The New Orleans Saints are still on the hunt for their first win of the season after dropping the first four games of the season.
Sunday's game against the New York Giants might be the breakthrough that the Black and Gold needs. The Giants are 1-3, with that one victory coming last week against the Los Angeles Chargers in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart's debut. As sweet as victory was for New York, it came with a price: star wide receiver Malik Nabers suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the contest.
New Orleans showed signs of life despite a 31-19 road loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. With the Saints being back home in the Superdome -- and with a bit of momentum for the time being -- could the team finally get that big win?
It's going to take a lot of work and very few mistakes, but here's what the Saints must do if they want to please the home crowd and show some signs of life on Sunday.
1. Be more aggressive on passing attempts.
Through four games this season, quarterback Spencer Rattler has thrown for 765 yards on 146 total passing attempts -- that's an average of 5.2 yards per throw. He's the king of throwing check downs and short passes over the middle, with his longest passes typically being around 20 yards on average, minus a 39-yard dime against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.
That's not going to win anyone football games in the NFL, and it hasn't worked out at all so far for New Orleans.
No, Rattler shouldn't be throwing 40-yard lobs downfield every few plays. He can't do that with his offensive line struggling as much as it is. At the very least, he should be routinely throwing for 10 to 12 yard gains, rather than throwing behind the line of scrimmage and hoping that his receivers can do the work with their legs.
It's time to stop being overly cautious. If head coach Kellen Moore is calling these short plays because he knows that Rattler isn't accurate enough to connect for longer gains, then maybe that's a sign that the signal-caller shouldn't be playing.
2. Continue to limit penalties.
The Black and Gold did a great job of limiting penalties against the Buffalo Bills, with just four fouls on the day. Three of those came from bad special teams play, and one was a crucial roughing-the-kicker penalty that gave the ball back to the Bills just as the Saints were looking to respond.
Keep in mind that up until Sunday's matchup, New Orleans had recorded more than 10 penalties in two of its first three games. The team simply couldn't stop beating itself.
The Saints can't afford to do that against the Giants if they want to have any chance of winning. There can't be problems in the trenches or unnecessary fouls from frustrated players: the team has struggled enough on both sides of the ball regardless of any penalties. Don't give New York a chance to pull ahead in a game that should otherwise be pretty even.
3. Attack the Giants' offensive line.
New York's offensive line has given up 13 sacks -- yes, you read that correctly -- this season. That includes six allowed last week against the Chargers. There's a reason why the unit is among the worst in the league.
New Orleans hasn't played consistently well on defense throughout the season, but there are some big forces to be reckoned with in that group. Carl Granderson is tied for third in the NFL with 4.5 sacks on the year, and Cam Jordan is a bit behind him with 2.5 sacks. Both defensive ends move quickly and are tough for opposing offensive linemen to block.
On top of this, Dart is still a young quarterback. While his pocket mobility is solid for his experience level, he still doesn't have the best awareness and can get overpowered a bit more easily than the seasoned veterans that the Black and Gold have faced so far. Start pushing him back farther and farther and force him to make those big throws that are so difficult for a newer signal-caller to make.
The Saints must capitalize on this obvious advantage in the matchup, not only to put the Giants into some difficult situations, but also to give that unit a much-needed boost.