Giants defense faces Brees, Saints Dolphins are looking for rare win at Foxborough
East Rutherford, N.J. — While there is a chance Drew Brees and Eli Manning will get involved in one of those 30-plus shootouts when the New Orleans Saints face the New York Giants this weekend, it's more likely a defense is going to determine the winner.
The 39-year-old Brees and the Saints (2-1) are coming into MetLife Stadium today averaging more than 34 points. That's more than troublesome for the Giants (1-2) and the 37-year-old Manning. New York has not scored 30 points since the final game of Tom Coughlin's coaching tenure in 2015.
If the Saints run true to form, the Giants are in trouble. That puts a burden on defensive coordinator James Bettcher. The good news is New York has not given up more than 22 points in a game with its new 3-4 defense.
Bettcher isn't looking for Manning and the offense to bail him out.
"The only thing we worry about on the defensive side of the ball is getting stops," Bettcher said. "We got to get some three-and-outs, we got to create some turnovers. Doesn't matter where the ball's put down on the field, doesn't matter what the score is in the game, whether you're up three or down three, in my mind it doesn't matter, we play."
The Giants have done a good job of stopping the run, but their secondary struggled last week with cornerback Eli Apple sidelined with a hamstring injury. He is iffy this SAINTS AT GIANTS 4:25 p.m., Met Life Stadium (Ch. 3)
week.
Brees has been phenomenal this season, hitting 80 percent of his passes.
"He's confident in what we're doing and understanding each week, it's just trying to put ourselves in a position to win," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I really think statistically, the other stuff is just icing on the cake. He really looks at it like, how do I advance my team into the end zone? How do we win the game, reduce turnovers and do all the things necessary to win that week?"
The last time the Giants played the Saints, New York won 16-13 at home. In the previous game, New Orleans posted a 52-49 win at home in a game Brees threw for 505 yards and seven TDs, and Manning threw for 350 yards and six TDs.
"Obviously you could always do more, but yeah felt like we had played a great game and lost, and that's what a lot of teams would've felt against the Saints," Manning said in recalling the game. "They got the ability to score a lot of points."
Wheeling and dealing: Chad Wheeler replaced Ereck Flowers at right tackle for the Giants last weekend and his run blocking was good. His pass blocking wasn't. He allowed J.J. Watt to get three sacks by almost whiffing on blocks. Giants coach Pat Shurmur took the blame, saying he should have given Wheeler help. This week will be tough with the Saints having Cameron Jordan (four sacks) at left end.
Foxborough, Mass. — Using some occasional trickery against the Patriots has previously been a winning formula for the Dolphins.
The last time Miami won at New England was in 2008, when Tom Brady was sidelined for the season and the Dolphins sprung the wildcat on Patriots coach Bill Belichick in a 38-13 rout.
Trickery is also a big reason why the Dolphins will arrive at Gillette Stadium today with a 3-0 record and sitting atop the AFC East . They haven't been 4-0 since 1995 — Don Shula's last season as coach.
But getting there again will be tough. Since the Dolphins' 2008 win, the Patriots have won nine straight at home in the series. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 14-1 at home as a starter against Miami. His lone loss was in the final game of the 2005 season, when he was pulled after the first quarter.
Miami will also be facing a New England team that has lost two in a row and is coming off a humbling 26-10 loss at Detroit that underscored the Patriots' weaknesses on both sides of the ball. The Patriots haven't started 1-3 since 2001.
"Any time you play them at their place, it's a challenge," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. "That's why they're one of the best teams. If you look at the last 15 years, it's ridiculous DOLPHINS AT PATRIOTS 1 p.m., Gillette Stadium (Ch. 3)
how well they do at home compared to everybody else. The crowd is extremely loud, and it's a tough environment to play in."
After missing last season because of a torn ACL in his left knee, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill has started this season strong. He has completed 73 percent of his passes, while throwing seven touchdowns and just two interceptions.
He has won 10 of his past 11 starts overall, but he's 0-5 in games at Foxborough, with five touchdown passes and nine interceptions in those games.
"We've had our opportunities up there," Tannehill said. "We've put halves of football together, but haven't played a full game. That's going to be a big emphasis for us this week — to go up and play a full four quarters."
Despite some issues over the past two weeks, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said there is no sense of panic inside their locker room. New England started 2-2 last season, before recovering to win the AFC championship.
"You've just got to keep going forward, no matter what it is, if you're winning or if you're losing," Gronkowski said. "You've got to just put that week behind you . ... Just got to keep on grinding."