Biggest Winners, Biggest Losers in Saints Escape in the Meadowlands 34-27

After being challenged by team owner Gayle Benson publicly this week, the New Orleans Saints responded with a 34-27 victory over the New York Giants in the Meadowlands that became a nail-biter when it really shouldn't have.

See our Postgame Live Blog with game wrap-up and important interviews.

After falling behind 10-zip, the Saints offense came alive scoring 34-unanswered points. The Giants weren't through though, as backup quarterback JJ McCarthy came on to lead his team back but fall just short at the end.

The Saints part of the comeback started with some outstanding special teams work that we'll get to in a moment. First, our biggest of the biggest winners wears #41 for the Saints.

Biggest Winners

Alvin Kamara

There have been many historic running backs in New Orleans Saints history, but there has never been anyone like Alvin Kamara. On Sunday, the 10-year veteran became the first athlete in the annals of the franchise to rack up 5,000-yards rushing and 5,000-yards receiving in a career. In fact, he is only the sixth player in NFL history to ever do it.

• Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk
• HOFer Lenny Moore
• HOFer Marcus Allen
• Current 49er Christian McCaffrey
• and Giants great Tiki Barber

It was on this play that AK got to that mark.

It all started in 2017 when Sean Payton drafted Kamara in the third round out of Tennessee, earning All-Pro honors in 2017 and 2020 and five consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 2017 through 2021.

Saints Defense for the First 3 1/2 Quarters

It helped that former Saints quarterback Jameis Winston was the Jameis Winston we had seen when he was with New Orleans. Starting for his fourth consecutive game after backing up starter Jaxson Dart who went down against the Rams, some of the Winston's passes were underthrown, while others were just thrown.

Constant pressure by the Saints defense had Winston throwing off his back foot, as a New Orleans defender was in his face almost every time he went back to pass. The D sacked him four times and forced him into throwing errors.

And then there was this INT.

Which led to Winston being pulled for the day in the 4th quarter. He finished the day 14-for-26, 152-yards, a touchdown, those two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 52.1.

Three plays later, the backup to the backup, McCarthy threw an interception to Emerson, who got his second pickoff of the day.

Biggest Losers

Saints Defense in the Last Half of the 4th Quarter

Although the Saints defense was Swiss-cheesed by McCarthy at the end, making this game tighter than it should have been, the Saints D had its chances to put this one away earlier in the final period. Saints defenders dropped not one but two interceptions on drives by New York that could have put a stop to the Giants' comeback.

Going into an Offensive Shell

With a chance to put things away in the fourth quarter, the New Orleans offense went into a shell, running up the gut while the Giants stacked seven, eight, and more in the box. Play action on first down would have solved this issue early, forcing New York to play differently.

Daniel Carlson

Yeah, he hit a couple of 50-yard-plus field goals, but it's a crap shoot when Daniel Carlson comes onto the field. Is he going to shank a 35-yarder? Is he going to put a kickoff out of bounds or out of the zone? If you're nervous when Carlson enters the game, you're not alone. So are we.