NEW ORLEANS — As he thought about what went wrong — there was so much to choose from on both sides of the ball — Tommy DeVito admitted this one was different because what he thrives on was nowhere to be felt or seen.
“I don’t think we played with enough swagger, and I put that on me, because I take that personally as far as playing with energy and playing with juice,’’ DeVito said after a Sunday outing to forget.
Let someone who has been around a bit longer than the undrafted rookie quarterback get to the heart of the matter.
“You can’t get your swag when there’s nothing you can do,’’ Saquon Barkley said. “You’re losing.’’
Yes, the Giants were losing and yes, there was nothing they could do about it.
They hung around for a half and then were blown away by the Saints in a desultory final 30 minutes that added up to a 24-6 loss inside the Caesars Superdome.
Just like that, the three-game winning streak that provided a temporary respite from their dismal season and the delightful DeVito tale all came crashing down.
This realistically ends the faint postseason ideas the Giants carried into mid-December, which was quite a feat, considering they were 2-8 after 10 games and flirting with a top-two pick in the draft.
At 5-9, they are now out of contention and they allowed the Saints (7-7) to stay in front of them, with a pathway into the postseason only possible from a mathematical standpoint.
Sitting at No. 12 in the NFC means the Giants will have gone their separate ways when the playoffs come rolling in.
Still left for them: The Giants face the Eagles on Christmas Day in Philadelphia, the first of two meetings with the Eagles in the final three games. Gulp.
“This probably knocks us out of the playoffs,’’ guard Justin Pugh said. “We were down early in the season and got to find a way to fight, find a way to go out there and play a Philadelphia team that’s damn good next week. We’ve got to look at this film and correct things. If we don’t, it’s going to be the same f–king result.’’
The good vibes DeVito created with his steady play and colorful family and his embracing of the Tommy Cutlets persona did not make it down to the Big Easy.
He was knocked around, sacked seven times, the slippage caused by leaky protection from the offensive line and the return of DeVito’s uncertainty in the pocket.
Several of the sacks were punctuated by Saints defenders celebrating by mimicking the DeVito Italian hand gesture that he and his teammates unveiled during the winning streak, with defensive linemen Tanoh Kpassagnon (three sacks) and Bryan Bresee (two sacks) having the most fun.
“You see it in all sports, when someone does something and something else happens, they’re just going to retaliate,’’ DeVito said.
“You know, it comes with it,’’ Barkley said. “When it’s going good and you do some stuff like that you got to expect for a team to do that when they got your number.’’
Oh, the Saints had the Giants’ number.
Barkley could not get any traction, gaining only 14 yards on his nine rushing attempts.
DeVito did not turn the ball over as he completed 20 of 34 passes for 177 yards, but really did not get his team in the vicinity of the end zone.
The Giants did not venture inside the Saints’ 20-yard line all game.
The most fight the Giants showed on offense came in the second quarter after Isaac Yiadom, a former Giants cornerback, hit a late-sliding DeVito at the end of a 6-yard scramble, with DeVito’s head hitting the turf. No penalty was called and, as DeVito was laid out, his teammates started a ruckus on the field, defending their quarterback.
“We went down there to protect him but we didn’t do a good job of protecting him in the pocket so that’s on us from the start of the day,’’ Pugh said. “We got him rattled and that’s on me personally, I take full responsibility for that.’’
DeVito had to come out of the game to get checked out and Tyrod Taylor took over at quarterback.
He completed two passes for 13 yards, and, with kicker Randy Bullock lost in the first quarter to a hamstring injury, punter Jamie Gillan was called on and hit a 40-yard field goal — his second field-goal try in his NFL career.
The Giants were within 7-6 at halftime.
It was 17-0 Saints after that, with Derek Carr throwing two of his three touchdown passes on a Giants defense that looked out of sorts.
“I’d say collectively, just not good enough,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “You can pretty much take any area.’’
The Giants have three games left and not much tangible to play for.
“It’s tough,’’ said tight end Darren Waller, who returned after missing the past five games with a strained hamstring. “You got to earn the right to get where you want to go. It’s tough to swallow, there’s no doubt about it, guys just got to stick together, there’s still games to be played, still moments where we can put our best on display.’’
It was not on display on Sunday.
