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The New York Giants collected their third loss of the 2018 seasonOrleans Saints. It seemed as though the Giants had turned a corner against the Houston Texans and were moving in the direction of competing with the rest of the NFL. Instead Youth Patrick Omameh Jersey , the game had a sickeningly familiar feel to it, with the offense seeming like an ineffective exercise in futility. In many ways, this game reminded of the Giants’ week two loss to the Dallas Cowboys, particularly on offense. But how similar was it, really? Let’s take a closer look at the stats from the game and see what they have to say.OffenseQuarterbackAt first blush, Eli Manning had an efficient day against a poor Saints defense. He completed 31 of 41 attempts, good for a completion rate of 75.6 percent, for 255 yards and a touchdown. This marks the third time this season he has completed at least three quarters of his passes and thrown a touchdown pass.However, a closer look at the stats reveal that the Giants were playing “keep away” with their passing game, rather than actively trying to attack a defense which had given up just over 34 points per game and the most passing yards in the NFL through the first three weeks. Per Next Gen Stats, Manning was tied for the third fewest intended air yards among quarterbacks Sunday, with averaging just 6.1 yards through the air. His average completion was the shortest in the NFL, at just 3.6 yards per completion. Finally, Manning also threw the ball the second furthest from the first-down marker, averaging 2.9 yards behind the sticks. “Short,” “quick,” and “safe” are the words to describe the Giants’ passing game against the Saints, but like with a similar game plan against the Dallas Cowboys, “ineffective” comes to mind. An offense featuring Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr., and Saquon Barkley simply is not built to play it safe and chip away at a defense. Offensive lineAll told, the Giants played 62 snaps on offense, and the entire offensive line of Nate Solder, Will Hernandez, John Greco, Patrick Omameh, and Chad Wheeler played all of them. It might be assumed based on Manning’s passing stats that they failed in protecting him. While saying that they ‘failed’ to protect him is a bit strong, Manning was sacked three times and each of the Saints’ top rushers came closer than league average to Manning on their average rush. However, he did have time to throw, averaging 2.66 seconds from snap to throw, which was only about two hundredths of a second less than league average. Skill positions The Giants didn’t run the ball much as the game slipped away. But even so, Barkley (54 snaps, 87 percent) only had two carries further than five yards. Given what we have seen of Barkley’s ability to pick up extra yards with a quick cut or powering through an arm tackle Aldrick Rosas Jersey , the line did not block for many of the rookie’s yards. Considering he only saw an eight (or more) man box on just 20 percent of his runs — per Next Gen Stats — that does not reflect well on the line. Barkley did rate as the NFL’s fourth-fastest ball carrier, topping 20 miles an hour on his breakaway run.He was once again successful as a receiver, catching six of eight targets for 56 yards.Odell Beckham played 59 of 62 snaps, catching 7 of 11 targets for 60 yards. As indicated by Manning’s average of 3.6 yards per completion, Beckham caught most of his passes short, and did what he could against a defense which was allowed to play downhill all game. Sterling Shepard, who also played 59 of 62 snaps was the Giants’ leading receiver, catching each of his 10 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Giants spent almost all of the game in their 11-personnel set, with TE Rhett Ellison playing 54 of 62 snaps, and WR Russell Shepard playing 51 of 62 snaps. The Giants receivers were getting open, per Next Gen Stats, with four of the Giants’ top five receivers getting much more than league-average separation. Manning just wasn’t finding them down the field. After that primary personnel set, TE Scott Simonson got the most snaps at 14 of 62. The Giants clearly came in with the plan to spread the Saints out. DefenseFront SevenOnce again, true defensive linemen Damon Harrison and Dalvin Tomlinson lead the way in the snap count, getting 37 of the defense’s 70 snaps. Per Next Gen Stats, Tomlinson was the Giants’ best pass rusher, and the only one to come closer than league-average on his average rush.Rookie defensive tackle B.J. Hill saw an uptick in his snap count, from 14 to 24 snaps, after an effective day against the Houston Texans.EDGE players Kareem Martin and Connor Barwin played the most snaps, between outside linebacker and defensive end. Martin played 56 of 70 snaps, while Barwin played 45 snaps, coming up with three tackles and a pass defensed. Both players were among the Giants’ top pass rushers, but both were only about league average in terms of their average distance to the quarterback.Linebackers Alec Ogletree and Ray-Ray Armstrong played the most snaps among the front seven, with Ogletree playing all of the defense’s 70 snaps, notching 12 total tackles. Meanwhile Armstrong played 57 snaps, and came up with 7 tackles. SecondaryEach member of the Giants’ starting secondary played all of the defensive snaps, with Janoris Jenkins, B.W. Webb, Landon Collins, and Curtis Riley each playing 70 snaps. The Giants’ secondary played well overall, limiting Drew Brees to just 18 of 32 for 215 yards and no touchdowns. That is impressive work for the defense, considering Brees had been on a historic run to start the game, completing well over 80 percent of his passes and dissecting every defense he saw.Nickel corner Donte Deayon was the final member of the secondary to see a major share of the snaps Authentic Rhett Ellison Jersey , with 53 of 70.The Giants were largely suffocating in coverage, with four of the Saints top five receivers averaging about half a yard less separation than league average. Particularly impressive was the work of Jenkins on wide receiver Micheal Thomas. Thomas had been having an excellent season to date, and Jenkins held him to just four catches for 47 yards. He only allowed Thomas, who is quickly becoming one of the NFL’s best receivers, an average just 2.38 yards of separation — four tenths of a yard less than the average NFL receiver.Final thoughtsThe stats suggest that the Giants should have won against the Saints. Instead they lost in an ugly landslide. The Saints were showing looks which should have allowed the Giants to run the ball — yet they didn’t. The Giants’ receivers were getting wide open, yet the passing game made no effort to look down the field. The defense played far better than the lopsided 15-point loss would have suggested, and if a team holds a quarterback the caliber of Drew Brees to the day he had, they should expect to win. The problem was with the Giants’ offense and an ineffective game plan. The question going forward is whether the Giants coaching staff will open up the offense as they did against Houston, or continue to play the ineffective horizontal scheme which lost against Dallas and now New New Orleans.Odell Beckham contract carries responsibilities with it One of the big reasons the New York Giants felt comfortable entering into negotiations that ended up making Odell Beckham Jr. the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history is that they were impressed by how Beckham handled the last few months. It made them believe that at age 25 and coming off the first serious injury of his life, that Beckham had finally found the maturity the Giants have been looking for him to display.