The New York Giants will host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday as the season’s conclusion approaches.
The Saints, winners of two of their last three, will bring a 1-4 record away from Caesars Superdome to MetLife Stadium in Week 14. At 4-8 on the season, the Saints are two games back of the NFC South division lead behind both the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Meanwhile, the Giants are riding a seven-game losing streak and are 0-6 at home this season.
The Giants opened as 4-point home underdogs earlier this week, and being an underdog has become a common theme for them over the last few seasons.
Here are three causes for concern ahead of Sunday’s game.
A big loss on the defensive line
The Giants’ defensive line took a massive hit last week when it was announced that Dexter Lawrence would likely miss the rest of the season with a dislocated elbow.
Somehow, Lawrence has continued to improve in his last two seasons. He had 9.0 sacks before his injury. Although he hadn’t had a sack in the last five games, Lawrence was a constant force all season long and often required double teams from opposing teams.
Lawrence is one of the top three players on the Giants roster and just like the loss of Andrew Thomas, this will be a hard one to overcome.
Alvin Kamara
The Saints running back has been one of the best dual-threat backs in the league for quite some time. Although many suspected he would regress this year because of his age, he’s on pace to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career and surpass the 500-yard receiving mark for the first time since 2020.
The Saints rank top 10 in yards per rush, rushes per game, rushing yards per game, and rushing touchdowns per game.
The Giants have struggled against the run all season long so Kamara should have a strong game on Sunday.
Another home game
The Giants are 0-6 at MetLife Stadium this season and have been outscored 150-60 in those games. The Giants averaging just 10 points per game at home this season is not a recipe for success.
With a revolving door at the quarterback position over the last several weeks, Big Blue will likely continue to struggle to put points on the board.
