The Arizona Cardinals are strong on defense and the Giants are struggling on offense. Yea, it doesn’t sound good so far and I haven’t even mentioned the talent in their cornerbacks. Led by Patrick Peterson, who is arguably the best corner in the league, the Cardinals trust their defensive backs so much that they allow them to command their own islands in single covering receivers. Signing onto a 5-year contract that makes him paid like the best in the game, Peterson’s talent is off the charts, but that isn’t the only reason people are talking about Arizona’s back line. The Cardinals added Cromartie on a one-year contract this season that can be worth nearly $4 million. The veteran corner said Arizona is ‘on the verge of being a Super Bowl champion,’ and is expected to play a big role in the Cardinals’ attacking defensive scheme. The Cardinals also drafted Tyrann Mathieu who plays well in the slot. Add all those guys together and you’ve got a good shot of being a problem to opposing team’s offenses including the New York Giants.

On Wednesday, Eli Manning was asked about Arizona Cardinals cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie, whose cover skills allow the defense to stack the box. “They’re confident and they’ve got two good players, so you have to find ways to win on the outside and also just kind of find your matchups and go there,” Manning said. “They do a good job. They like to bring a lot of pressure, play a lot of man-to-man, single high and see if you can get the ball out on time and beat them one-on-one.”

“They’re confident in their corners and they play a lot of press, a lot of man-to-man and make you earn everything that you get.”

Tom Coughlin is aware of his opponent and knows just how much of a threat that they can be if you aren’t prepared as he even referenced their beating of the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle last year.

The Giants have two former Cardinals in their secondary on their current starting roster. Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie both spent time with the Cardinals including their Super Bowl run that ended with a loss to the Steelers in 2011.

Giants wideout Rueben Randle spoke about keeping both Cardinals Corners on their heels.

“Timing. You have to try to get him on his heels,” Randle said of Peterson. “You can’t let him get back there and be comfortable to where he can be the athlete that he is and break up the ball and create interceptions.” As for Cromartie, “He is longer, so our job is to get his hands off of us,” Randle added. “We can’t let him jam us up at the line of scrimmage and we have to get him running to open up his hips.”

Asked if he was confident going into this weekend Randle said, “I am very confident. I think as a receiver, you have to confident to go against man-to-man. If not, you are already offset behind the eight ball. You just have to be confident in yourself that you are going to go out there and get the job done.”

Arizona got off to a shaky start vs the San Diego Chargers last week, but when it counted most they stepped up their game and tightened the defense in the second half. Enough to get them the 19-18 victory in their season opener at home. The Cardinals have less receiving threats to worry about this week, but if the Giants can somehow feed off the crowd and find the openings they could find themselves in a close enough game that might just go their way.

One thing is for sure; the Giants will have to go through the Cardinals tough secondary in order to pull off the victory.

Bobby O’Hara:PureSportsNY