The New York Giants had their three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday afternoon at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, 24-6.
The Giants fell to 5-9 on the season while the Saints improved to 7-7. A victory would have put the Giants in the conversation for a possible wild-card berth, but those hopes were all but dashed after the one-sided loss exposed their many deficiencies.
Here are three things we learned in Week 15.
It was fun while it lasted
The Giants rode the Tommy Cutlets wave for all it was worth and it perhaps saved what was becoming one of the most dismal seasons in recent memory.
But a good thing doesn’t last forever. A professional defensive coordinator was going to come along at some point and crash the party.
That’s what happened in the Big Easy on Sunday. Saints coach Dennis Allen had his team ready for the Giants’ popgun offense. They stopped the run and harassed Tommy DeVito to the point where the Giants never entered the red zone all day.
DeVito did manage to keep his poise most times and was plagued by a few dropped passes, but he had very little chance for success behind a suspect offensive line.
DeVito’s entourage was subdued and the Saints mocked the rookie quarterback by celebrating with his trademark hand gesture every chance they got.
An embarrassing day in the trenches
Tom Coughlin used to say, “Big bodies help you compete.” Well, on Sunday the Saints’ big bodies pushed the Giants’ big bodies all over the field.
The offensive line played as poor a game as they have all season, allowing seven sacks, committing unforced errors and penalties, and providing little push in the running game.
Saquon Barkley was held to 14 yards on nine carries. The Giants needed him to lead the way if they had any designs on winning, but no one led the way for him.
On defense, the Giants broke down in the second half and allowed several huge third-and-longs to be converted. Their only sack came on a safety blitz by Jason Pinnock and the only other QB hit was by linebacker Bobby Okereke.
Pfft...there goes the season
The loss dropped the Giants to 5-9 and basically out of playoff contention. They have three games remaining — Philadelphia on the road on Christmas Day, followed by a home game against the surging Los Angeles Rams before closing out the season at home against the Eagles.
Losses in those games would give them a 5-12 finish and should put them somewhere between pick No. 4 and No. 8 in next year’s NFL draft.
Fans won’t have to worry about the team tanking as the Eagles and Rams will sink them on their own.
