Giants preparing for raucous atmosphere inside Superdome
For their Week 4 game Sunday, the Giants venture to New Orleans and the raucus atmosphere of Caesars Superdome, where fans have not seen their team play since the pandemic broke out. Credit: Sports Illustrated/Getty Images/David E. Klutho
Just outside the Superdome in New Orleans is a statue of a blocked punt.
It serves as a memorial to the night in 2006 when Steve Gleason sprawled out and famously jammed the ball off the foot of punter Michael Koenen, leading to a touchdown for the Saints. More than that, the bronze work titled "Rebirth" serves as a testament to the spirit of the city, with that play coming in the first game the Saints played in the building after Hurricane Katrina.
On Sunday, it will serve as a warning to the Giants.
They are walking into a building that has not been this amped up for a regular-season game since Gleason’s iconic moment. It has been 637 days since the team played there in front of a full house, going back to the Jan. 5, 2020 wild-card game against the Vikings. Last season their home games were limited to just 3,000 fans due to Covid-19 restrictions. Then Hurricane Ida in August forced them to move their Week 1 "home" opener to Jacksonville where they beat the Packers.
That is what the Giants are walking into.
"We expect one of the greatest atmospheres we’ve ever been in," Joe Judge said. "For those of us who are kind of historians of the game, you look back on that Katrina game, the first game back in the dome, and I would expect this to be very, very similar. That town takes a lot of pride in New Orleans, a lot of pride in their team and the team takes a lot of pride in representing their city, so this is going to be a tough game for us."
Their primary goal is to win, of course. At 0-3 they are in desperate need of a victory to remain even marginally afloat in conversations about a division that seems to have already been lassoed by the Cowboys (who happen to also be next week’s Giants opponent). But there is another goal, too. It’s to not be embarrassed. Not be on the receiving end of another play or moment that will live in New Orleans lore and NFL memory for decades to come the way Gleason’s blocked punt was.
They need to avoid becoming a statue. A statue of their limitations.
Not that they are thinking about the potential for such ignominy.
"The Superdome is the Superdome," special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said. "It’s electric. It’s a great place, it’s great venue. And if you don’t get excited about going down there and playing in that environment in this situation, you’ve got issues."
The Giants will, of course, have issues. The volume will be chief among them. They have spent the majority of the week working with loud music blaring in their ears during their practices and trying to fine-tune the silent snap counts that they will need to employ with another incarnation of their offensive line.
"We’re going with a head bob right now," left tackle Andrew Thomas said of the signal that center Billy Price will use to tell those on the periphery of the play that the ball is in motion. "We did a lot silent (counts) against Washington because it was pretty loud. I didn’t think it was going to be. But this week’s a challenge and you have to be prepared for it."
Many of the players rattled off all of the places they have played throughout their careers – mostly in college – where noise was a factor. Death Valley. Auburn. Some have been to the Superdome for bowl games. Price said the loudest he ever heard a crowd was at Penn State when he was the center for Ohio State.
"You couldn’t hear someone right next to you," he said.
The Superdome on Sunday may be even louder.
The Giants have been talking about "blocking out the noise" almost all season in reference to the negativity and criticisms that have accompanied their winless campaign. On Sunday, they’ll have to do it against the 73,000 or so fans who’ll be on hand to cheer for the Saints and to make their afternoon miserable.
"Obviously, it's been a while," Saints coach Sean Payton said of having a full capacity of fans back. "It's significant, especially when you have a venue like ours, which a lot of people – including us – feel like is one of the harder places to play. When that is just all equal around the league (last year), the teams that have the better home-field advantage lose out a little bit more."
That’s no longer the case in New Orleans.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