“I think Odell personally is moving in the right direction,” co-owner John Mara said at the beginning training camp when he acknowledged that contract negotiations would be coming. “It certainly had an effect on our desire to start negotiating. So, he’s had the right attitude all along and we expect him to have a great season.”Now that Beckham has that mega-deal, one that puts him 10th in the NFL in terms of guaranteed money at $65 million, second among non-quarterback to Von Miller ($70 million) and just behind Eli Manning ($67 million) Beckham has responsibilities beyond being a great player.Beckham is the face of the Giants franchise. That used to be Manning, but in reality it’s been Beckham for a while. One day, that mantel will pass to Saquon Barkley. The historic commitment the Giants just made to one of the two most talented players to ever wear a Giants uniform — the other, of course, being Lawrence Taylor — places that responsibility officially on Beckham.And it is a responsibility.Mara said Tuesday that it was “important” for the Giants to see how well Beckham handled the last few months.“I think he’s matured quite a bit. I think that stuff [off the field distractions] hopefully is in the past,” Mara said. “I think he’s ready to go on and be the type of player and citizen that we expect him to be, and I think he will be.” The numbers show just how historically good Beckham has been, especially of course in his first three seasons. In those first three seasons, Beckham netted more than 1,300 receiving yards, 10+ touchdowns and 90+ receptions each year.His records include:Most receptions through the first 15 games of an NFL career (110)Fastest player to reach 100 career receptions (14 games)Youngest player in NFL history (22 years, 53 days) with multiple games having 10+ catches in a single season (4)First player since 1967 with 30 receiving touchdowns in his first 35 gamesOnly receiver with 3,000 receiving yards or more in his first 30 games (3,035)Only player in NFL history to reach 200 catches in 30 or less gamesSecond-most touchdowns by a wide receiver in his first two NFL seasons (since 1992)Second-most 60+ yard touchdowns (9) by a wide receiver in a three-year spanBeckham also holds Giants franchise records for most receptions (91) by a rookie, most rookie receiving yards (1,305) and touchdown catches (12) by a rookie and is already 10th on franchise’s all-time receptions list.He is a great player. He’s lightning, a guy turns the ordinary into the extraordinary in the blink of an eye.What Beckham needs to do now is keep the focus on those extraordinary talents. He needs to show that the last few months were a real sign of a maturing person and not just an orchestrated effort to be on his best behavior so that he would get paid.There can’t be any more boat trips. No more peeing in the end zone celebrations that embarrass the head coach, especially one like Pat Shurmur who has gone way above and beyond in an effort to forge a bond with Beckham. There can’t be any more on-field meltdowns that lead to suspensions.There has to be a Beckham who focuses solely on displaying those extraordinary gifts he has on the field. A Beckham who leads his teammates, teammates who love him and want him to lead them. A Beckham who represents the Giants, an iconic NFL franchise Youth Kerry Wynn Jersey , the way such a franchise deserves to be represented.A Beckham who’s purpose is to help the Giants win football games, to win titls, and who doesn’t find ways to draw attention to himself for things that have nothing to do with how wonderfully gifted he is.Beckham’s legacyBeckham know what he wants his legacy to be.“This [contract] is kind of just something that you get out of the way,” Beckham said of the five-year contract extension he signed yesterday. “Honestly, it sounds crazy enough, but I don’t think I’ve done anything really since I’ve been here. I have goals for myself. I don’t think I have truly been able to achieve them, even with the success that I’ve had. It’s not really where I want to be. Like I said, before I was even in the NFL I wanted to be legendary. Yeah the money is great, you can take care of your family, you can take care of kids one day that you’ll possibly have. But my goal was always to be in the Hall of Fame, to win trophies, to be able to leave a legacy that will be remembered way past any money that you make.”Some things will have to be different if he is to be remembered the way he wants to be.Beckham was asked directly if he felt he had matured. His answer?“Do you see this polo? I’m growing up,” he said. “Honestly, it just was something that, I won’t say proud of anything that’s ever happened, but I’m able to take everything that’s happened for me and make myself into a man and learn from those mistakes and be able to look myself in the mirror and have to deal with those things. It wasn’t the best thing to happen to me to date, but what I got to learn and take and grow from, was everything that I needed in my life and now I’m able to take that and keep going forward and just be the best me that I can be.”Does he feel added responsibility because of the money?“I don’t know if it puts any extra that I haven’t already put on myself. Coming in early in training camp, being able to be here and knowing where I’m at in life, and knowing that I do need to be a leader, and there are guys that are watching me and I need to be there on days that I need to be bringing energy somewhere else,” Beckham said. “I don’t know if it’s any extra responsibility that I didn’t already put on myself going into this year, year five, being a vet. I couldn’t say it was any extra, but I know that my goals are if not the same, higher. I just want to be able to be my very, very best.”Beckham’s “very, very best,” on and off the field is what the Giants are paying for. Right now, there is lots of optimism that they will get it.