New York Giants Team Grades vs. New Orleans Saints Week 2

Run Defense Grade: A+

The Giants spent a lot of money in the offseason to make sure they improved their defensive line; more specifically their ability to stop the run. Through two games it has been money well spent, as the Giants smothered the Saints running game.

While Drew Brees and the passing game is what the Saints are built on, they aren’t slouches in the run game. Mark Ingram is an above average running back but he was bottled up all afternoon by the Giants. Ingram managed only 30 yards on nine carries, finding no running room against the Giants’ new-look defensive front.

Tim Hightower was mixed in for three carries, gaining only nine yards. John Kuhn got one carry as well and turned it into only two yards. For the game, the Saints had only 13 carries for 41 yards, equaling out to an average of 3.2 yards per carry.

The Saints never established much of a run game and didn’t give it much of an effort. But, part of that has to do with the Giants. They stopped the run from the beginning and it didn’t look good for the Saints’ run game from the start.

It was an impressive showing by the likes of Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, Jason Pierre-Paul and Hankins up front, especially given the circumstances coming into the game; both Vernon and Pierre-Paul missed practice time during the week because of injuries.