NFL News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Power Rankings

New York Giants Head Coach, Brian Daboll is shown during the fourth quarter, Sunday, September 21, 2025. Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

3 Stats That Made the Difference in NY Giants' Loss vs. Saints

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Alex House | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 6:00 PM ET

During the New York Giants' first two drives in Sunday's 26-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints, Big Blue appeared to have finally established a new offensive identity.

But looks can be deceiving, and in this case, it was as if after putting up touchdowns on back-to-back plays, the Giants morphed into an error-prone mess.

While there is much to lament about in this one, three stats stand out as the primary reasons this squad is now 1-4.

Turnovers

One of the low-hanging fruits, there's no denying that sloppy football continues to be synonymous with Giants football, and that's a major indictment of head coach Brian Daboll and his coaching staff.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Cam Skattebo, and wide receiver Darius Slayton each committed a fumble that led to Saints points, handing momentum to the opposition in the most frustrating ways imaginable.

Slayton's gaffe occurred on New Orleans' 35-yard line with just 1:13 left in the first half. Blake Grupe kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter, giving the Saints the lead for the first time in the afternoon. Dart literally dropped the ball in the third on the home team's 46-yard line. Grupe nailed another field goal.

The biggest gut-punch came early in the fourth quarter when the ball was poked out of Skattebo's grasp in the red zone and returned for an 86-yard touchdown. And just like that, New York had dug itself into a huge hole against perhaps the worst team in the NFC through the first four weeks of the season.

Even so, New York tried to claw its way out and get back into the game. Two interceptions, which rounded out an incomprehensibly dreadful run of five straight turnovers, squashed whatever hope the Giants had left.

Dart experienced severe growing pains, throwing for only 202 yards and struggling against pressure, but he gets some slack for the picks. The first interception was a desperate fourth-down heave, and the second one was ostensibly aided by rookie WR Beaux Collins' decision to prematurely end his route.

There was enough blame to go around. A concerning lack of discipline, a phrase Giants fans have been hearing for years, once again doomed this franchise. The five turnovers were hardly the only instance of this problem, however.

Penalties

There was some optimism that New York would accumulate fewer flags in this game, given the recent trend of the Alan Eck-led officiating crew. Still, the self-inflicted wounds persisted in the Caesars Superdome.

The Giants totaled eight penalties for a whopping 95 yards. Five of the violations were assigned to the offense, while the defense cost the squad 65 yards, per NFL Penalties.com.

Despite his positive contributions, Dru Phillips remains a flag magnet. He has been called for eight penalties (one declined) this season, which leads the team. Fellow cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Deonte Banks also helped out the Saints with their pass interference penalties. This secondary will never fulfill its promise if it does not exercise more restraint and good sense.

The offense squandered opportunities as well. This issue is infecting the entire roster. Daboll emphasized the importance of holding players accountable for penalties during training camp, but his efforts and approach have not yet changed the mistake-riddled culture.

One has to wonder how much more time the fourth-year coach has left to clean everything up. Even if the team becomes more disciplined, it will still need to come through in clutch situations.

Third Down

The Saints have clear weaknesses throughout their roster, with an inability to consistently move the chains serving as one of the bigger ones on offense.

However, they found some success in that area compared to New York. In fact, their 46% third-down conversion rate (7-of-15) was their best mark of the 2025 campaign so far.

Conversely, Big Blue was just 3-of-10 on its own third-down chances. Those are the moments that a squad must define. Instead, the Giants let the moment define them, again and again.

Coming off a dominant showing versus the Los Angeles Chargers the week prior, the defense failed to generate considerable pressure on quarterback Spencer Rattler. The Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence II, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux-anchored front-seven did not even record a sack despite pressuring quarterback Spencer Rattler on 55% of his dropbacks, according to NextGen Stats.

Considering that the team actually stifled the Saints' rushing attack -- 2.9 yards per carry -- one would have assumed that the pass-rush would have left a massive imprint on this game. Instead, New Orleans converted on third down at an effective rate, which helped Rattler post a season-high 225 passing yards.

Meanwhile, Jaxson Dart managed only 5.1 yards per pass attempt, and an undermanned wide receiver group underwhelmed, making it extremely difficult to earn advantageous third-down situations. Behind leaky protection, the offense collectively failed. The poor conversion rate is also a reflection of the play-calling.

The Giants must get more creative on both sides of the ball. If this franchise does not make a visible improvement in that crucial aspect of the game, then correcting the other missteps will not be enough.

This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: