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They all sound so relieved to be moving on to Drew Brees after having spent a Monday night in Maryland chasing what might as well have been a ghost, as untouchable as Robert Griffin III was as he danced in, out and around the Giants defense.
Ordinarily, preparing for Brees and the high-octane Saints’ passing attack has a defense wringing its hands, but not this time. At least the Giants know where Brees and the football will be as they try to stop him.
“The Redskins got a great scheme going on there, especially with their quarterback they got, and just playing that option, man, is crazy,’’ Jason Pierre-Paul said yesterday. “I think we’re one of the best teams that have played it, played it well, but it’s a pain in the [butt]. I hate playing it.
“So now going up to like a traditional offense, we know what we’re going to probably get, and it’s much easier. Having an option quarterback, coming from college, and the kid’s fast, man. It should be much easier this weekend.’’
Rarely are “easier’’ and “Drew Brees’’ linked together. To even insinuate that facing Brees is a comedown is bordering on blasphemy. No other quarterback has picked apart the Giants as lethally as Brees. In four starts against the Giants, Brees is 4-0 with 11 touchdown passes and not a single interception. He’s completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,055 yards and he’s piled on points as if he had some sort of personal vendetta to settle.
Brees beat the Giants 45-23 in 2005, when he was with the Chargers, an appetizer of what was to come. With the Saints, in 2006 Brees won at Giants Stadium 30-7 and, on the fast carpet inside the Superdome in New Orleans, he shredded the Giants 48-27 in 2009 and 49-24 in 2011.
And yet, for all the carnage he has wrought, the Giants while respecting Brees aren’t dizzy just thinking about him the way RG3 made their heads spin.
“We’re back to regular football this week,’’ defensive tackle Linval Joseph said.
No more read options where the Giants tackle Redskins running back Alfred Morris even though he doesn’t have the ball and Griffin scoots around the corner for a huge gain. Dealing with the Saints’ high-powered attack is about as challenging as it gets, but at least it’s something the Giants are familiar with doing.
The mighty have fallen, though. Brees has 31 touchdown passes, but also 16 interceptions this season, highly unusual for such an accurate passer. The Saints after an 0-4 start plowed back into semi-contention by winning five of their next six games, but losses to the 49ers and Falcons have left them at 5-7 and very much on the outside looking in at the NFC postseason chase.
It might not matter, though, if the Giants play the way Pierre-Paul sees the defense operating. “I think we’re a little soft,’’ he said.
Asked what he meant by “soft,’’ Pierre-Paul said, “We haven’t played our best game this year. As a defense we have to make a statement, you know what I’m saying? We’ve just been losing. And we’re all not playing together. When you’re a team, on an organization like this, you’ve got to play together as one, otherwise, you’ll keep going downhill.’’
Antrel Rolle didn’t say his team was soft, but when informed JPP did, Rolle didn’t argue.
“I don’t think we have played dominant on a consistent basis,’’ he said.
Rolle has pleaded with the Giants to get nastier, to save the hugs and kisses for after the game, starting with this game.
“This is football … we are not building computers,’’ Rolle said. “We are not businessmen. We are out there to play a very physical sport, to play ball and having that dog mentality and having a nasty attitude to go along with, while you are out there on the field, I think it suits us right.
“This game is just as much mental as it is physical. You got to give yourself an edge. You can’t go in there praising this team, praising this team. You know you’re already somewhat defeated yourself at that point.’’
paul.schwartz@nypost.com