It was not a shootout that unfolded Sunday on a picture-perfect afternoon, with Drew Brees and the not-especially high-flying Saints in the building. A game was there for the taking, especially with the way the Giants defense was swarming.
The Giants could not take it. Eli Manning could not take it. As a result, the Giants flirtation with winning ended and their losing ways returned.
A touchdown midway through the first quarter sent the Giants off to a flying start and put a rise into the crowd at MetLife Stadium, but a strangely laconic and sluggish outing with the ball in their possession did the Giants in.