Giants at Saints: TV, line, history, trends, uniforms, QBs

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17 December 2023

Giants at Saints: TV, line, history, trends, uniforms, QBs

Of all the teams the New Orleans Saints have played throughout their 57-season history, other than division foes or former division foes, there’s only one team they have faced more often than New York Giants. (It’s the Minnesota Vikings.)

And here we are with the teams meeting for the 32nd time – all in the regular season – on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome – in a series that has been back and forth the past decade.

In this one, both teams remain alive for the playoffs with 4 weeks to play, but it would be fairly safe to say the loser of this one is all but mathematically out of the postseason race.

So let’s dissect this matchup, as we go through the trends, series history, referees assigned to the game, weather forecast, lines and odds. We’ll also give you other info you might be interested in such as uniforms and the starting quarterbacks numbers against their opponent.

TIME/TV: Sunday at noon at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will be broadcast on FOX with (for the second straight week for New Orleans) an announcing team of Kenny Albert and former Saint Jonathan Vilma with sideline reporter Shannon Spake. The WWL radio team is Mike Hoss and Deuce McAllister.

LINE TREND: The line at Caesars Sportsbook has moved a bit in both directions the past 6 days. It opened very late Sunday at Saints -6 before dropping early Tuesday morning (very briefly) to as low as -4.5. The sharps quickly bought back in on New Orleans, and the line moved back to -6, where it remained until Friday and has been -5.5 since. (As of early Sunday.)

The money line for New Orleans is -250 and is +205 for New York. The over/under total is 39. What did I pick in this one? .

WEATHER FORECAST: Although it will be windy and cool outside the Caesars Superdome with temperatures in the upper 50s to 60, as always, it will be perfect inside.

UNIFORMS: The Saints will be wearing black jerseys with gold numbers outlined in white. They also will be wearing black pants and black socks and will don their traditional gold helmets with the fleur-de-lis.

Meanwhile, the Giants will wear white jerseys with red numbers outlined, along with white pants. They will have on their standard blue helmets with the trademarked “ny” in the middle on both sides.

REFEREE: Carl Cheffers is the lead official and has been in that role since all the way back in 2008. The Saints are 14-4 all-time in games he referees, including 13-3 in the regular season, while the Giants are 9-7 overall.

Although the Saints have a great record when Cheffers is the lead official, they have lost their last two in such a situation – last season to the Panthers (first meeting) and Steelers. He also was the head referee for the “Minneapolis Miracle” game.

TEAM INFO, STREAKS

SAINTS (6-7, 3-3 at home)

The Saints are ranked 13th in the NFL in overall offense (yards gained per game) and 15th in points scored. They are 20th in rushing offense and 14th in passing. … The team is 13th in overall defense and 10th in points allowed. They are 26th against the run and seventh against the pass.

This is only the 13th time in team history is playing a third consecutive game at home, and the results of the previous 12 times might be surprising to some. Only once have the Saints swept the three home games (1992), and only two other times have they even won two of the three games (2006 and 2008). Also, in the third game of a homestand, New Orleans is just 4-8 straight up and have lost three of the past four in that situation. They also have not won the third game after winning the second game since the sweep 31 years ago.

The Saints have not had a winning season in which they have had a three-game homestand since 2006 – Sean Payton’s first season as coach – on the way to the team’s first trip to the NFC championship game.

Last week’s offensive total of 207 yards marked the lowest team output in a victory since the team gained 177 yards in a 20-17 overtime victory against Seattle on Nov. 16, 1997. It was the first time they won a game by more than 20 points gaining 207 yards or fewer since they defeated the Phoenix Cardinals on Dec. 22, 1991 with 190 yards, in the final regular-season game of the season that clinched the NFC West title – the first division championship in franchise history.

GIANTS (5-8, 2-4 on the road)

New York is ranked 31st in the NFL in overall offense (yards gained per game) and 31st in points scored. They are 14th in rushing offense and 32nd in passing. … They are 26th in the NFL in overall defense and 24th in points allowed. The Giants are 29th against the run and 18th against the pass.

This is the first three-game winning streak this late in a season for the Giants since they defeated Tennessee, Washington and the St. Louis Rams in Weeks 14 through 16 of the 2014 season under Tom Coughlin. Interestingly, that team won just six games all year, and their other three victories came during a win streak in Weeks 3 through 5.

During this win streak, the Giants have forced 12 turnovers, which is the most over the course of a three-game span for them since they forced 13 from Dallas, Washington and San Francisco in Weeks 6 through 8 of the 2012 season.

SAINTS vs. GIANTS SERIES

All-time: The Giants lead the overall series, 17-14, dating back to the first game on Oct. 8, 1967, which was won by the Giants, 27-21, at Yankee Stadium. All 31 of their games have been played in the regular season.

Last meeting: New York won, 27-21, on Oct. 3, 2021, in overtime at the Superdome.

All-time in New Orleans: Saints lead the series, 9-4, including the first three in the 1970s and the three before the last aforementioned loss.

All-time in New York / New Jersey: Giants leads, 13-5.

SERIES BY THE NUMBERS

4: Times the Giants and Saints have played on either Dec. 14 or Dec. 15 with the Saints holding a 3-1 record in those games.

4-2: Saints overall record against the Giants in December. They have only played each other later than this in a season twice with the last time coming Christmas Eve 2006 in a game the Saints won at the Meadowlands, 30-7. The season prior, New Orleans played the Giants in the same venue as the home team because Hurricane Katrina had exiled the Black and Gold from New Orleans.

6: Current streak of games the teams have alternated victories in the series with the Giants winning the most previous one. Prior to this streak, the Saints had won three in a row and four of five.

72: Number of players who have played for both the Saints and Giants at some point during their careers. The only current Saint who also played for the Giants is defensive back Isaac Yiadom. There are no current Giants who played for New Orleans.

MEMORABLE GAMES IN THE SERIES

Nov. 1, 2015, in New Orleans (Saints 52, Giants 49): In one of the wackiest game in Saints history, the game featured more than 1,000 yards of total offense, as Drew Brees passed for 505 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the team back from a late 49-42 deficit.

In fact, Brees tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to CJ Spiller with 41 seconds left to tie it, and then after Eli Manning (who threw six touchdown passes) was incomplete on three straight, Brad Wing (of LSU) punted back to New Orleans, and Marcus Murphy returned it 24 yards to the Giants 32 with 5 seconds left.

That was good enough for Kai Forbath, who booted a 50-yard field goal, which was good for the win as time expired.

The Giants, who dropped to 4-4 with the loss, would collapse after that game, finishing 6-10, which was the end for Tom Coughlin in his great coaching career in the Big Apple.

Nov. 22, 1987, in New Orleans (Saints 23, Giants 14): In a rare nationally televised game in the Superdome with Pat Summerall and John Madden broadcasting the game for CBS, the Saints extended their winning streak to four for the first time in team history.

That is correct. For the first time in the 20-year history of the franchise, they won four games in a row. They would go on to win their final nine games and finish with their first-ever winning streak and playoff berth.

Then Coach Jim Mora joined the Dattitude Podcast before the 2022 season and discussed what he remembered about that game.