I think Hudson has played better than John Michael Schmitz. Is it substantially better? No, I wouldn’t say that, but the former UDFA seems to be more controlled with slightly more pop on contact. I ask this, though, because Francis Mauigoa played his worst two games without the former second-round pick. It’s a conversation, but just because the rookie has struggled doesn’t mean it’s because of the absence of John Michael Schmitz. 

Final thoughts

This is a winnable game for both teams, but the Saints are on a slide with a rookie head coach and a second-year quarterback playing through a hurt hand. New Orleans’ defense is bad, and Jameis Winston should be able to carve through their zone coverage, while both Nabers and Likely pose threats to the Saints’ ability to run man converge.

New York will try and run the football and have success on the ground, but it’s been an issue for the Giants. The Giants should avoid going into a hole and look to play in a more neutral game script, but I do wish to see them operate out of shot-gun with spread concepts earlier if they fail to run against a Saints’ front that is struggling. Dennard Wilson’s defense is playing well and they’ve dialed up the pressure looks the last two weeks, to much success. I expect the same against Tyler Shough. The Giants should not sleep on the Saints, but this is a winnable game for a resilient and feisty Giants’ team. Giants, 27-20.