Why the Giants Will Beat the Cardinals, Why They Won’t, and What Will Actually Happen
Let's keep this going!
That is the battle cry this week for a Giants team as they look to continue their winning ways over an Arizona Cardinals team that has lost their last three games and four out of their last five.
Why the Giants Will Win
The Giants defense has been playing lights out—and no, it doesn’t matter what type of opponent they’ve faced. All this Giants defense has to do is hold the Arizona Cardinals, who have averaged 27.7 points per game, to under 20 points, and that should put them in a solid position to win.
In taking a closer look, the Giants have allowed 20 or fewer points seven times this season and are 5-2 in those games, including over their current four-game winning streak.
If the Giants let the Cardinals match or exceed their scoring average, then they better hope that the offense engages in a scoring shootout because New York is winless in five tries when they give up more than 20 points this season.
Why the Giants Will Lose
If the Giants can’t figure out a way to slow down Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, they’re in for a long, long afternoon.
Stopping Murray from wrecking the game with his legs is a big task. This season, Murray, who has rushed for 665 yards on 102 carries, has picked up 255 of those yards by exploiting the edges.
That means the Giants will have to ensure they're locking down the edges and keeping Murray, who has 32 of the Cardinals 41 touchdowns (rushing and passing) this season, from turning upfield, especially in the red-zone where the Cardinals' 75.61% scoring rate is tops in the league. And Arizona is 5-2 in games in which Murray records at least 60 rushing yards.
If the Giants can limit the Cardinals on first down and force long-yardage situations on subsequent downs, New York might give themselves a fighting chance if Arizona whips out their deep vertical routes.
My biggest concern is whether inside linebacker Blake Martinez plays. The Giants can contain Murray all they want, but if Chase Edmonds picks up the torch in the running game, can the Giants compensate if they don't have Martinez, their tackling machine, on the field?
There is one other factor to keep an eye on, and that is the Cardinals enter this weekend's game with some desperation. As previously noted, they've lost three in a row, and their playoff hopes are slipping away from them.
Desperate teams can be dangerous teams in that they tend to pull out all of the stops. The Giants will need to play smart, disciplined ball and not let themselves get sucked into anything the Cardinals do.
What Will Actually Happen
The Giants have made a believer out of me that they can handle just about any opponent, and I do think they'll keep this week's score close. But I'd feel a lot better if I knew for sure that Martinez was going to be ready to play this week.
Cardinals 27, Giants 24
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