The New York Giants led by quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit that gave them their first win of the season on Sunday. With about 6 minutes to play in regulation, it looked as if New York was going to drop to 0-4, but the Giants showed a fiery urgency in this fourth quarter that will now be known as one of Daniel Jones’ signature games.

The Saints were sparked by quarterback Taysom Hill in the second half where he accounted for two rushing touchdowns that gave them a 21-10 lead to start the fourth quarter, this was then followed by a Giants punt. Jameis Winston fired a deep potential game-winning pass to Kenny Stills that would have put Joe Judges team down 18 only for it to be called back by a holding penalty on Adam Trautman.

Jones then drove the Giants 59 yards down the field before settling for a Graham Gano 48 yard field goal that would send this game to overtime. Giants Safety Jabrill Peppers won an emotional coin toss and got his team the ball to start the extra period. Jones crafted a 9 play 75-yard drive with help from John Ross, Kadarius Toney, and Kenny Golladay that got them to a first and goal from the six-yard line-. Barkley then scored on a 6-yard run that quieted Mercedes Benz Stadium for the last time on Sunday and ruined the home opener for New Orleans.

As for the Saints, allowing 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points against one of the worst offenses in the league was not a good look. Their identity on offense still seems to be missing. The Giants may have allowed 120 yards on the ground to Alvin Kamara but him not catching a pass was a huge win for this New York defense, who was also missing their best linebacker, Blake Martinez. Without Michael Thomas this is a young inexperienced receiving group that was exposed yesterday, the Saints relied on Hill too much and it cost them when he threw a questionable interception to James Bradberry right after the Stills touchdown was called back.

Sean Payton gave the keys to this offense to Jameis Winston. The offense that they ran yesterday is only going to uncover weaknesses Winston has been dealing with for years. If Sean Payton wants to run a slower run-based offense he needs to give Hill the job, the Giants had trouble all day on defense until it was Winston’s turn to close the game out. New Orleans needs to find other ways to get Juwan Johnson and Marquez Calloway the ball until Thomas makes his return. The Saints will make a trip to Washington next week.

For New York, this was a monumental win and one that many coaches and players needed. Daniel Jones threw for a career-high 402 yards and proved that he and newly acquired Giant Kenny Golladay can work together nicely. Barkley showed that he is getting more comfortable off his injury and still has the speed and explosiveness to be the player that the Giants drafted him to be. Jason Garrett was finally able to call a game that played towards the Giants strengths on offense. The former Cowboy head coach needed that explosive performance out of his offense on Sunday that potentially saved his play-calling duties if not his job.

The defense wasn’t great on Sunday but came up with timely stops that continued to give their offense chances. Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence played with an energy that fired up the defense all day long. After not being able to stop the Falcons game-winning drive last week Patrick Graham’s defense got a huge stop inside the last 5 minutes that set up the game-tying drive. In no way does this mean the Giants are back and are going to compete with the Dallas Cowboys for a division title but, if Jones looks like he did yesterday for the rest of the season, the chances of the Giants being in the quarterback market next offseason are slim to none.

Writer

-By: Sam Kirk

The NFC South is one of the most competitive divisions in the entire league from top to bottom, year after year. Even in a year where the New Orleans Saints clinched the division, the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers saw a storybook streak in the playoffs to eventually win the Superbowl. The struggling Atlanta Falcons are looking to revamp their defense and the Carolina Panthers are attempting to create a complete identity. As the NFL offseason comes to a close, each team has to evaluate their drafted personnel to see if they were winners or losers in drafting. We will look into this year's NFL Draft and see how each team graded out and ranked them from best to worst. 

Carolina Panthers: A+

The Carolina Panthers have absolutely dominated the 2021 draft. Despite getting a cornerback in the top 10, the Panthers tightened up their entire team with this pick. Jaycee Horn is the essential defensive piece they needed to add to a very good Panthers secondary. By handling the key defensive piece, the rest of the Panthers draft went to adding value in nearly every position group. Terrace Marshall Jr. is a good receiver with very good experience that can play day one. Chubba Hubbard’s explosiveness and physicality will help for developing quarterback Sam Darnold by adding an extra security blanket in the run game. With Christian Mccaffrey battling with injury, the team will be smart to lean more on Hubbard in the run game. The Panthers even added an OT to protect Darnold with LT Brady Christensen. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers biggest hurdle will be to avoid a Superbowl hangover. With one of the most complete rosters in the NFL, they looked to fill their minor voids in this draft. By drafting Kyle Trask, they are preparing for the future with Tom Brady as a great model. With Linebacker Joe Tryon, the Buccaneers will have a competitive linebacker that can vie for the starting job and add another presence to the already young and explosive Buccaneers defense.

