The New York Giants‘ revamped veteran secondary has gotten off to an uninspiring start to the 2025 season, and was just exposed by the New Orleans Saints Sunday afternoon.
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler torched Giants cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Deonte Banks while throwing over the top of New York’s secondary on his way to a season-high 225 passing yards with a touchdown while completing 66.7 percent of his passes.
According to ESPN Giants insider Jordan Raanan, the poor play in the secondary was the biggest hole in New York’s game plan, and most glaring concern emerging from Sunday’s stunning 26-14 loss.
What the heck is going on with the Giants‘ secondary?” Raanan writes for ESPN. “It was a mess in this contest, committing penalties and allowing receivers to run wide open. There was plenty of blame to go around, too. CBs Deonte Banks, Paulson Adebo and Dru Phillips committed costly penalties. S Tyler Nubin lost his leverage, which resulted in an 87-yard touchdown for Saints WR Rashid Shaheed. Rough afternoon for this group.”
Rattler spread the ball around, while meeting little resistance against the Giants, completing passes to seven different Saints pass-catchers and carding four explosive completions of more than 15 yards.
Things won’t get much easier for the Giants’ defense, who now face the unenviable task of slowing the likes of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and emerging playmaker Jahan Dotson and a Philadelphia Eagles offense that is searching for an identity and hoping to ignite their own explosive offense that has become wildly inconsistent in recent weeks.
Ahead of Thursday’s game, which forces Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen to potentially make significant adjustments on a short week, Brown enters averaging 10.2 yards per reception, Smith 10.9 yards per catch, and Dotson a team-high 15.7.
Against a division rival with a talented but underachieving receiving corps hoping to right the ship, the Giants are going to need drastically improved play from the secondary if they have designs on handing the Eagles a second consecutive loss.
Spencer Rattler Walked the Walk Against Giants Secondary
Sean Gardner | GettyNew Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler outplayed Giants rookie Jaxson Dart in Week 5.
It remains to be seen whether Rattler drew the blueprint for teams to exploit the Giants‘ defense, but he certainly followed through on the Saints’ game plan to attack what he and the staff perceived as New York’s biggest weakness.
“On the back end, they don’t do as much as what we’ve seen from these other teams, disguise-wise, but they’ve got their wrinkles and everything,” Rattler told reporters, ahead of Sunday’s game. “They run what they do well, and can cause some havoc to quarterbacks and offenses, so we’ve got to get the ball out on time, take our shots when they’re there, and just move the chains.”
Rattler certainly checked those boxes, and beyond the explosive plays, helped the Saints offense stay ahead of the sticks, converting 7-of-15 third down opportunities and averaging 7.6 yards per pass attempt against the Giants‘ secondary.
Giants’ glaring weakness could be exploited by Eagles Thursday night