Giants vs. Saints tale of the tape

The Giants are still searching for their first win of the season, while the Saints look to improve to 3-1 on the year when the two teams meet at the Caesars Superdome this Sunday for a Week 4 matchup.

Big Blue suffered their second consecutive heartbreaking loss last weekend, as Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo connected on a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Atlanta the 17-14 win. On the other sideline, the Saints traveled to Foxborough and picked up an impressive 28-13 win against the Patriots, as the defense picked off Patriots QB Mac Jones three times.

The Giants and Saints last met in 2018, when Saquon Barkley turned 16 total touches into 100 yards, Sterling Shepard caught a game-high 10 passes for 77 yards and the team's only receiving touchdown, but the Saints came out with the 33-18 win. The last time the Giants traveled to New Orleans was in 2015, when Eli Manning and Drew Brees put together one of the most jaw-dropping QB performances in NFL history. The pair of future Hall of Famers combined for 855 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, with the 13 combined TD passes setting a new NFL record.

Here are notes for players on both teams ahead of the Week 4 matchup in New Orleans.

While Sunday's game will represent the first time Joe Judge has faced the Saints as head coach, Sean Payton has had plenty of experience against the Giants. Payton, who coached with Big Blue from 1999-2002, has gone 5-1 against his former team.

*QB Daniel Jones passed for 266 yards & had a 90.9 rating last week. Jones aims for his 5th game in a row with a 90+ rating. He has a rush TD in 2 of his 3 games this season.

*QB Jameis Winston passed for 2 TDs vs. 0 INTs for a 110.8 rating in Week 3. He has 1,158 pass yards (289.5 per game) & 9 TDs (8 pass, 1 rush) vs. 2 INTs for a 104.4 rating in 4 career starts vs. NYG. Winston aims for his 4th game in a row vs. NYG with 2+ TD passes & a 110+ rating. QB Taysom Hill had his 1st rush TD of the season in Week 3, his 12th-career rush TD.

*RB Saquon Barkley had 6 catches, 94 scrimmage yards (51 rush, 43 rec.) & his 1st rush TD of the season in Week 3. He had 6 catches, 100 scrimmage yards (56 rec., 44 rush) & a rush TD in his last meeting vs. Saints. He has 606 scrimmage yards (101 per game) & 8 TDs (5 rush, 3 rec.) in 6 career games vs. NFC South.

*RB Alvin Kamara had 118 scrimmage yards (89 rush, 29 rec.) & a TD catch last week. Since 2017, Kamara ranks 2nd in the NFL with 60 scrimmage TDs (43 rush, 17 rec.) & 6,403 scrimmage yards. He had 181 scrimmage yards (134 rush, 47 rec.) & 3 rush TDs in his last meeting vs. Giants. He has 12 TDs (9 rush, 3 rec.) in his past 6 games when NO is the home team.

*WR Kenny Golladay had 4 receptions for 64 yards last week. He had 62 rec. yards & a TD catch in his only career game vs. NO (10/4/20 w/ Det.). He has 60+ rec. yards in 4 of his past 5 games vs. NFC South. WR Sterling Shepard has 6+ receptions in 5 of his past 6 games on the road. He aims for his 3rd game in a row on the road with 9+ receptions & 75+ rec. yards. He has 18 receptions for 194 yards (97 per game) & a rec. TD in 2 career games vs. NO. He aims for his 3rd in a row vs. NO with 8+ catches & 75+ rec. yards. TE Evan Engram has 5+ receptions in 4 of his past 5 games on the road. WR Collin Johnson had a career-high 5 catches last week.

*WR Marquez Callaway had 41 rec. yards & his 1st career rec. TD in Week 3. WR Kenny Stills had a TD catch in his only career game vs. NYG (12/14/15 w/ Mia.).

*LB Tae Crowder led the team with 11 tackles last week, his 3rd-career game with 10+ tackles. DL Leonard Williams had his 1st sack of the season in Week 3. He had an INT in his only career game vs. NO (12/17/17 w/ NYJ). Rookie LB Azeez Ojulari had a sack & 1st-career FF last week. He can become just the 3rd rookie since 1982 [Santana Dotson (1992) & Terrell Suggs (2003)] with a sack in each of his 1st 4 career games.

*S Malcolm Jenkins had 7 tackles, 2 PD & a 34-yard INT returned for a TD in Week 3, his 8th-career defensive TD. He has 4 PD, 3 FF, 2 TFL & INT in his past 3 games vs. NYG. He aims for his 4th in row vs. NYG with a FF. CB Marson Lattimore had a team-high 10 tackles & his 11th- career INT in Week 3, his 3rd-career game with 10+ tackles. He had a FR in his last meeting against the Giants. He aims for his 9th game in a row with a PD. LB Demario Davis had 2 TFL & 2 PD last week. He aims for his 3rd game in a row with a TFL & PD. He had 11 tackles & 2 sacks in his last meeting vs. Giants. DE Cameron Jordan has 4 TFL in his past 3 games vs. NYG & aims for his 4th game in a row vs. NYG with a TFL.

LB Tae Crowder steps in for injured captain Blake Martinez

Football coaches like to say that once a player makes their team, it's irrelevant how he arrived.

For Joe Judge, Exhibit A this week is Tae Crowder.

The Giants' second-year linebacker was the 255th and final selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. That earned - if that's the correct word – Crowder the title of Mr. Irrelevant. But Crowder has been anything but.

As a rookie last year, he started six of the 11 games in which he played and scored the game-winning touchdown in the Giants' first victory on a 43-yard fumble return against Washington. This week, his importance to the team will be elevated if, as expected, he assumes the defensive play-calling duties against the Saints in New Orleans. Blake Martinez, who held that responsibility since his arrival last year, is out for the season after tearing his left ACL in Sunday's game against Atlanta.

On Monday, Judge mentioned Reggie Ragland and rookie Justin Hilliard as candidates to have the green dot, which is on the players who receive the calls from the sideline. But this is Crowder's second season in Patrick Graham's defense, and he commanded the huddle Sunday when he played all but one of the Giants' 62 defensive snaps.

"There were some things we want to clean up here or there, but I thought in terms of him jumping into the position as a signal-caller, it was something we work on during the week to make sure he's ready if it comes up," Judge said. "I thought he did a good job of that. We had the one communication issue where the headset went down in the game and we had to call a timeout. Other than that, he was very good with making sure everyone had the call, got it directly, got his guys lined up. I thought he played well. I thought he showed some physicality, some real aggressiveness with how he played, so I was really pleased with what Tae did (Sunday) in the game."

WR John Ross returns amid Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton injuries

Wide receiver John Ross returned to the field on Wednesday.

Ross, an offseason acquisition, has been on injured reserve with a hamstring injury he suffered in training camp and which forced him to miss the entire preseason. The Giants have three weeks to activate Ross or keep him on I.R.

The timing of Ross' return could prove to be fortuitous because wideouts Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton each injured their hamstrings against Atlanta. Their status for the New Orleans game, as well as that of left guard Ben Bredeson, who has a hand injury, is uncertain.

"We'll kind of get a better feel today," coach Joe Judge said. "I would say, obviously, today is a walkthrough. If this was a full-speed day, we wouldn't see these guys in full-speed action. We have a little bit more time going into the game and stuff like that. We'll see coming out today and how tomorrow looks right there."

Giants Insider: Daniel Jones on ball security, matchup vs. Saints

Check out the video below to watch quarterback Daniel Jones join Paul Dottino to discuss his ball security and the matchup against the Saints in this edition of Giants Insider.