EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ There's still no telling where this season will go. It's only two games old and so much can happen in the coming months to dislodge the giddy optimism that is suddenly embracing the Giants. But right now, after the latest of those two victories, no matter what takes place, at least the team can put its recent and horrific past to eternal rest.
Sunday's 16-13 win over the Saints at MetLife Stadium kicked the final mound of dirt on the 2015 season, burying it to damnation without marker or pause for final reflection. Last week's win over the Cowboys began that process, but this one allowed the Giants to start a new era by avenging not just one but the two most baffling losses of last year.
Sure, there were other disappointing efforts last season. Late-game collapses, poor decision-making, abysmal execution. And oh, the injuries. But in the sea of sorrow that was the 2015 season, the last-second losses to the Cowboys and Saints stood above all others for endings that would have been comical if they weren't so confounding.
Now they are free.
That's not to say this was an entirely feel-good moment for the Giants, who won without an offensive touchdown. Consider that they were booed by the frustrated home crowd as they scored what were at the time go-ahead points in the fourth quarter, settling for a field goal after failing to reach the end zone on first-and-goal at the 1.
There was, however, a sigh of relief when Victor Cruz caught a 34-yard pass to get to the Saints' 2 with 1:29 remaining and Josh Brown kicked a 23-yard field goal with no time left to win it.
Ben McAdoo became just the second coach in Giants history to begin his tenure with the team with two wins and the Giants started 2-0 for the first time since 2009.
After a game pockmarked with missed opportunities, the Giants drove to first-and-goal at the Saints' 1 midway through the fourth quarter with the score tied at 10. Two runs by Shane Vereen went for no gain and a pass from Eli Manning was batted down by Cameron Jordan, leaving them with a 19-yard field goal by Brown to take a 13-10 lead. The Saints tied it at 13 on a 45-yard field goal with 2:54 left.
The Giants controlled the first half with a stunningly stingy defense, but flip-flopping last year's 52-49 loss to the Saints it was the offense that seemed unable to function. They turned the ball over after a dropped pass in the end zone to Larry Donnell on third-and-goal from the 3 and then a pass for Odell Beckham Jr. that was broken up on fourth-and-goal. Shane Vereen fumbled the ball in Saints territory early in the second quarter and then Cruz caught a pass for 40 yards but fumbled it away as well on the Saints' 16. Manning was sacked and fumbled, giving the Saints the ball at the Giants' 25.
It appeared the Saints were about to take an improbable lead in the second quarter on a 38-yard field-goal attempt but Johnathan Hankins blocked it with a rush up the middle and Janoris Jenkins scooped it for a 65-yard return and a touchdown for a 7-0 lead. The Saints responded with a drive for a 39-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to make it 7-3.
The Giants suffered another failed opportunity to score when they opened the third quarter with a 53-yard field-goal attempt that Brown pulled wide left.
Even the Giants' first offensive points of the game came in dilapidated fashion. Manning hit Sterling Shepard on a 32-yard pass to get to the Saints' 20, but a pair of holding penalties pushed them back 20 yards and they had to settle for a 48-yard field goal and a 10-3 lead late in the third.
The missed opportunities became even more upsetting when Drew Brees hit Willie Snead on an 18-yard touchdown to tie the score at 10 with 13:45 left in the fourth.
