Credit: BOBBY O’HARA/PureSportsNY
Its the opening home game for the New York Giants this weekend at MetLife Stadium as the team faces the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are coming off of a 19-18 comeback win on Monday night. The Giants on the other hand on coming off a crushing 35-14 defeat also on Monday night vs the Detroit Lions. The good thing for the Giants this week is that their opponent also had a short week as they both played Monday night and are both quickly preparing for this matchup. The Giants will also get the support of their home crowd this week which always is a good thing especially for a team that needs some positive energy lately.
“That is always a great feeling for a coach and a player to come into the stadium, be welcomed, and to know that your fans are there and they are behind your team and they believe in what you are doing,” Tom Coughlin said when asked about the importance of the home crowd.
Arizona is a lot like Detriot. They have a a good passing game with receivers like Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald led by quarterback Carson Palmer and a good ground game as well. On defense they have a solid defensive line that can create pressure and stop the run. Lastly they have one of the most talented secondaries in the NFL made up of players like Patrick Peterson, Antonio Cromartie, and Tyrann Mathieu.
“It is kind of like the offense we saw last week. They do not have the running back that is as explosive as [Reggie] Bush, but they definitely have a couple good running backs that can go out there and get good yardage. They have two very talented receivers with an emerging slot receiver who is very quick and able to do good things. They have a group of tight ends that can block and go out and catch balls, so it is definitely going to be an explosive offense,” said Stevie Brown.
“It’s always a stacked box, so you’re never going to have just clean, great running deals. You’ve got to run the ball and you’ve got to run tough and run on a safety sometimes and find ways to get receivers down to get good extra hats on their safeties. They’re going to challenge you to throw the ball,” said Eli Manning.
Credit: BOBBY O’HARA/PureSportsNY
The problem with that is that the Giants weakness as of late has been passing the ball. Eli had a 54% completion rate last game and only passed for 163 yards. Victor Cruz thinks he needs to see more passes his way, but is that just the receiver mentality in him? Eli thinks so, but agrees that they need to find ways to get him some big plays.
“I think every receiver wants more targets, that’s just part of being a receiver. We have to do a good job getting more completions to all our guys. We had a few opportunities to get him the ball, we had a pass interference, a couple that we were close to completing, but he’s a playmaker for us, we’ve got to find ways to get him some big plays.”
The Cardinals trust their corners so much that they allow them to play one-on-one for most of the game and play their corners on their own island. Their talent back there justifies their system. For the Giants, some receivers like Rueben Randle feels confident in that type of coverage.
” I am very confident. I think as a receiver, you have to (be) 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.”
On defense the secondary has received a bunch of negative reviews from fans after their performance against Calvin Johnson and the Lions last Monday. The defense went with a one-on-one approach and it backfired. This week they face a similar task with Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd, but hopefully are preparing better this week.
Prince Amukamara spoke the the media Friday on his thoughts of the game vs Detriot.
“Any time you give a receiver over 100 yards in the first quarter, or the first half, it is definitely a punch in the face. We definitely want to rise to the challenge this week. We learned from it and we didn’t shy away from the film. It’s hard to look at but we definitely looked at it and learned from it.” He continued by saying, “Not taking anything away from the line, they made a lot of plays, but a couple plays I felt like we kind of hurt ourselves, “shot ourselves in the foot,” but we just have to be smarter.”
Jason Pierre-Paul says the team needs to do better getting to the quarterback.
“Honestly, we’ve got to get to the quarterbacks. It wasn’t good enough. I need to do better, everybody needs to do better on that defensive line and you’ve just got to get to the quarterback. We stopped the run, but we’ve just got to get to the quarterback.”
Carson Palmer has been listed questionable for Sunday’s game with a throwing shoulder injury, but the Giants expect him to play.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring), offensive tackle James Brewer (back), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (ankle), and linebacker Devon Kennard (hamstring) have been ruled out of Sunday’s contest against the Arizona Cardinals.
Punter Steve Weatherford (ankle) is questionable, while linebacker Jon Beason (foot), defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (hip), offensive tackle Charles Brown (shoulder), and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul are probable.
Prediction: Giants-10 Cardinals-21
Bobby O’Hara: PureSportsNY