What to look out for in today's matchup between the Giants and Saints

Zvada looking ahead, not back on missed kicks

Dominic Zvada is facing another first as a rookie kicker: how to deal with your first missed kicks as a pro.

He was 9-for-9 on field-goal attempts entering last Sunday’s tie with the Commanders but missed three attempts in the rain at Northwest Stadium. He also tied a team record for longest field goal made by a rookie with a 56-yarder.

John Harbaugh said the issues stemmed from Zvada’s plant foot, his non-kicking foot. For Zvada, who leads the league with seven field-goal attempts of at least 50 yards, the goal is not letting the misses bleed into another game.

“You just make everything very simple,” Zvada told Newsday. “Sometimes as specialists, we’re like golfers to where we try to sometimes overcomplicate things, and I think that’s where people do get that snowball effect. Where they have one bad game and they’re like, I gotta fix this, I gotta fix that. And in reality, you should just do the opposite. Where you should just keep things simple, the way that they were.”

The Giants have full confidence in Zvada. Harbaugh said special teams coordinator Chris Horton took a hands-on approach to keep the kicker's spirits high. Horton said Zvada will be ready to make up for his misses when called upon.

“That's one of the things, I think, when you believe in your players,” Horton said. “You remind them that they're here for a reason and you trust in them. You’ve just got to remind them of those things.”

Winston faces his old team

Jameis Winston spent four seasons with the Saints, mostly as a backup quarterback. He started 10 games and went 6-4, including 5-2 in 2021. Sunday will be his first game as a starter against them since 2024, when he was with the Browns.

Winston has fond memories of his time there and praised a slew of teammates this week by name, including Alvin Kamara and Cam Jordan, but the joy of seeing them won’t supersede the business of trying to go 3-0 at home as the Giants’ starting quarterback.

“Love that organization,” Winston said. “Man, my heart and soul is with “Who Dat,” but I'm grateful to be a New York Football Giant. And the New York Football Giants have given me a privilege to be their starting quarterback. And I'm going to honor that and do my very best at that.”

Giants' willingness to adjust paying off

The Giants intended to be a run-first offense this season, but that plan hasn’t materialized. Instead, they’ve found success lately by trusting Winston's arm.

It’s a credit to the passing game’s improvement. It’s also the coaching staff wisely realizing that they have to deviate from what they want to be to what’s working.

“It's just something that if you do it the right way, it can become easy,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said of the adjustments. “But you got to be able to be flexible with the players, with your scheme, with the coaches. You can't be stubborn.”

The Giants adjusted last Sunday by increasing the tempo with a no-huddle offense. It led to 331 yards after halftime.

Against the Saints, it won’t be a surprise if the Giants switch plans to spark the offense. Nagy said he’s embracing how fluid the offense’s identity can be as long as it’s effective.

“The biggest thing is make sure that we keep these defenses unbalanced,” he said. “We're not predictable. I want to stay away from being predictable.”

Thomas pushing on despite injuries

Left tackle Andrew Thomas has played through a groin injury the last few games, but there’s been no drop-off in his play.

According to Pro Football Focus, he has yet to allow a sack this season. Despite being injured in the fourth quarter of the Week 2 loss to the Rams, Thomas has not missed a snap this season despite appearing to be in pain at times.

The Giants practiced maintenance with Thomas by holding him out of Wednesday's and Thursday’s practices the last two weeks.  Thomas has continued to play at a high level despite not being 100%. 

“It may be laboring for him, but still the result is better than almost every player in the league at that position,” Harbaugh said.

Left guard Jon Runyan Jr. has noticed Thomas struggling but also how hard he has worked to get through it. Thomas has missed only two games since Week 3 of last season, when he returned from surgery on his right foot.

Since then, he’s been as important a Giants player on offense as anyone. He also has inspired his teammates to not just push on but raise their level of play.

“He's definitely the lead-by-example guy of our entire, I could say, entire offense, but definitely the offensive line,” Runyan said. “And he's definitely the glue that holds us all together.”