Week 14 Schedule Breakdown: New York Giants

The New Orleans Saints will face off with the New York Giants in week 14 of the 2023 NFL season. Brian Daboll is coming off a Coach of the Year award and is ready to bring the Giants back to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

After winning just four games in 2021, the Giants made a splash by poaching Brian Daboll from the Bills to be their next head coach. I don’t think any Giants fan expected the signing to pay off as fast as it did, because Daboll helped Daniel Jones make huge strides in 2022 and finished the season with a 9-7-1 record, good enough for a NFC Wild Card spot.

The Giants went into the 2022 playoff game versus a 13-4 Minnesota Vikings team who had one of the top offenses in the NFL. They held the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Justin Jefferson, to just 47 receiving yards while Jones threw for 301 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in the 31-24 win.

The Giants would eventually get bounced by the soon-to-be NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional round, but it’s fair to say this Giants team overachieved in Daboll’s first season.

Now, entering 2023, no one will be underestimating the Giants. They franchise tagged Saquon Barkley, resigned Daniel Jones, traded for Darren Waller and drafted Jalin Hyatt to help keep up with the other NFC contenders.

Although Daboll is an offensive coach, the Giants have made a point to draft defensive players in the past two draft. With their first-round picks, they’ve selected Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2022 and Deonte Banks in 2023. They have a very good defensive line with Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams to go along with some young guys in the defensive backfield.

The Saints will be coming off a hard-fought matchup with the Detroit Lions in week 13, but they get the benefit of playing back-to-back home games in this matchup. The Giants on the other hand will be coming off a Monday night matchup with the Green Bay Packers. The Saints will have the rest advantage and will be in the middle of a three-game home stand.

The last time these two teams met was in 2021 in the Superdome. The Giants marched into the Dome and stole the week four matchup in overtime.

After a scoreless first quarter, Jones found former first rounder John Ross for a 52-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. The Saints quickly responded with a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 13-yard TD to Juwan Johnson with 0:23 left in the first half.

After receiving the second half kickoff, the Saints went 75 yards in three plays highlighted by a 58-yard pass to Marquez Callaway on the first play from scrimmage. The Giants answered by hitting a 23-yard FG to make it 14-10 with 8:36 in the 3rd.

After a couple empty possessions, the Saints went down and scored on an eight-yard TD run from Taysom Hill, his second of the game. After that, it all fell apart for the Saints.

Barkley took a pass from Jones 54-yards to the house on the first play of the drive, and the Giants went for two and got it to make it 21-18 with 6:52 to play. The Saints would hold the ball for nearly 4:00 before punting it away, and the Giants pieced together an 11-play, 59-yard drive in two and a half minutes to kick the game-tying FG from 48-yards out.

The Giants won the OT coin toss and never looked back, scoring a TD on first and goal thanks to a six-yard Barkley TD.

Two years later, the Saints will look to get revenge on the Giants and pick up their first win against Brian Daboll as a head coach. This game will be in the midst of their hardest stretch of games this season, so capturing a win over the Giants could be big for this team's late season momentum.

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