New York Giants Week 2: Examining the Arizona Cardinals' Defense

The New York Giants offense started solid against the Cowboys this past Sunday, but once the going got tough, the Giants offense went home. In Week 2, the Giants face a defensive scheme they are familiar with as new Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon spent the past two seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator.

The Giants need this game in the worst way, as to take a 0-2 record into San Francisco four days later would be a recipe for a meltdown. So, let's get to know the Cardinals defense.

Personnel

The strength of this Cardinals defense is likely upfront on the edge, although there are no overwhelming positives on this roster. Zaven Collins is the primary edge defender, with Victor Dimukeje and Dennis Gardeck rotating in on the opposite side. Gardeck and Dimukeje are the better pass-rushers on the edge, while Collins is the versatile option we’ll discuss in the scheme section.

Gardeck broke out in 2020 as an exceptional pass-rusher on limited reps with 18 pressures on just 79 opportunities and has impressed as a rusher ever since. Last week, he had three pressures and two sacks on 15 opportunities against the Commanders.

In the second level, Kyzir White followed Gannon from Philadelphia to continue playing in the defensive system, where he’s found the most success in his NFL career. Josh Woods is his running mate at inside linebacker, although saying he leaves a lot to be desired would be a massive understatement. I expect Krys Barnes to see more playing time this week.

The secondary is incredibly young at cornerback with experience at safety. Rookie sixth-round pick Kei’Trel Clark is starting on the boundary opposite Marco Wilson, with Budda Baker and K’Von Wallace as the starting safeties and Jalen Thompson playing mostly out of the slot.

The corner duo is relatively small, as Clark is 5’10 and Wilson is 5-foot-11. Still, they did a good job in week one of limiting Commanders receivers from bullying them or creating separation, although Wilson did give up 37 yards on a defensive pass interference.

The defense needs reliable safety play, and they got just that from Baker and Wallace - Wallace also came to the Cardinals from the Eagles under Gannon’s command. With this system, the safeties are relied upon to read, react, and attack from their own spots while also "help" defenders in every facet of the game.

Scheme

Under the combination of Gannon as head coach and Nick Rallis as defensive coordinator, the Cardinals have some slight changes from their days together as Eagles. The defensive front is less of a four-down defensive front and more of a hybrid 4-2-5, meaning there are more 3-4 principles upfront.

I mentioned Zaven Collins’ versatility earlier, and he’s one of the key pieces to this Cardinals defensive system being able to function the way it wants to. His ability to be used as both a pass-rusher and cover man allows this team to be as multiple as they want to be, even if it means one week being used primarily as a pass-rusher, with the next week seeing him drop into coverage on most of his snaps.

As with most modern defenses, the Cardinals will come out with a two-high shell more often than not - although against the Giants, it wouldn’t shock me if they brought an extra safety into the box more often than usual.

The Cardinals don’t blitz very often, but when they do, every player but the far (field) cornerback is an option as a rusher. Against the Commanders, the Cardinals brought an off-ball linebacker on the blitz on 13% of pass-defense snaps while blitzing a safety on 10.8%.

RELATED: Examining the Arizona Cardinals' Offense

What This Means for the Giants

The Giants offensive line is unimpressive, and they’re going against an equally unimpressive Cardinals defensive interior this weekend. However, I would still expect the Giants to be able to win that battle in the trenches. Running the football outright with Saquon Barkley should be a focal point, but trying to operate the zone read should help open up this rushing attack.

The Giants offensive line was simply outplayed against Dallas, but they also found success on that first drive, perhaps signaling their potential to create rushing lanes. Jones’ versatility will always be his biggest strength, regardless of his improvements as a passer, because his mobility is just that threatening.

The Cardinals have a young, small cornerback duo in Clark and Wilson. While both corners are physical at the line of scrimmage, if there was ever a time to lean on Darren Waller playing out wide and Isaiah Hodgins finding success - this is the game.

The inside linebackers for Arizona were relatively unimpressive against the Commanders, allowing completions on the interior almost at will. Sam Howell went 11/16 with 134 yards when targeting the middle of the field shorter than 20 yards downfield. There’s no reason Jones shouldn’t be able to find similar success over the middle.

Final Thoughts

When Gannon was the defensive coordinator for the Eagles, his defense was as intimidating as possible. However, a big reason for that was due to his defense allowing him to play a bend, don’t break style with elite players both along the defensive front and in the secondary.

While he might eventually have that in Arizona, he doesn’t right now. The expectation should be for the Giants offense to get back on track against a Cardinals team that, on paper, should be in contention for the first overall pick.

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