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5 players to watch this weekend in New Orleans

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The Giants will look to extend their win streak to four games on Sunday when they travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints.

It's been over a month since the Giants last lost a game, thanks to the performances of numerous players on both sides of the ball.

While the Giants enter this game having on three straight games, the Saints come into the matchup having just snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating the Panthers, 28-6. Sunday's game will mark the Saints' third consecutive outing in New Orleans. Their remaining three games after this week are all against NFC teams that currently sit at 6-7 (Rams, Buccaneers, Falcons).

Here are five players to watch in the Week 15 matchup.

QB Tommy DeVito

Of course, we have to lead with the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Tommy DeVito put together his third consecutive strong outing as the starting quarterback, this time against a stingy Packers defense. The rookie completed 81 percent of his passes (17 of 21) for 158 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 113.9. He also added 10 rush attempts for 71 yards, which should have included a rushing touchdown had he not been accidentally taken down by a teammate on his 26-yard run in the third quarter.

Since the NFL began tracking starting quarterbacks in 1950, DeVito became the first starter in NFL history to complete at least 80% of his passes, rush for 70+ yards, commit no turnovers and take no sacks. He became just the second undrafted rookie in the common-draft era (since 1967) with an 80+ completion percentage (minimum 15 attempts) in a game, and also is the first Giants rookie quarterback to win three consecutive starts since Phil Simms back in 1979. As if all of that wasn't enough, he is also the first undrafted rookie quarterback with a 100+ passer rating in three straight starts since 1967.

"He's come along at each step," head coach Brian Daboll said about DeVito's development. "There are certain things the last three or four weeks that we've made a little bit of improvement on, but still got to go. The more he plays, the more he's going to see. As a young quarterback, you're going to see a lot. It's not always going to be perfect, but when people see him in here and working, he's really just done what we've asked him to do, and it's really important to him.

"He loves the game of football. I think when you deal with the guy, I don't think he makes it bigger than it is, either. It's football. Obviously, it's the highest level, and there's different things and coverages and he's going to get tested, and one week you could be up, one week you could be down. We'll try to stay as steady as we can with his development."

The Saints have the seventh-best passing defense in the NFL this season, due in part to their performance over the last few weeks. New Orleans limited Carolina rookie quarterback Bryce Young to just 137 passing yards last week on a mere 36.1 completion percentage. In their prior two games, the Saints allowed an average of 186.5 net passing yards to the Lions and Falcons. The Saints also have the third-most interceptions in the league with 14.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson

Wan'Dale Robinson put together what was easily his best game of the season against the Packers. The second-year wide receiver, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 11 last season, caught six passes for a season-high 79 yards and added two rush attempts for an additional 36 yards. His 115 total yards from scrimmage set a new career-best mark.

"We talked last week a little bit about Wan'Dale and still coming back from a tougher injury for a perimeter receiver and a player that uses his quickness and speed as his strength," Daboll said. "But he's steadily gotten better, I'd say physically, which improves your confidence. In the last few weeks, you can really see explosive quickness, he ran some really good routes again, was open quite a bit. Had the big play in the run, played with toughness, I'd say played competitively. For a smaller guy, too, he was mixing it up pretty good."

Robinson's 32-yard run help set up Saquon Barkley's first touchdown Monday. It was also the longest run by a Giants wide receiver since 2013 (Jerrell Jernigan had a 49-yard run). He also had the biggest play of the team's final drive, as his 32-yard reception on a second-and-one led to Randy Bullock's game-winning 37-yard field goal as time expired.

WR Isaiah Hodgins

Isaiah Hodgins has caught just three passes over the last two games, but he has made them count. Hodgins pulled in one pass against the Patriots in Week 12, which went for 12 yards and the team's only touchdown. The 25-year-old caught two passes against the Packers Monday, including an impressive eight-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone, a play in which both Hodgins and DeVito improvised.

"He saw Tommy scramble, he scrambled where he needed to scramble," DeVito said about the touchdown. "Something I talked about yesterday of continually trying to improve on, but he's a big body player that we've used down there, and he's made some good plays here the last couple weeks. Thought Tommy put the ball exactly where he needed to put it. Isaiah was right where he needed to be, has strong hands, reached out and plucked the ball with his hands, got his feet in, it was a good play.