New Orleans Saints: B-

The New Orleans Saints are at a crossroads in their organization with Drew Brees’ retirement.  Jameis Winston’s ability to not turn the ball over will be the biggest offensive concern. For the first time in 3 years, the Saints drafted a receiver with their final pick. Although it was not a superstar pick, adding receiver depth will be good for the offense to take some load off of Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. Defensively, the top two picks for the Saints came on the defensive line and linebacking core. The 6’6’’ 270 pound DE Peyton Tucker from Houston is a force and sure to bring depth to the experienced rotation. Linebacker Pete Werner and Defensive Back Paulson Adebo from Stanford are standout players that will be able to play immediately and add to the physical Saints defense. 

Atlanta Falcons: C

The main point for this grade is that the Atlanta Falcons are NOT a tight end away from playoff contention. Although they addressed other positions in the draft their priority in drafting was a new offensive weapon, which does not heal their defensive woes. The Falcons defense ranked near the lowest in several major defensive categories including rushing defense. The defense allowed nearly 100 yards or more in 10 games during the 2020 season. This stat contributed to their 5 late-game collapses in which they could not hold on to their double-digit leads late in the game. Despite Kyle Pitts being the best available, the Atlanta Falcons desperately needed defensive star power and did not get it out of this draft. 

Writer

-By: LeMarkus D. Bailey

After a rough couple of games, the New Orleans Saints had a chance on Christmas Day to get back on track against the Minnesota Vikings. Getting back on track is what they did, downing the Vikings in a 52-33 shootout. With the victory, the Saints clinched the NFC South for the fourth consecutive season. Let us break down the specific aspects of the game that ultimately decided the outcome of this game.

Kamara, Rushing Attack Steal the Show

From kickoff, the story of this game was RB Alvin Kamara. Kamara, who is already regarded as one of the top running backs in football, exploded for a line of 22 carries, 155 yards, and an incredible six touchdowns. The all-pro running back also got the scoring started with a 40-yard touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter. Kamara now has 16 rushing touchdowns and 5 receiving touchdowns on the season, which leads all non-quarterbacks. RB Latavius Murray also chipped in 72 yards and QB Taysom Hill rushed in a garbage time touchdown to complete the dominant rushing attack for 264 yards.

With the ground game clicking on all cylinders, QB Drew Brees did not have to do much in the win. Brees had a tough game, throwing no touchdown and two picks, but still managed to throw for 311 yards, completing 73% of his passes. WR Emmanuel Sanders and TE Jared Cook combined for 165 yards, leading the passing attack. Brees hit a total of nine pass catchers on the day, spreading the wealth and carving the Vikings defense in the blowout.

New Orleans Defense Contains Cook

A large part of the Saints struggles the last few weeks was their inability to stop the run, giving up over 150 yards on the ground in two straight games. New Orleans did a great job of neutralizing the running game of the Vikings, which features RB Dalvin Cook who came into the game second in rushing. Cook had just 73 yards on only 15 carries. In total, Minnesota rushed for 90 yards in the loss. A large part of the lack of attempts was that the Vikings were trailing for most of this game. Regardless, the running game was held in check, leading to success for New Orleans.

Guarding against the air, the numbers will not look great, but the Saints defense did what it had to do, playing with the lead. Even with this, the Saints held Minnesota under 300 yards in the air on 41 attempts, while also holding the dynamic receiver duo of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson under 100 yards. If the Saints can get out to leads, they should be able to keep it if their defense gives them, the effort they gave in this Week 16 matchup.

Rock Bottom for Minnesota “D”

All season long, the Vikings defense has been flawed and extremely inconsistent. Against the Saints, Minnesota hit rock-bottom. Minnesota’s defense gave up a season-high 52 points with all seven touchdowns coming on the ground, highlighted by Kamara’s six. They also gave up a whopping 583 yards, which is the most they have given up all year, and the second time they have given up 500 yards of offense. The first time was Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, a game they also lost. With this loss, Minnesota is now officially eliminated from playoff contention after winning a playoff game last season.

For next season, Minnesota is going to have address defense to have any chance of being relevant. The offense is fine with firepower everywhere, but it is hard to win games when you give up around 30 points a game on average. Getting DE Danielle Hunter back will help, but improvement must occur from their young guns to have any chance of being a respectable defense.

Looking Ahead

With one game left in the season, the Vikings will wrap up their 2020 campaign with a road game against the Detroit Lions, a division rival. As for the New Orleans Saints, they will face off against the Carolina Panthers in a regular-season finale with the hopes of an opportunity to gain home-field advantage or maintain a high seed heading into the playoffs.

Info from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas