Apparently Jason Pierre-Paul was right: His Giants really did have an easy time dealing with New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees. Easy as in child’s play.
Brees had spent his entire career torching the Giants, giving them nightmares of No. 9 jerseys and fleur-de-lis helmets. But after Robert Griffin III and the Redskins’ option vexed the Giants last week, Brees and the Saints were sloppy and turnover-prone in a 52-27 Big Blue rout before 81,437 at MetLife Stadium.
A week after throwing five interceptions against the Falcons — and two weeks removed from a pair of pick-sixes against the 49ers — Brees threw two more last night, Stevie Brown snatching two passes intended for tight end Jimmy Graham.
“It’s really tough,’’ said Brees, who saw a Saints team that had been an NFL-best 41-13 the prior three years fall to 5-8. “We’ve established a standard. We were used to winning. We still are. That’s why this hurts. It’s painful.’’
New Orleans committed four turnovers, with Jonathan Vilma acknowledging the Saints just weren’t good enough. And interim coach Joe Vitt admitted his team — all but eliminated from playoff contention — were in a fragile state after a loss he called an “embarrassment” and a “pounding.”
“That was an embarrassment what took place on the football field,” Vitt said. “It starts with me and that’s where the blame should go.
“When you’re losing the way we’re losing, you’re a fragile football team.’’
Brees had thrown 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in winning four games against the Giants, including eight scores and a 143.8 rating in drilling them 48-27 in 2009 and 49-24 last season. But bereft of suspended coach Sean Peyton, Brees is struggling and tied for the NFL lead with 18 interceptions.
On the first play after halftime, with the Saints trailing 21-13, Antrel Rolle broke up a pass intended for Graham and Brown picked it off. David Wilson scored just four plays later. And with New Orleans down 42-27 in the fourth quarter and driving in the red zone, Brown read a seam route and picked off another Brees pass, running it back 70 yards. A Giants field goal pushed the lead to 18 and the rest was garbage time.
“We’ve been behind in some of these games, so you’re taking chances you might not ordinarily take,’’ Brees said of his picks. “But some of them have been poor throws, just bad location, could have thrown a little better. A few have been bad decisions; we want to get rid of those. There are others that have been bad luck. Those are the unfortunate ones, but it still falls on you as the quarterback.’’
Said Vilma: “We were on the giving end of that last year, and now we’re on the receiving end of it. It’s tough. It just shows how fragile this league is … We’re accustomed to finding ways to win and this year we’re not. To be perfectly honest, we’re just not good enough this year.’’