Are the New Orleans Saints road warriors? They're going to have to be if they want to turn the 2026 season around.
An extended road trip that will soon head to Paris begins with the Giants this week, a team that's simply found ways to win to kick off their John Harbaugh era and are led by former Saints QB Jameis Winston. The Saints are looking to avoid a 1-5 start for the second consecutive season after three home losses.
THE GAME | Saints (1-4) at Giants (3-1-1)
- When: Noon, Sunday, Oct. 18
- Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Series history: tied 17-17
- Last meeting: 2025, Week 5, Saints 26, Giants 14
- Betting: Saints -1.5; over/under 46
- TV: FOX
- LISTEN: WWL AM-870; FM-105.3 & the Audacy app
- PREGAME: First Take with Steve Geller & Charlie Long, 8-10 a.m.; Countdown to kickoff with Steve Geller & Bobby Hebert, 10 a.m. to noon
CAN YOU (finally) ESTABLISH THE RUN?
It’s been a looming question throughout most of the Kellen Moore era: Why can’t this team run the ball?
They’ve averaged just under 82 yards per game this season, a figure good for 29th in the league. They’ve been even worse in terms of getting backs upfield with space, averaging 0.83 yards before contact (26th). The Saints' ranks in those stats last year? 28th and 30th.
But we saw last week just how easy this game can look when the run is working. The Saints ran the ball 17 times for 55 yards and a TD in the loss to the Vikings. Nine of those carries, 35 yards and the TD come on one drive — really the only successful drive. Here’s how they went:
- 1st & 10, NO 34: Miller left guard, +3
- 1st & 15, NO 46: Donaldson middle, +7
- 2nd & 8, MIN 47: Kamara left tackle, +4
- 3rd & 4, MIN 43: Donaldson right guard, +2
- 1st & 10, MIN 23: Miller right guard, +9
- 2nd & 1, MIN 14: Miller right guard, +7
- 1st & 7, MIN 7: Miller left tackle, +6
- 2nd & 1, MIN 1: Miller middle, -1
- 3rd & 2, MIN 2: Miller middle, +2TD
There weren’t many positives to pull from offense in Week 5, but the message from coaches: That’s what it CAN look like — that’s what it SHOULD look like.
Can the Saints get there? It’ll take two things:
- Committing to the run
- Avoiding penalties
The first part can be and often is directly related to the second. You won’t see many runs called in 2nd or 3rd and 15. You can’t impose your will on a team in those situations.
Just for perspective, the Saints faced 2nd and 10-pus eight times against Minnesota. EIGHT! They only ran 43 plays total in the game. Their longest run of the day (13 yards) was called back in the second quarter for, let’s call it a soft hold, against Noah Fant.
The Saints looked to be getting a physical drive started in the third quarter, with back to back runs and a third and short conversion midway through the third quarter. Then a completion to the Vikings 35-yard line was negated due to a hold against CJ Donaldson. There were procedural penatlies at inopportune moments. All these things add up to a negative game script and a stat sheet after the game that shows an abandoned run game.
I think this is the week that narrative has to start changing.
This Giants defense has struggle points in a lot of similar ways to the Saints. They no longer have Dexter Lawrence clogging up the middle and they’ve been using blitzes to create pressure. They’ve allowed the 8th-most rush yards per game (122.8) and stuff the run at the 4th-lowest rate in the NFL (12.2%). They’ve allowed 17 chunk runs (rushes of 10-plus yards).
CJ Donaldson, Kendre Miller, Alvin Kamara — in that order. If not now, when?
THE JAMEIS WINSTON EXPERIENCE
I think many Giants fans saw their season as dead in the water after Jaxson Dart went down in Week 2. The Rams dominated the rest of the game and Jameis Winston couldn’t get much done in relief.
Well, since that point the Giants haven’t lost — albeit pulling out games on a razor’s edge. Both the Titans and Cardinals had the ball down inside the Giants 10 with time and timeouts, seeking a game-winning TD. Neither found the end zone and both Cam Ward and Jacoby Brissett finished the game with interceptions. Last week they trailed the Commanders by 14 in the 4th quarter before storming back, narrowly surviving turnover-worthy plays on both TD drives. The game ended in a tie after the Commanders boneheadedly ran the clock out well inside Giants territory rather than attempting a game-winning field goal.
In that span Winston is 65-105 (62%) for 692 yards and 6 TDs against 2 interceptions. He's been sacked nine times. It hasn’t always been pretty, but he’s found a way in big moments and his defense has found the winning edge in crunch time.
Could this be the game he turns back into the proverbial pumpkin? The Saints will hope so. New York heads into this game with major questions at both tackle spots. Both Andrew Thomas (groin) and Jermaine Eluemenor (calf) missed the first two practice days before being upgraded to limited on Friday. Both are listed as questionable. Even if they play, neither will be anywhere near 100%.
