Game Overview ::
By hilow >>
- Darren Waller missed practice on Wednesday but was upgraded to limited on Thursday with an injury to the same hamstring that gave him issues last year.
- James Conner was limited in back to back sessions to begin the week with a calf injury. I expect he’ll be fine for Week 2.
- Jonathan Gannon’s defense held its own in Week 1, likely attributed to the unique nature of his 2-high base defense (more on this below).
- Joshua Dobbs managed just 132 passing on 6.4 average intended air yards in Week 1.
- Let’s play a game – how many weeks into the season will the Cardinals get before they score an offensive touchdown?
- Wink “the madman” Martindale against this derelict Arizona offensive line spells trouble.
How new york Will Try To Win ::
The Giants are coming off the most lopsided loss in franchise history with a 40-0 shellacking at the hands of the Cowboys. In that game, Daniel Jones took seven sacks, threw two picks, and fumbled the ball twice (both were recovered by the Giants). That said, they could not ask for a better get-right opponent in the Cardinals, who are starting Joshua Dobbs for the second consecutive week and have dismantled their defense over the previous two seasons. Pass rate over expectation (PROE) values and situation neutral pace of play values mean next to nothing from their first time out considering the extremely negative game script and overall shortcomings from their offense. Last season under Brian Daboll, the Giants finished near the middle of the pack in those two metrics and were mostly a slave to the game environment in which they found themselves as a measure of their aggression. Considering the opponent this week, I’d expect them to approach things with a relatively conservative tone and an emphasis on execution.
Saquon Barkley held a modest (for him) 64 percent snap rate in the team’s Week 1 blowout loss but handled 16 of 22 running back opportunities, good for a 72.7 percent team share. Barkley is also coming off a season where he ranked second in snap rate (79.9 percent) and third in opportunity share (80.1 percent), meaning we should expect him to continue to operate in one of the most robust roles in the league. The Cardinals actually held their own against the run in Week 1 against the Commanders, holding Washington to just 3.3 yards per carry on 28 attempts. Consider the matchup closer to neutral than we originally thought heading into the season, which is likely attributable to new head coach Jonathan Gannon. Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell are on hand to handle any change of pace duties required.
The state of this Giants pass catching corps is one for the ages. They ran 12-personnel over 40 percent of the time in Week 1 with a mix of Daniel Bellinger (63 percent), Darren Waller (54 percent), and Lawrence Cager (29 percent). No wide receiver played more than 67 percent of the team’s offensive snaps (Parris Campbell and Darius Slayton), with Isaiah Hodgins (60 percent), Jalin Hyatt (36 percent), and Sterling Shepard (20 percent) all seeing work as well. In a more competitive game, I would expect the top three (Slayton, Hodgins, and Campbell) to be closer to 80 percent considering the elevated 12-personnel rates. The Cardinals blitzed at a slightly above average rate in Week 1 (25.6 percent) but generated pressure at a low 17.9 percent clip. Gannon’s defensive scheme operates primarily from a shallow 2-high, which means the safeties are closer to the line of scrimmage than in a normal 2-high alignment. This unique look typically generates more confusion from an opposing quarterback, which I believe to be the reason the Cardinals were able to hold Sam Howell to just 19-for-31 for 201 yards passing in Week 1, despite the relative lack of elite abilities amongst the Arizona defensive pieces.
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