Scouting the Saints 2015 Opponents: Week 8 vs. Giants

The Saints face the New York Giants in the Dome on Sunday, November 1st at the midway point of the season - Let’s do some breakdowns ahead of the match-up to get a glimpse of what the Saints are marching into.

Series Matchup All-Time

(Full list here, via The Football Database)

Saints 12 - Giants 15

Last 5 Games

(2012-2013)  Saints 27 - Giants 51

(2011-2012) Giants 24 - Saints 49

(2009-2010) Giants 27- Saints 48

(2006-2007) Saints 30 - Giants 7

(2005-2006) Saints 10 - Giants 27

2014-2015 GiantsTotals

(Saints #1 total offense, #31 total defense according to ESPN)

Total Offense #10

Passing/YPG #7

Rushing/YPG #23

Total Defense #29

Passing/YPG #18

Rushing/YPG #30

Projected Depth Charts

Courtesy of Ourlads

	Saints	Giants
	Offense
QB	Drew Brees	Eli Manning
	Ryan Griffin	Ryan Nassib
	Garrett Grayson	Ricky Stanzi
RB	Mark Ingram	Rashad Jennings
	C.J. Spiller	Shane Vereen
	Khiry Robinson	Andre Williams
WR	Brandin Cooks	Odell Beckham Jr
	Marques Colston	Victor Cruz
	Brandon Coleman	Reuben Randle
TE	Josh Hill	Daniel Fells
	Benjamin Watson	Dwayne Allen
LT	Terron Armstead	Will Beatty
LG	Tim Lelito	Justin Pugh
C	Max Unger	Weston Richburg
RG	Jahri Evans	Geoff Schwartz
RT	Zach Strief	Ereck Flowers
	Defense
LDE	Akiem Hicks	Kerry Wynn
NT/LDT	John Jenkins	Cullen Jenkins
NT/RDT	Kevin Williams	Johnathan Hankins
RDE	Cam Jordan	Jason Pierre-Paul
Sam	Hau'oli Kikaha	Devon Kennard
Mike	Stephone Anthony	Jon Beason
Will	Dannell Ellerbe	J.T. Thomas
LCB	Keenan Lewis	Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
RCB	Brandon Browner	Prince Amukamara
NCB	Delvin Breaux	Jayron Hosley
SS	Kenny Vaccaro	Bennett Jackson
FS	Jairus Byrd	Landon Collins
	Special Teams
K	Dustin Hopkins	Josh Brown
P	Thomas Morstead	Steve Weatherford

Key Giants

Offense

Odell Beckham Jr (1 x Pro Bowl): OBJ is no stranger to most of us Louisiana football fans and, despite missing the first 4 games last season, nearly broke the league with his amazing catches (and production). In this rookie season, OBJ posted a 91-1,305-12 stat line over 12 games en route to earning OROY. He was 7/9 receiving for 108 yards against Seattle's "Legion of Boom" and then he had that 12/15 for 143 yards a 3 TDs game against the Redskins. The quality of your best CB notwithstanding, Lewis (or possibly Breaux) will need safety help over the top against OBJ.

Victor Cruz (1 x Pro Bowl, 1 x ST All Pro): Cruz went down with a torn patellar tendon in week 6 against the Eagles last season, so the Cruz/Beckham tandem basically was limited to the match against the Falcons, in which Cruz caught three balls for 22 yards. While the addition of OBJ will decrease Cruz's targets, it will also create more big play opportunities for Cruz. While he hasn't quite had the zeal since his 2011 and 2012 seasons, Cruz is liable to make big plays and will probably go 1-on-1 with Lewis.

Defense

JPP (2 x Pro Bowl, 1 x FT All Pro, 9 x fingers): Since losing a finger in a fireworks mishap earlier this year, the subsequent stall in contract negotiations and being franchise tagged for 2015, JPP has been a bit of a phantom through to this point in training camp. By week 8, though, barring any injury or any more phalanx-related-setbacks, the Giants premier pass rusher will literally be in mid season form. The 6'5 280 pound JPP racked up 12.5 sacks in 2014 and is a solid run defender. He was ranked PFF's #7 4-3 DE for 2014 and peaked at #3 in their rankings in 2012. Not to point any fingers, but Terron Armstead could need a hand in the backfield for this match up.

Robert Ayers: The 7th year veteran out of Tennessee, originally drafted in the first round by the Broncos in 2009, is an established edge setter against the run and has some pretty impressive pass rushing abilities in his own right (though you wouldn't realize it looking at his stats in isolation). Though he'll likely start the season at RDE, when JPP returns it'll be interesting to see whether he's relegated to depth or is swung over to LDE in lieu of Kerry Wynn.

Johnathan Hankins: At DT there's Suh/McCoy/Dareus and pretty much everyone else. Hankins and Aaron Donald are the two youngsters spearheading the 'everyone else' contingent. The 6'2, 320 pound 23 year old DT out of Ohio State ranked as PFF's #7 DT in the NFL last season (tied with Kyle Williams (LSU!)) - his second year in the league. Last season, Hankins played in all 16 games, and collected 51 tackles, 7 sacks, 7 stuffs, and a forced fumble.

TL;DR

The Giants lost Antrell Rolle in free agency but traded up to the top of the 2nd round in the draft to grab Alabama safety, Landon Collins, who has supplanted Cooper Taylor in a recent Giants depth chart update, to play free safety. The Giants have Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie at CB, two respectable DBs, and their front 4, including Hankins and a rotation of Ayers/JPP will be a test for the Saints o line and some jumbo sets with Hill and his dear Watson. This Giants team is known more for its play makers on offense than it's defense, however, and it will prove a real test for our secondary to contend with the likes of Cruz and that guy on the cover of the new Madden game. Eli Manning is Eli Manning - Nothing new to report there. If our offense is half as potent as it has appeared this preseason, and it can maintain that steam through the season, we should be able to out-muscle the Giants. Frankly, I think we outmatch them on either side of the ball so I'm confidently concluding we tally another home win here.

Feedback on depth chart and other bits of information to include in this series is appreciated.