NEW ORLEANS — It began with a vicious sack for an 8-yard loss by Saints linebacker Demario Davis on the Giants’ second possession.
Then, on the second play of the second quarter, it got as spicy as a proper New Orleans jambalaya when Saints defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon sacked Giants rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito for another 8-yard loss and proceeded to celebrate with mocking version of the Italian hand-pursing gesture DeVito unleashes when he throws a TD pass.
“The Paisan?’’ Kpassagnon called it with a smile after the Saints pounded DeVito and the Giants like one of those thinly pounded chicken cutlets DeVito loves, 24-6 at the Superdome. “I can’t take credit for it. I’ll give it to our rookie [Bryan Bresee]. He kind of came up with it. He definitely had the idea of putting the Italian fingers up.
“I’m from Philly. We’ve got a whole bunch of Italians out there, so I’m used to Italian. I got a lot of texts. I’ve got a lot of people back home watching, so, yeah.”
Yeah, it was that kind of day for DeVito, who’s become a New York football sensation for his terrific local-boy-makes-good story, going from third string and on the team’s practice squad to leading the Giants on a three-game winning streak entering Sunday.
DeVito, who completed 20 of 34 passes for 177 yards and didn’t turn the ball over, was sacked seven times for 45 yards in losses.
Bresee, the man who coined “The Paisan,’’ got into the fray in the second quarter, taking down DeVito for a 10-yard loss on third-and-10 to kill a Giants series. And he, too, gleefully danced around showing off his mock DeVito hand gestures.
“I’ve got some Italian blood in me, so I have to throw it up,’’ Bresee said after the game. “It was funny.”
DeVito, who found nothing funny about this day, said after the game he hadn’t even noticed the Saints players doing it, but that was because he was too busy peeling himself off the Superdome carpet.
“You see it in all sports when someone does something and something else happens, they’re just going to retaliate,’’ DeVito said. “But it’s just all fun and games, part of the game.’’
Running back Saquon Barkley said he didn’t see the Saints defenders doing the “Paisan,’’ but, like DeVito, he had no problem with it.
“It comes with it,’’ Barkley said. “When it’s going good and you do some stuff like that, you’ve got to expect for a team to do that when they got your number.’’
DeVito was hard on himself for not bringing enough punch to his flat offense.
“I don’t think we played with enough swagger, and I put that on me, because I take that personally as far as playing with energy and playing with juice,’’ he said. “I need to keep the energy high.’’
It’s difficult to do that when you’re 2 of 16 on third-down conversions.
The task for DeVito has become more challenging, because there’s film out there on him now. Film that shows his tendencies. And, a week after killing the Packers’ defense with 71 rushing yards, the Saints did a masterful job of hemming him in the pocket, smothering him and not allowing him to hurt them with his legs.
“Their D-line I guess was watching from what happened last week and ensuring that wasn’t going to happen again,’’ DeVito said.
Now he needs to counter in this chess game next week in Philadelphia.
“The NFL’s not easy,’’ DeVito said. “It’s not for everybody. But it’s part of the job description to go out there and play against whatever they have.’’
The best news DeVito got all day — even though it hardly counts as breaking news — is that head coach Brian Daboll said he plans to stick with him as his starter.
“He believes in me and I’m going to continue to try to earn his trust each play that I’m on the field,’’ DeVito said.
Asked to describe his performance in a word, DeVito said, “Average.’’
He said two missed throws will keep him up at night — a long pass toward Darius Slayton on the first play from scrimmage and a fourth-quarter pass to Darren Waller near the sideline that was overthrown with his tight end wide open.
“Two throws I want back for sure,’’ DeVito said. “The routine throw that I make to Waller 10 times out of 10 cannot happen, so I’m going to be beating myself up for sure about that one. I just need to be that spark for the offense.’’
DeVito had been just that for the previous three games.
Sunday was a step back.
Next week in Philadelphia against an Eagles team that routinely devours the Giants for lunch and dinner, the degree of difficulty rises significantly higher than it was on Sunday in the Big Easy, where nothing was easy for Tommy Cutlets.
