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A review of the oline and dline against the Saints, and what to expect against the Giants

It was pretty wonderful to be able to watch the all 22 film of the Saints game. As expected, the Eagles absolutely dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Earlier this week, someone asked why we didn't get any sacks. After watching the all 22 film, it was clear that the Saints were going to help their tackles out by having their running backs and tight ends stay in to block. Even with this extra help, we were still able to generate a pass rush that made Siemian rush a lot of throws. Even his long completions were somewhat miraculous, as his pass catchers helped him out by making ridiculous plays.

Obviously, our offensive line completely dominated a very good Saints front. It should be noted that Demario Davis played 100 percent of the defensive snaps and had only 1 tackle. That is just a ridiculously low amount considering we ran the ball so much. It was clear that we not only wanted to run the ball, but wanted to make their best run-stopping linebacker a non-factor, which is what we did.

So what can we expect against the Giants? I think there are some interesting matchups, so let's get into it.

And we will start with what I consider to be the heavyweight matchup of the year - Kelce, Dickerson and Driscoll against Williams, Lawrence and Johnson.

The Saints have a really good run defense, but they rely on the DEs and LBs to stop the opposing offenses. The Giants are built much differently. They have pretty average LBs in their 3-4 scheme, but they do have three absolute monsters in the interior of the defense. The team as a whole has underperformed, but I think that is due to scheme more than individuals playing poorly. They play a lot of two-high safety zone and pretty much allow teams to dink and dunk down the field.

It will be interesting to see if they get more aggressive against the Eagles. My guess is that we will want to attack the perimeter of the defense, especially since they are somewhat undersized outside of the interior of the defensive line. So things that may not have worked previously - wide receiver screens and het sweeps - may be more effective here. Tampa Bay basically used this approach on their first drive, running two sweeps and then scoring on a tunnel screen to Chris Godwin.

If the Giants come out in a zone heavy defensive scheme, I wonder if we will see more Greg Ward, who is an absolute killer against those type of defenses. I know I never thought I would be advocating for more Greg Ward, but we have struggled against zone, and one of the reasons is that only Smith and Goedert are getting open. Ward may not be a dynamic athlete, but I don't see a better option right now as a slot WR who can keep drives going.

The Giants offensive line has really struggled this year, and we need to generate consistent pressure, particularly from the inside. Against the Saints, we were like a different team, running blitzes and stunts we haven't shown previously. The Giants oline had a good game against the Raider and a bad game against the Bucs, so hopefully we will again see them struggle. One positive for us is that Cox and Hargrave were really exceptional against the Saints, even if the stats don't reflect it.

One note I would make is that we have some good things going in our favor. One is that Kyle Rudolph is banged up, and he is a low-key crucial element to their run game. His blocking is really exceptional, and when he's not in there they aren't nearly as effective. Another is that we will be playing Edwards and Singleton at linebacker. And while I think Davion Taylor has made strides this year and may eventually be a solid starting linebacker in this league, he makes way too many mistakes that Singleton doesn't. Singleton and Edwards, particularly in zone coverage, work really well together. It was something that was apparent two years ago in preseason, and which I saw clearly against the Saints.

This will be a really interesting matchup for the Eagles. The Giants have played some bad football this year, but they have also played some very good football. Firing their offensive coordinator was a great move, and I would expect them to be a much different team this week. We played a lot of man coverage against the Saints because their receivers were bad at getting open, but the Giants have better options outside, and a qb who can run really hot or cold.

Can we force him into making mistakes? That will be a key question for the defense. On offense, it will be interesting to see if we can impose our will on a defense that seems built to stop the running game. This may be a game where Jalen Hurts has to throw the ball to move it down the field. The Giants will be a desperate squad. Joe Judge is probably fighting for his career, as is Daniel Jones. I don't think we have more talent than the Giants, but we have something they don't, a clear plan on offense and a defensive scheme that has gotten better week after week.

But for many of our players, and the coaches, this will be the first game we play as legit playoff contenders. That will bring a new kind of pressure to the situation. It will be interesting to see how we handle it.