New York Giants at New Orleans Saints

Opening Line: Giants +3 / Saints -3 O/U 47

Time: 8:30 PM EST Monday October 19, 2009 on ESPN

by Marasoft.com Staff

This Sunday the New York Giants head to Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Saints in a battle of 2 undefeated teams. Both teams are in 1st place in their respective divisions. The Giants have played a cake schedule in their last 3 games facing teams with a grand total of 1 win, but now they hit a tough patch, as after this game they play Arizona, Philadelphia, San Diego, Atlanta, and Denver. For the Saints it is the opposite, as in their next 5 games they only face one team with a winning record. If these two teams keep playing like they have been playing so far this game may be a preview of the NFC Championship game.

Last week the Giants crushed the Oakland Raiders 44-7 while the Saints had a bye week.

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The Saints are led by QB Drew Brees (1,031 yds 9 TD 2 INT) and his main targets are Devery Henderson (14 rec 235 yds 1 TD) Marques Colston (17 rec 228 yds 3 TD). The Saints rushing attack is led by the RB duo of Mike Bell (229 yds 1 TD) and Pierre Thomas (212 yds 3 TD). The Giants are led by QB Eli Manning (1,212 10 TD 2 INT) and his main targets are Steve Smith (37 rec 481 yds 4 TD) and Mario Manningham (20 rec 342 yds 3 TD). The Giants rushing attack is led by the RB dup of Ahmad Bradshaw (375 yds 2 TD) and Brandon Jacobs (355 yds 1 TD).

If you look at the stats for this game both teams are very even on offense, but where there is a big difference is on defense. The Giants have the top-ranked defense in the NFL and they are solid against the pass and the run. The Saints are awesome against the run only allowing 83.3 rushing yards per game, but their secondary has given up an average of 212 yards per game. The Saints' D has to get to Manning and not give him time to find his targets. They also can't allow the Giants' RB's to pick up big chunks of yardage and control the clock.

Saints' RB Mike Bell has missed the last 2 games due to a knee injury, but he should be ready to go in this game. If he comes back it gives New Orleans a great 1-2 punch from the backfield and it will take the pressure off Brees to provide all the offense with his arm.

This Saints have yet to be in a close game this season, as their closest game was a 14-point win in their last game against the Jets. This Game will be a battle between the Giants and their top-ranked defense against a Saints team that is averaging 36 points per game.

The Marasoft Pick: Saints -3
The Giants have a lot of defensive injuries are playing their 4th road game in 5 weeks and facing a rested team that has dominated all of it's opponents this year.