Saints at Giants: 3 things we learned

Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s Week 2 NFC clash match-up between the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants.

On Sunday afternoon, the New Orleans Saints traveled to Met Life Stadium to take on the New York Giants. The game got off to a very slow start, which was surprising to most fans. With all the weapons that Drew Brees and Eli Manning have to work with, it was shocking to see such a low score heading into halftime, however, it was right before the half when the action started.

The Saints attempted to kick a 38-yard field goal, however that kick was blocked and returned by Janoris Jenkins 65 yards for the first points of the game, giving the Giants a 7-0 lead. Not much more scoring occurred the rest of the game however, so points became a premium for both squads in this game.

1. Eli Manning looks like he is back in control

The point total may not reflect it, but Eli Manning played a great game for the Giants. Manning finished the game 32 of 41 for 368 yards in the win for New York. While he didn’t throw for any touchdowns, Manning hit the big plays when he needed them the most. The biggest play occurred in the 4th quarter on a 3rd and 8 for the Giants.

With under two minutes to go in the game, Manning hit Victor Cruz for 36 yards putting the Giants at the Saints 2-yard line, and setting up the game winning field goal as time expired.

2. Brees, Saints offense better at home

Sure, it is only Week 2 of the 2016 NFL season, but talk about what a difference a week makes in terms of the Saints offense! Last week New Orleans lost a 35-34 thriller to the Raiders, but Drew Brees was putting up video game type numbers in the defeat.

This week the offense looked like it had never played a game together. Last week Brees threw for 423 yards and four touchdowns. Today Brees finished the game 29 of 44 and one touchdown. The Saints just seemed out of sync from the very beginning.

While most teams do play better at home, New Orleans has struggled mightily on the road of late, losing seven of the last ten away from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

3. Giants defense tops in the league?

The Giants defense has played great through the first two games of the season. So far, New York has allowed just two touchdowns on the season. The revamped defense allowed just three points to Drew Brees and the Saints in the first half and held them to 13 overall.

Are the Giants Super Bowl bound? Well, there are a lot of games left in the season, but when New York starts the season 2-0, they usually have good results.

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The high flying offenses were AWOL today at Met Life Stadium, but in the end the home crowd went home happy.. For the Saints, they have to pick up the pieces fast. Teams that start 0-2 on the season only make the playoffs 28 percent of the time.