Saints look to take skid-ending effort at Giants overseas

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Saints safety Justin Reid said he had trouble sleeping on the team's overnight flight from New York to Paris.

“I’m not in a bad mood about it because you still get to ride that high off of a big-time win,” Reid said Monday, alluding to the Saints' 34-27, Week 6 victory over the Giants on Sunday. "We’re giving ourselves an opportunity here and able to ride on some good vibes.”

After falling behind 10-0, the Saints (2-4) remarkably scored 34 straight points before holding on with a fourth down stop on a pass to the end zone, ending New York's comeback bid.

“The most important thing is that you got the win. This league is measured in wins and losses; it's not measured in scores," Reid said. “We showed up to the plate when we needed to and were able to close out a tough game."

The victory, which stopped a three-game skid, provided some respite from an increasing sense of desperation that had owner Gayle Benson expressing dissatisfaction last week.

The Saints now have a 2-1 record on the road, where their only loss came by a single point in overtime.

Next, they’ll try to take a winning performance in the Big Apple into another in the City of Lights. They’ll serve as the “home” team this coming Sunday in what also is the NFL’s first scheduled regular-season game in France.

France sold its Louisiana territories — named to honor former French king Louis 14th — to the United States in the early 1800s. The fleur-de-lis on the Saints' helmet, as well as similar ones on the flags of New Orleans and Louisiana, resemble what was the primary emblem of French royalty for centuries.

That symbol doesn't always engender pride among modern French citizens. They live in a republic that emerged from the French Revolution in the late 1700s.

But if French spectators opt to root for the “visiting” Pittsburgh Steelers — with whom they're bound to be more familiar, given their eight Super Bowl appearances, and six championships — that might not be such a bad thing for the Saints, considering their form in front of hostile crowds this season.

The Saints' running game, which had been anemic in recent weeks, came alive against the Giants. New Orleans finished with a season-high 175 yards rushing, led by Kendre Miller's 70 yards on 20 carries. Alvin Kamara, CJ Donaldson and quarterback Tyler Shough each also ran for 30-plus yards.

“It was all 11 — physical up front,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said Monday, noting that even receivers did well getting out to block Giants safeties.

“Our running backs ran really, really hard,” Moore said. “We had a good mix there. We've got to continue that. We've got to build on that.”

The Saints have largely done well against the pass this season, but had a rough day against the Giants, who gained 395 yards through the air.

Defensive back Martin Emerson, who grew up about a three-hour's drive east of New Orleans, in the Pensacola, Florida, area. Now in his first season with New Orleans (after his first three in Cleveland), Emerson had his first two interceptions as a Saint.

Kamara's 69 yards from scrimmage included a weaving, 31-yard touchdown on a screen pass that resembled the 31-year-old running back's vintage form.

Rookie guard Jeremiah Wright, a fourth-round draft choice out of Auburn, had his first extended playing time, subbing in on the right side when veteran Cesar Ruiz was injured.

“Proud of him for stepping up and taking advantage of the opportunity," Moore said of Wright. "You never know when your opportunity's going to present itself and you've got to take advantage of it. So, good job by him."

With backup QBs under center for the Giants, Saints cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley had a difficult day — perhaps their worst this season — against receivers Malik Nabers (12 catches, 165 yards) and Isaiah Likely (six catches, 99 yards and a TD).

Ruiz left late in the first half against the Giants with a knee injury. ... The Saints still await the debut of their first-round draft choice, Jordyn Tyson, who began the season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He has traveled with the team to Paris in the event he is able to return to practice this week.

3:57 — The amount of time off the game clock — from 1:18 left in the second quarter until 12:21 remained in the third — it took for the Saints to turn a 10-0 deficit into a 17-10 lead.

The Saints are spending all week in Paris as they prepare for Sunday's game at the Stade de France. After that, they'll return home on a bye week and return to their recent house of horrors — the Superdome — the week after Halloween, on Nov. 8 against Cleveland.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

New Orleans Saints cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. (22) and Saints safety Justin Reid (21) tackle New York Giants tight end Isaiah Likely (9) during the second half of an NFL football game in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) hands the ball off to Saints running back CJ Donaldson (43) during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CAIRO (AP) — Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck Yemeni government forces with ballistic missiles on Monday, killing at least 53 soldiers at a military camp in one of the deadliest attacks since a resurgence in fighting this summer, Yemeni military officials said.

The attack wounded an additional 200 recruits at the military camp in the southern province of Shabwa, the provincial government there said. The rebels acknowledged targeting the camp.

The fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces is a widening front in the Iran war that began in February. The escalation shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in Yemen’s civil war.

The Houthis have put their growing military capabilities on display on multiple fronts in recent weeks, repeatedly striking Saudi Arabia’s main international airport hundreds of miles (kilometers) away and seizing territory inside Yemen near a key shipping chokepoint.

In a sign that the Houthi attacks are unsettling Saudi society, the kingdom on Monday canceled a global investment conference scheduled for next week and extended an order for schools in and around Riyadh, the capital, to teach students remotely.

Iran and its allies in Lebanon and Iraq provide expertise, training and sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, according to U.N. and other experts. Iran denies arming the Houthis, which would violate a U.N. embargo.

The provincial government in Shabwa said the death toll could rise from Monday's attack, which it said “targeted new recruits in the training and preparation phase and is considered an extremely critical military escalation.”

It called on Yemen’s president, the Saudi-led coalition and the government to expedite air defense and early warning systems to reinforce Shabwa’s capabilities.

The head of Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, promised a “firm response.”

A Houthi military spokesman claimed the camp was targeted because it is operated by Saudi officers, and that some of them were killed in the attack — though he provided no evidence. The Saudi government did not immediately comment.

A group of fighters aligned with the government said Monday its fighters repelled a Houthi offensive after hours of fighting in southwestern Yemen. Separately, the local authorities in Yemen’s Marib province said the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at the densely populated city of Marib, which hosts large numbers of people displaced by the conflict.

Separately, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said a father and his daughter were killed Monday when a mortar shell hit homes in the Sabir al-Mawadim district of Yemen’s Taiz province.

On Sunday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry blamed Saudi-led forces for an airstrike that killed at least nine people in Yemen’s rebel-held northern province of Saada. Five children and two women were killed in the attack, one of several that killed or wounded more than 30 people over the weekend, according to the rebels.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis, a Shiite religious and political movement rooted in northern Yemen, are increasingly attacking Saudi Arabia because it supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the civil war.

The Sunni kingdom, which has long feared the emergence of a well-armed ally of Shiite Iran on its border, joined the war in 2015 after the rebels seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have targeted Saudi airports, oil and military facilities, and the headquarters of Saudi oil giant Aramco.

On Monday, Houthi rebels claimed to have carried out six attacks targeting oil infrastructure, airports and military sites across Saudi Arabia, but the group did not specify when the attacks took place.

The Saudi Civil Defense issued danger alerts but no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

In Yemen, the Houthis recently seized more territory along the Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. The Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive earlier this month to dislodge the rebels from that strategic perch and retake the territory.

Monday marked five years since Houthis detained more than 20 Yemeni staff of the U.S. embassy in Sana’a. The embassy had suspended operations in 2015 but local staff still provided security and basic maintenance of the facility. The State Department on Monday called for their “immediate and unconditional release.”

Associated Press writers Ahmed al-Haj in Aden, Yemen, and Baraa Anwer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.

People ride in a pickup truck during a funeral procession for a Houthi officer in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. The Arabic banner reads, "Martyr Mazen Abdallah." (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)