The New York Giants took a shot last week – some say out of desperation – and won a game with their new rookie quarterback. 

They hope to continue that momentum as they travel south to face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time at the Superdome. 

The Giants benched Russell Wilson in favor of first-round pick Jaxson Dart and put forth an inspired effort in a 21-18 victory over the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers. 

The Saints fought valiantly against the Buffalo Bills but came up short in a 31-19 defeat. While the Giants won for the first time, New Orleans remains winless.

NFL betting odds on the Saints vs Giants game 

The Saints find themselves as a short home favorite according to the numbers that have been posted at BetOnline: 

New Orleans Saints -1 (-125)
New York Giants +1 (-105)

Over 41 Points (-108)
Under 41 Points (-112)

There were positives and negatives for New Orleans

The Saints competed for 3-1/2 quarters against Buffalo on Sunday. And even though they clearly caught the Bills a little flat, they did roll up 299 yards of offense. 

What might be a little disheartening is that Spencer Rattler threw for only 126 yards on 27 attempts (less than five yards per) Overall, it was an encouraging performance for New Orleans, which is looking for its first win of the season (and first of Kellen Moore’s head coaching career). 

Are the Giants a team the Saints could beat?

Sure, there’s no reason they couldn’t beat New York. Carrying this as a favorite – albeit a small one – gives us a different perspective on things, though.

The Giants, of course, decided to make the move last week to rookie Jaxson Dart as the starting quarterback. Head coach Brian Daboll just had to do something to bring some spark into the offense. We say that with some hesitation, because Russell Wilson had thrown for 450 yards against Dallas a couple of weeks prior.

But Daboll – and we suspect the front office – saw that this season was starting to get away from them and wanted to see what they had with the “future” guy. 

Is this a quarterback mismatch? 

Interestingly, Rattler is 19th in ESPN’s Total QB ratings, and he is 20th in the quarterback grades from Pro Football Focus. Dart would have been 38th in the ratings based on his performance. He threw for only 111 yards, and needed some big defensive plays in addition to a spirited ground attack that he himself contributed to (54 yards). Cam Skattebo is also contributing faster than many expected as a fellow rookie (79 yards vs. a tough Chargers defense). 

What’s going to happen in the Saints-Giants game? 

The Saints have not had a pleasant time trying to stop people this season; the yards per point on the part of their opponents is 10.7, which ranks them 30th in the league.

The Giants have lost Malik Nabers for the season with an ACL injury, and even though Wan’Dale Robinson gets a lot of targets, that is a big blow, because it limits what they can do down the field. Now the wide receiver corps is even thinner. 

It will increase checkdowns to the backs, namely Skattebo. It is not necessarily an ideal situation for the Giants.

Moore has at least had the opportunity to game-plan against this Giants defense twice when he was with the Eagles last year. His team is at a disadvantage as far as certain fundamentals are concerned, but we’d be interested to see how Dart can perform in his first road start. 

THE PLAY: SAINTS -1 

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