The Saints put forth a decent effort before eventually succumbing to the
persistent Giants.  Some close calls by the officials all went against the
home team, and the offense again looked harmless.

Despite the three game skid, a win against the Eagles almost assures that
the Saints will be in control of their own playoff destiny heading into the
game vs. the Bengals at home.  Bagheads and those who cheered when Wade
Wilson got hurt need not show up.


Rodney Hampton's running and a 27 yard reception by Chris Calloway moved the
Giants to the NO 32 on the first possession.  However, Wayne Martin and
Joel Smeenge (playing for the injured Renaldo Turnbull) worked together
to sack Phil Simms on third down and force a punt (downed at the 5).

Three plays failed to get the Saints out of the hole and brought on a
punt to the NY 49.  A 19 yard reception by Ed McAffrey on 3rd & 5 from the
32 was the big play that moved the Giants into the red zone.  On 3rd
and 7 from the 10, Mark Jackson caught a TD pass (it was too close to call
whether or not he got both feet down).

Passes to Derek Brown, Irv Smith, Brown again, and Eric Martin moved the
ball to the NY 40, but the drive stalled there.  During the possession
Joel Hilgenberg sprained his knee and was replaced by his brother Jay.

The Giants took over at their own 4 and gradually marched their way to
a 13 play drive that lasted 7:13 and ended with a 17 yard TD pass to
Howard Cross.  The Giants were helped by a questionable 15 yard out-of-bounds
hit call against the Saints.  Also, Toi Cook hurt his knee during the
possession and was replaced by Reginald Jones.

The offense finally got in gear with 8 and 26 yard passes to Quinn Early
to start the next drive.  After Brown picked up 3 and Wilson was sacked
for a loss of 4, a shovel pass to Dalton Hilliard picked up 34 yards to the
NY 13.   A personal foul call against the Saints backed them up temporarily,
but another Hilliard run moved the Saints inside the ten.  The drive appeared
to stall after two incomplete passes, but a fake field goal (a Barnhardt
shovel to Muster) gave the Saints new life at the NY 1.  Muster soon
scored on a 1 yard TD dive with just under two minutes remaining in the half.

The Saints forced the Giants to go three & punt but had time only for one
nearly disastrous play (Wilson recovered his own fumble on an attempted
Hail Mary pass).

After the Saints went 3 & punt on the opening possession of the second half,
a questionable pass interference call gave the Giants the ball at the NO 15.
A personal foul call against NY on the next play backed them up somewhat,
and on third down Rickey Jackson knocked the ball loose from Simms and
caused the first NY turnover in 4 games.  The play excited the guy next to
me so much that he tumbled 4 rows down the 45 degree slope of the Superdome
terrace!

The next possession was typical of the entire season.  After the defense
made a great play and fired up the crowd, the offense went 3 & punt.  The
highlight was when Barnhardt did a nice job of preventing the punt from
being blocked.

Runs by Hampton, Jarrod Bunch, and Lewis Tillman moved NY across midfield.
Passes to Jackson, Dave Meggett, and Cross moved the Giants inside the ten,
but the defense stiffened and forced a 23 yard FG with 2:48 left in the
third quarter.

While throwing a 17 yard completion to Eric Martin, Wilson suffered a
knee injury on a cheap hit.  Mike Buck came in but couldn't drive the team
past midfield.  After Vaughn Johnson (back this week after missing the
Rams game due to a virus) sacked Simms on third down to force a punt, the
Saints again failed to pick up a first down when Buck's third down pass
went off Floyd Turner's hands at midfield.  Meggett returned the punt 75
yards for a TD, thanks to a no-call on a clip of Tyrone Leggette.

A series of passes to Martin and Hilliard moved the Saints to the NY 23,
but a tipped ball was intercepted by the Giants to ice the game.  In the
course of running out the final 7:19 the Giants allowed the Saints to drive
and score on a 5 yard Hilliard TD reception. 


Notes:

Monday was "Rickey Jackson Appreciation Night."  He belongs in the same
class as LT, IMO.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee bought the last 500 tickets to lift the
local blackout and also purchased TV and newspaper ads to express his
support for the Saints (and maybe win a few votes).

Don't look for the Saints to go outside of the organization to get a new
GM.  Buddy Diliberto's interview with Tom Benson made it fairly clear that
Benson doesn't intend to contact Bill Polian or anyone else.

Hoby Brenner will retire after 13 years in the NFL (all with the Saints).
This year he's been bothered by a fractured fibula and sprained ankle
suffered in the first Rams game.

Can you wait 3 or 4 more years?  Cooper Manning (son of Archie) won the
high school equivalent of the Heisman Trophy this week.  He is a QB.


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Frank Serpas III