NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Drew Brees and Eli Manning have racked up elite passing numbers this season by picking up the slack when their clubs’ running games struggled.

That could be the case again when New Orleans (7-3) hosts the New York Giants (6-4) on Monday night, yet both teams have emphasized the importance of running the ball more this week in hopes of improving balance and becoming less predictable.

“Being able to run the ball and being able to stop the run is vital to winning,” Brees said. “We want to be able to run the ball better.”

Although the Saints are in the top half of the NFL — 13th with 117.5 yards per game — consistency has been a problem. New Orleans gained 41 yards on the ground in their game at Atlanta, but got away with it in that case by pulling out a 26-23 win in overtime.

The Giants were even worse in a home loss to Philadelphia last weekend, managing 29 yards on the ground while falling to 31st in the NFL in rushing with an average of 83.2 yards, the club’s lowest figure since the 1940s.

While the urgency to address the running game may be greater for the Giants, the solutions are less apparent with leading rusher Ahmad Bradshaw sidelined by a right foot injury. D.J. Ware, meanwhile, is trying to recover from a concussion, although it appears he’ll be available to back up Brandon Jacobs after practicing fully during the latter part of the past week.

New York also will be shuffling its offensive line because left tackle Will Beatty needed surgery to repair a detached retina.

Complicating matters even more is fact that the Giants will be playing in the Superdome, where noise has been known to hinder communication for opposing offenses at the line of scrimmage.

That could be a factor, given that Manning, when asked about ways to improve the running game, stressed the need for communication in the time between a run is called in the huddle and the snap of the ball.

“The offensive line and the backs and I have to get us out of some bad runs,” Manning said. “We just have to try to get into some things where we get 3 and 4 yards a carry. There is just too many times where we are losing 2 yards.”