Does the BBV staff believe in the Giants this week?
The New York Giants have just five games remaining in a lost 2024 season. The Giants will host the New Orleans Saints at home in the Meadowlands in one of their last real opportunities to come away with a victory.
The Saints are in the midst of their own lost season, as injuries and coaching failures have led to a general collapse after an incredibly promising start to the season. This is a meeting between two broken teams just hoping to get out of the season, but for the Giants this also might be their last chance to avert an 0-9 record at home.
Vegas isn’t particularly optimistic, and FanDuel Sportsbook has the Giants as 4.5-point underdogs at home.
Can the Giants pull off the upset at home? Or will they get one step closer to a top two pick in the 2025 NFL Draft?
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Tony DelGenio
This is the best chance for a win left on the Giants’ schedule (if a win is a desired outcome – wink wink, nudge nudge). The Saints’ offense has been decimated by injuries: Starting wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed remain out, and last week TE/RB/QB Taysom Hill was lost for the season as well. Their only bright spot is that Pro Bowl C Erik McCoy will return from injury, denying the Giants’ the chance to rush Derek Carr through old friend Shane Lemieux. The passing game is not the problem, though. The problem is RB Alvin Kamara, one of the league’s best, facing a Giants’ IDL missing Dexter Lawrence and maybe Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Kamara rushes between the tackles about half the time, and the other Giants’ IDLs have been a welcome wagon for opposing running backs. Carr may just hand the ball off all afternoon until the Giants’ linebackers creep up, and then try the occasional downfield shot.
On offense for the Giants, the Saints have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, so expect a big dose of Tyrone Tracy (assuming he doesn’t fumble) and Eric Singletary. The starting quarterback du jour, Drew Lock, may be tempted to throw downfield with both starting cornerbacks gone (Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders and Paulson Adebo out for the year with a broken femur), but rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has looked good and safety Tyrann Mathieu can still play.
I flipped a coin on the outcome, and it came up… Dexter Lawrence is out, no chance.
Pick: Saints
Chris Pflum
I might have actually picked the Giants to win (or at least not lose) this game until the injury report came out.
The loss of Dexter Lawrence is likely an insurmountable blow in and of itself. But with Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Bobby Okereke, and Deonte Banks likely out I’m not sure the defense will be more than a speed bump for the Saints. And that’s taking into account the Saints’ own injuries on offense. The fact that they still have Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson, and Foster Moreau is probably enough to move the ball and score points, particularly if Marquez Valdes-Scantling gets going.
I actually do expect the Giants offense to look better than it did last week, now that Drew Lock has gotten more than a couple hours of prep time as the starter. I also expect Tyrone Tracy and Malik Nabers to have big games, which is why I would have picked picked the Giants to win if the defense hadn’t been gutted by injuries for the game.
In the end, the Giants are too beat up and I can’t pick them to play mistake-free football. If the offense feels pressure to try and carry the defense, things could spiral out of control very quickly.
Pick: Saints
Nick Falato
I agree with Tony — this is the Giants’ most winnable game on the schedule, their opportunity to earn a third victory against a beat-up Saints team.
The Saints will receive Erik McCoy back to bolster their interior offensive line against a Dexter Lawrence and Rakeem Nunez-Roches-less defensive line. The Saints and Alvin Kamara should have a field day against the Giants in the trenches. Second-year back out of TCU, Kendre Miller may get a long look now that he’s been designated to return off IR.
The Giants struggled to properly and effectively fit the run with one of the best defensive players in the NFL on the roster. Nunez-Roches (neck) did not practice on Wednesday, which leaves D.J. Davidson as the top run-stuffing defensive lineman on the team. Bobby Okereke’s back injury compounds that specific issue; he, too, did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday.
The defense is injured, and the dearth of talent on the roster will manifest. The Giants could be without Evan Neal on the offensive line, who — to be frank — hasn’t played well but is still an upgrade over Josh Ezeudu. Injuries, frustration, and an uncertain future burden the shoulders of the Giants’ locker room. Coach Daboll is on thin ice. Could the Giants win — sure — will they? I’m not saying yes.
Pick: Saints
James Hickey
In many ways, this season is the worst-case scenario that football observers could have predicted for the Giants. The final punctuation to that was Dexter Lawrence being placed on the IR for the rest of the season.
This is truly the first week I feel the Giants are now looking to next year, an organization now looking to finish with the worst record possible in order to get their preferred player—a franchise quarterback—next spring. Injuries at the heart of a football team—their lines— show the lack of depth that is needed for sustained success. Who in their right mind believes a team possibly starting Chris Hubbard and Joshua Ezeudu at tackles in the NFL has a chance to win? Or that the trio of undrafted rookie free agent Elijah Chatman with practice squad defensive linemen Casey Rogers and Elijah Garcia will be able to slow down Alvin Kamara? Not me.
Pick: Saints
David Hartman
Are the Giants really the NFL’s worst team? You can make the case. They only have two wins, which ties them with the Raiders and Jaguars for the lowest total. They’ve lost seven straight games. They released their starting QB and their best player was just put on IR.
They’re bad, and in the last two weeks their run defense has completely given out. But I think the defense hasn’t quit and that the effort in Dallas last week was a lot better than the week before.
The 4-8 Saints are also a bad team, and have lost all of their playmakers on offense other than Alvin Kamara, who could run (and catch) wild on Sunday against a depleted front that was already weak vs. the run. That and a few deep shots to MVS off of play-action are a concern. Still, this is a winnable game.
If the Giants lose this game they’re very likely to go winless at home this season. I’ll go contrarian here, and against my better judgment. Giants show up, Tyrone Tracy, Jr. gashes a bad run defense, Drew Lock makes some throws, and at long last the Giants get their home win in front of whoever is still showing up at MetLife.
Pick: Giants
Valentine’s View
I want to pick the Giants to win. I really do. The Saints aren’t good, 4-8 on the season. The Giants are playing Drew Lock at quarterback, and I think he gives them a better chance to win than Tommy DeVito. I can’t believe the Giants won’t win once in nine tries at home this season.
Looking at the way the Giants have played, the reality that their best defensive player is now on IR, and several other key players are either on IR or unlikely to play this weekend I just can’t do it.
Pick: Saints
