EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – After watching videotapes of the game against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan kicked himself a little.

The defense played poorly as a whole and vaunted line led by Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora barely touched Brees in the 48-27 loss. They didn’t sack him and they hit him only three times.

Brees could have taken publicity shots after the game, his uniform was so immaculate.

“In hindsight, if I have to do it all over again, we’d pressure much more, more frequently, send more guys than they could block,” Sheridan said Thursday after New York (5-1) practiced for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals (3-2). “That was their plan to max (protect) it up and throw the ball.”

The Saints (5-1) did it to perfection and the Giants never adjusted.

The Saints went back to pass 33 times in the game – 30 throws, one scramble and two penalties – and the Giants countered with only 11 blitzes.

Sheridan credited the Saints with having a great game plan. They moved the pocket, used an extra offensive tackle at times and ran passing plays out the formations that they had previously used for the run.

Sheridan expects more of the same from the Cardinals and Kurt Warner on Sunday, even though Arizona uses more four-receiver formations that the Saints.

The one thing that will change is the Giants will come with the blitz, Sheridan said.

“We want to get (Warner) as uncomfortable as possible,” linebacker Danny Clark said. “So we needed to practice with faster tempo. That started today.”

Expect the Giants to also play Tuck, Umenyiora and fellow defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka together more. The Giants have rotated the trio on most series to keep everyone fresh.

This week, don’t be surprised to see Tuck and Kiwanuka playing at the tackle every now and then.

“We consider ourselves a world-class organization and we are going to get the problems corrected,” Kiwanuka said. “Did they expose some things? Yeah. Were there problems out there? Absolutely. But it’s our job to get them corrected, and we’re positive we’re going to get those corrections made. We will get it done.”

Sheridan said his unit has been upbeat this week after giving up nearly 500 yards in total offense.

“You just got you (butt) whupped,” Tuck said. “You definitely want to come out and do something about it. I would worry if we came out like it was another day. This locker room is filled with winners and when we don’t win, we try to figure out why we didn’t and do something about it.”

Umenyiora insisted the Giants just weren’t good enough last week. He said the guys on defense are a little angry and are preparing much better for this week.

“It’s not the first time we’ve been beaten like that,” Umenyiora said. “We’ve been beaten like that plenty of times since I’ve been here and this is my seventh year. We always find a way to rebound and come back strong from losses like that. I don’t expect this week to be any different.”

The Giants’ concern this week is Warner and a receiving corps that includes Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.

Tuck studied tapes of the Giants’ 37-29 win over the Cardinals last year and started “licking his chops,” thinking this would be a game where he would get a few sacks. He then looked at films of Warner from this season.

“You see he’s getting the ball out in an average of 2.2 seconds, which is a drastic change,” Tuck said. “This year he’s really changed it up and he’s getting the ball out quick, which is going to make it difficult for us.”

Defenders say they need about 3 seconds to get to a quarterback for a sack. Hence, the need for more pressure.

In Arizona’s three wins this season, Warner has been sacked three times. In the Cardinals’ two losses, he’s been sacked seven times.

“When you blitz the ball is getting tipped, there are hits on the quarterback and it creates turnovers,” cornerback Terrell Thomas said. “So hopefully, it works to our advantage.”

Thomas also pointed out, the problem against the Saints was that the defense just did not make plays.

“We pride ourselves on being a great defensive line that can pass rush,” Kiwanuka said. “We want to be in a situations where we can just line up and say ‘You four go against these five or six.’ That’s situation we want to be in. We don’t want our defense to have to blitz to get pressure. We want to get it ourselves.”

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