Odell Beckham Jr. sees what everyone else sees when he takes a look at the Giants receivers and their impending matchup with the Saints’ cornerbacks.
“I think that goes for any position, if you’re inexperienced and somebody else has more experience, they may be in favor, but it’s all about making plays,’’ Beckham said Wednesday after practice.
Yes indeed, this battle may be in favor of the Giants as they gear up for Sunday’s home opener at MetLife Stadium, fresh off a 20-19 road victory over the Cowboys. All three of the Giants’ top receivers — Beckham, Victor Cruz and rookie Sterling Shepard — were important factors in the franchise’s first opening day victory in six years. All three of the Saints’ top cornerbacks — P.J. Williams, De’Vante Harris and Ken Crawley — are painfully lacking in NFL pedigree.
“You got to face every opponent,’’ Cruz said. “They got drafted, they’re in this league for a reason. They have some talent, so you have to be able to understand that.’’
The Saints, at least after one game, are who we thought they were. They poured 34 points on the Raiders inside the Superdome, but it was not enough as they imploded in the fourth quarter, blew a 24-13 lead and lost 35-34 on a Derek Carr touchdown pass and two-point conversion toss to Michael Crabtree with 47 seconds remaining.
The Saints did not stop the run (167 rushing yards allowed) or the pass (Carr threw for 319 yards and was not sacked or intercepted).
And now, the Saints have to go against Beckham and friends without their best cornerback, Delvin Breaux, who came out of the opener with a fractured fibula and will be out about six weeks. It is a huge blow to a defense not exactly teeming with answers. It also means the Saints will have to rely more heavily on unproven players at corner.
“Well, listen, they’re learning on the job right now,’’ Saints coach Sean Payton said. “A lot of snaps a week ago, a lot of things we have to correct.’’
Williams, a 2015 third-round pick from Florida State, spent his rookie year on injured reserve. Harris and Crawley are undrafted rookies. None had ever played a regular-season snap before Sunday.
“They’re going to see that we have young corners and they’re going to try to attack that,” safety Kenny Vaccaro told reporters at the Saints training facility in Metairie, La. “Everybody knows that.”
The Raiders surged to 22 fourth-quarter points with Breaux off the field, which does not bode well for the Saints’ ability to deal with the punishment Eli Manning, Beckham, Shepard and Cruz can inflict.
It would greatly benefit the Saints if they can get Sterling Moore, a veteran cornerback, on the field. Moore, 26, signed last week but was inactive in the season opener.
Still, the loss of Breaux could be a killer.
“Delvin’s a great player,’’ Vaccaro said. “He’s one of the best corners in this league, and it’s going to hurt us.’’
No one is expecting a duplication of last year’s wild 52-49 Saints victory in the Big Easy, but the Giants do believe they can score on a New Orleans defense not considered strong when healthy. The loss of Breaux will not be easy to overcome.
“I know going up against Breaux last year, it was definitely a challenge,’’ Beckham said. “I think he was an underrated player. It’s unfortunate he’s out right now and knowing they have some younger guys at corner, we have to look more into the film.’’
Beckham was kept out of the end zone last week but Cruz and Shepard made it in, upping the intensity of the drumbeat that this could be a three-ring passing circus. The key when facing such young and unknown players, Cruz said, is not assuming anything will come easily.
“Just be disciplined with our route running,’’ Cruz said. “Not getting too excited because obviously they have a lot of young guys playing this week.’’
Ben McAdoo called the Saints corner trio “scrappy, young players’’ and added, “We like our receivers and we feel that we match up very well there. Again, we need to respect them.’’
Respect works fine. Domination is what the Giants are aiming for, though.