Ny Giants vs NO Saints Free Week 6 Selection & Preview
NFL Week 6 Sunday, Oct. 18 - 1 p.m. Eastern - FOX New York Giants (5-0) at New Orleans Saints (4-0)
With only five unbeaten teams remaining heading into Week 6 of the NFL season, Sunday's game matching two of those teams -- the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints -- will be one of the most highly anticipated games of the young season. The Giants and Saints will play at 1 p.m. Eastern in the Superdome in a FOX regional telecast. The early line lists New Orleans as a 3-point home favorite.
Thanks to their dominating starts to the 2009 NFL season, the Giants and Saints must appear on the short list of any Super Bowl contending teams out of the NFC so far this season. The Giants have won five games by an average margin of 16 points, including a 44-7 thrashing of Oakland last Sunday. The Saints, meanwhile, have won their four games by a 19.5-point margin on average. Those are the two largest average margins of victory in the NFL this season.
Entering the Giants-Saints game, New York fans can be forgiven for feeling like their season actually begins this week. The Giants have played a weak schedule to this point in the season, with only one opponent -- the Cowboys -- above .500 so far. The Giants opponents are 6-19 on the season.
For New Orleans, which had a bye in Week 5, the schedule has been tougher. The Saints have handed Philadelphia (3-1) and the New York Jets (3-1) their only losses on the season. (The Jets were scheduled to play at Miami on ESPN Monday Night Football.) The Saints opponents are 8-10 on the season.
Great quarterback play should highlight the Giants-Saints game. Entering Week 5, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees ranks second in the NFL in passer efficiency rating, while Giants quarterback Eli Manning ranks fourth. After two 300-plus-yard games and nine touchdown passes to open the season, Brees was held to less than 200 yards passing and no touchdowns in wins over Buffalo and the Jets. Manning, meanwhile, started against Oakland Sunday despite a foot injury, throwing only 10 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Manning has thrown 10 touchdown passes versus only two interceptions this season. Brees has thrown nine touchdowns versus two interceptions in 2009.
The Giants are 4-0-1 ATS this season, including an outright win as a 3-point underdog at Dallas in Week 2. Dating back to last season, the Giants are 4-1 ATS in their last five games as a road underdog, winning three of those games outright.
New Orleans, meanwhile, is 4-0 ATS this season, including two wins as a home favorite. Dating back to last season, the Saints are 5-0 ATS in their last five games as a home favorite.
The Giants and Saints last played Dec. 24, 2006, when the Giants were a 3-point home favorite against New Orleans, but the Saints blasted the Giants, 30-7. The Giants have not played in the Superdome since 2003, when New Orleans (-8) beat New York, 45-7.
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