"There is a lot of times in this league you are going to have to make huge plays down in the red zone because that's just the way it is. Defenses play route concepts really well, there is some where it's timed up and exactly the way you draw it up, but a lot of times it's who can make huge plays and keep plays extended, either with your legs as a quarterback or your eyes, the skill players being where they are supposed to be and Isaiah, he did that last year, too, down in the red zone. There's a number of plays that he executed that weren't exactly the way it was drawn up on the paper, but had a good feel for uncovering and being available for the quarterback."

Hodgins now has three touchdown catches on the season, one behind Saquon Barkley for the team-lead. Coincidence or not, the Giants have won all three games in which the third-year wideout has caught a touchdown this season.

View rare photos from the all-time series between the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints.

OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux

Kayvon Thibodeaux continued his breakout campaign Monday night. The second-year outside linebacker picked up a half-sack to go with eight total tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble, which Xavier McKinney recovered for the team's first turnover of the game. It marked the second consecutive game in which Thibodeaux forced a fumble.

"I've said this before, I've got a high amount of respect for Kayvon, glad we have him. He's made progress since the day he walked in this door. He's got good leadership traits about him, he's a talented player, he loves the game of football, he's a great teammate. I'm glad we have him. He's really made a lot of progress and he always strives for more. He's done a nice job for us."

Thibodeaux is now up to 11.5 sacks on the season, the ninth-most in the NFL. He has at least a half-sack in eight of the last 11 games, including each of the last three, and has already topped his rookie-season marks with three forced fumbles, 12 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hits.

"We've talked about it before, and I've thought about it even more. I said that the guy has no ceiling," defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said Thursday. "You remember me saying that before. The reason why he doesn't have a ceiling is because he doesn't allow himself to have a ceiling. He's in here working every day. He and (Outside Linebackers Coach) Drew (Wilkins) are in there watching tape from everything from A to Z because that's what he does. He's dropping in coverage, and they handle all that. So, I can't say enough about his work ethic, and he has that knack.

"To me, he's a finisher at the football, whether it's a sack, a strip sack, or the play you saw on Monday night when we had (Packers quarterback Jordan) Love held up and he dug the ball out. He's leading the defense. I mean, he's a vocal leader out there. Like I already said, it's crazy, because the guy is only 22 years old. He's becoming that football savant in the NFL where he sees things before they happen. He knows what's coming. That's a testament to, like I said, he and Drew Wilkins, and how hard they study the game. It's fun to watch."

The Saints have allowed 28 sacks this year, tied for the ninth-fewest in the league. After getting sacked 11 times in the first three weeks of the season, Saints quarterback Derek Carr has not been sacked more than twice in a game in the last 10 contests.

CB Deonte Banks

Deonte Banks put together one of the best performances of his rookie season against the Packers. The first-year cornerback recorded a game-high and personal-best 12 total tackles (nine solo), to go with one tackle for loss. He also had an incredible pass breakup on a deep pass in the end zone in which he was able to extend and get his hand on the ball to deflect it out of the receiver's grasp.

"Tae's been consistent for a rookie in a tough position," Daboll told reporters Tuesday. "He's done a really nice job all year. Again, another competitive, young player who loves the game of football. Give (General Manager) Joe (Schoen) and his staff a lot of credit for both of those guys for the work that they've put into the process of bringing them aboard, the right kind of people.

"He had 12 tackles, I think, yesterday, which we knew was going to be an area for us that we had to do a good job of, particularly how Green Bay liked to really stretch the field horizontally in the running game. They made a few plays on us, but we made a few plays, none bigger than the two-point play, but he's done a good job with really everything that we've asked him to do. He's got a really good personality for that position."

Banks is now up to 11 passes defensed heading into Week 15. This is tied for the 10th-most in the league and second-most among rookie cornerbacks (Seattle's Devon Witherspoon leads the rookie class with 16). Banks has faced off against some of the top receivers in the league this season, which might continue this weekend with the matchup against Saints wide receiver Chris Olave. The second-year receiver leads the team with 72 receptions for 918 yards and four touchdowns on a whopping 116 targets.

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