The Saints faced a similar situation last week and generated 11 pressures, but Kyler Murray was able to create with his legs when things broke down. If they can create similar pressure this week it could be a winning recipe.
Either way, if there's any sort of revenge narrative in this game, it won't be on New Orleans' side, and I honestly don't think it would be that for Jameis, either, at least not beyond the want to always put up a big game against a former team. He's already put up an impressive showing against the Saints when he returned with the Browns in 2024. That day he went 30 for 46 for 395 yards and a pair of TDs, though the Saints did win that game 35-14.
Two of Jameis' former teammates in Erik McCoy and Juwan Johnson had nothing but good things to say. McCoy did note that Jameis is one of the most "unintentionally funny" people he's ever met. Johnson went so far as to credit Winston for turning his career around. Winston was the Saints QB when Johnson was officially converted to tight end in 2021. That's who he caught his first touchdown from in the season-opener that year.
They'll root for him every other week, and I think most Saints fans are on the same page. But not this week. This week the rooting interest is for Jameis to truly live up to what people often mean when they say "the Jameis Winston experience."
DO YOU HAVE THE SPECIAL TEAMS EDGE?
I’ve been asking that title question for a few weeks now, but the answer has been no. I won’t go so far as saying that unit is the reason for the three-game skid, but it certainly hasn’t helped.
One culprit has been kicker Daniel Carlson, who has missed a 52-yarder and a pair of PATs in the past two games. Another is CB Jayden Price, who fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half against the Vikings. That created a scenario where the Saints were playing from behind, and we all saw how that went. The Saints haven't broken anything significant on a return. Coverage has been spotty at times.
Price was cut after the game, though he was brought back on the practice squad. The Saints will have a different returner back there across from Barion Brown in Week 6. My guess would be Lorenzo Styles, but Kendre Miller could be an option.
In the kicking game the Saints are sticking with Carlson and allowing him to work through his issues. We heard similar things this week to what we heard about Blake Grupe last season. That ultimately ended in a cut a few weeks later.
What you can say for Carlson is he hasn’t been given many opportunities to succeed or fail. To this stage he's only attempted seven kicks. He's made five of them, with the misses from 52 and 62.
On the other side of the equation is rookie Dominic Zvada, who made the first nine kicks of his career before going 2 for 5 last week, including misses from 50 and 57 in regulation, then from 46 in overtime. The conditions were ugly, to be fair. Sunny skies are expected above MetLife tomorrow.
Long story short, neither fanbase will be pleased with their recent kicking results going into this game. But it certainly feels like a big week for Carlson to either solidify that job or force the Saints’ hand. The last time the Saints were on the road we saw a virtually perfect special teams performance. It'd sure go a long way if this team could get back to something resembling that.
LAGNIAPPE
Tyler Shough knows he needs to run more. He said as much this week. Don't be surprised if this is the game where we see him get more aggressive with his legs. It really doesn't take much. A few scrambles in critical moments that extend drives can break the will of a defense, as we saw with Kyler Murray last week against the Saints. He'll likely still be wearing a glove to protect that left hand, but Shough and Moore have been adamant that it's not affecting anything. ... The Saints can’t say they own many teams in the post-Sean Payton era, but the Giants are one of them. The Saints are 3-0 in this series dating back to 2022. The starting QBs for those games: Andy Dalton, Derek Carr and Spencer Rattler. … The Saints have had an illness circulation the locker room for going on two weeks. It's hit a host of players, including Chris Olave this week. It doesn't seem like the Saints will be down any players versus the Giants. ... Last week the Saints gave Mason Murphy a drive. It was part of a plan to rotate at the left tackle position. Murphy got beat clean on the first snap and Kamara was blown up in the backfield. He held up much better on the next two snaps, but the drive went 3 and out. Do they try it again? ... Saints DC Brandon Staley applauded LB Danny Stutsman's "bounceback" performance against the Vikings. A week earlier there were some sketchy moments (vs the Falcons), but he forced the action against the Vikings and looked a lot more comfortable. Hopefully he continues to build on that performance with Kaden Elliss out for a third consecutive game. ... The Saints defense prioritized punching at the ball in recent weeks and it paid off with a pair of fumble recoveries against the Vikings, one for a touchdown. That will certainly be the plan again this week, with Cam Skattebo showing to be turnover prone. He's already fumbled four times, but the first fumble lost came last week in overtime with the Giants in field goal range. Skattebo is the type of back that's always fighting for the extra few yards and that should present some punchout opportunities. ... The Saints are tied for the worst turnover margin in the NFL (-6). They've only logged one interception on the year, and that came in the win over the Ravens. The Saints are now 0-11 in the Kellen Moore era when they lose the turnover margin, 5-0 when they win it.
