Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Here's what I posted the Saturday before the game and will add new comments underneath each point in red:
To Coin a BA Phrase...
The Cardinals had better "bring their big-boy pants" to the Meadowlands this Sunday.
The Cardinals did not take this game lightly at all. As BA said, "We are coming to NY to win the game." And the first play from scrimmage set a great tone for the day. Having turned to #2 QB Drew Stanton now that #1 QB Carson Palmer couldn't "wake up the nerves" in his ailing shoulder, it was quite a statement to the Giants and to the Cardinals as a team when on the first play Stanton play-actioned to the left, waggled a little to the right and threw a 15 yard sideline strike to Michael Floyd. The message was: we are not changing anything about our aggressive approach.
The psychology of this game is the Cardinals' biggest challenge. They are feeling good about their win on MNF. And rightfully so.
If you heard BA and the Cardinals' players prior to the game, this is exactly what they were talking about---how the Giants were going to be super amped at home with a chance to rinse the bad taste out of the mouths from MNF versus the Lions and how the Cardinals needed to bring all of their focus and will power to this game.
The Giants, on the other hand, are smarting about their MNF drubbing, and now get a chance to redeem themselves in their home opener.
And for while there in the 3rd quarter it looked as if the Giants were taking command of the game---and the Cardinals were losing poise.
This is going to be a very physical game---the Giants are going to be highly motivated. They are a proud franchise---and their head coach is a bad loser, in the good sense.
Then came the play of the game---Ted Ginn Jr.'s electrifying punt return wherein he took quite an initial shot, but on this return, unlike his shaky others, Ginn Jr. had the eye of the tiger. One would imagine that he had received quite an earful from BA or one of the coaches, because on this play Ginn Jr. was not to be denied, and he did what he had failed to do on his other returns which was to accelerate forward and not sideways.
Then came another huge play on STs when Kenny Demens stripped the ball from KR Quintin Demps and Robert Hughes, who had committed two poor errors on STs previously, pounced on the ball and suddenly the game was back in the Cardinals' hands.
When discussing the time it typically takes for a QB to assimilate into and grow comfortable with a new offense, Tom Coughlin insisted, "I am not a man of patience."
In other words---nope, not buying it. The time is now.
Eli Manning had called for after practice meetings with the offense to go over protections and keys---and the Giants were executing their passing offense reasonably well, save for some 4th quarter incompletions on somewhat high passes by Victor Cruz and a back-breaking slip fumble by RB Rashad Jennings that nullified what looked to be a Giants' scoring drive. But---the Giants were very well prepared. The Cardinals played sloppy at times in the secondary---and two of the deep passes versus Patrick Peterson showed Peterson reverting back to his old habit of holding the arm or wrapping an arm around the WR, both on balls that couldn't be caught---the second of which resulted in a gift pass interference flag that gave the Giants the ball on the 1 yard line.
Credit the Cardinals' defense for stuffing the run on first and goal---the Cardinals once again played very physical versus the run---but once again in the end zone could not guard the TE---which resulted in an easy pitch and catch TD and a 14-10 deficit.
The Cardinals head into the game after a week of practice in which Drew Stanton received the vast majority of reps at QB and Andre Ellington spent the majority of his time riding a stationary bike. While, BA points out that Palmer had what could have been his best passing game last year under similar circumstances, doing so at the Meadowlands, even having had the right amount of reps during the week, is a daunting challenge.
As it tuned out, Stanton was the man. And so was Ellington. Stanton withstood a very lively Giants' pass rush, and quite a violent shot in the back on a play stopped by the whistle. But Stanton stood in the pocket and did a solid job. The key was he didn't turn the ball over---he played well within himself and the offense. It was a little surprising that he didn't try to run the ball on a couple of occasions---and he was hurrying some of his passes down the stretch. His deep passes were late and he didn't influence the safety well enough. I kept wondering whether we would see Jaron Brown emerge as a big playmaker, because Stanton seems to have great chemistry with him. Fitz had a very good first half, but Stanton needed another WR to click with. The screen passes were characteristically poor---but it has as much to do with the coverage in that they called screen on plays where the Giants were in man coverage and the Giants do what Todd Bowles has his LBers do, which is rush if the RB stays in to block and stick right with him if he slips out for a pass.
As for Ellington, he warmed up as the game ensued, and started to make the most of his touches (15/91/6.1) and made a key 10 yard reception after dropping an easy pass earlier.
On defense, the Cardinals have to find a way to pressure Eli Manning without having to throw full house blitzes at him on every passing down. Minus John Abraham and Frostee Rucker, one can only wonder how the Cardinals are going to manage to keep the pressure on Manning and be able to stifle the short to intermediate passing game and, in particular, one of the best slot WRs in the game in Victor Cruz.
Manning played (26/39/277/2 TDs-2 INT) well---but, like Stanton got a little too quick late in the game. The problem was the Cardinals were not able to get consistent pressure on him, and did have to send full house blitzes, which were fairly well accounted for in pass pro by the Giants' offensive lineman. It was great to see Calais Campbell record a nice sack late after having been robbed of a sack/strip fumble on a phantom holding call on Jerraud Powers.
For a while it appeared that Cruz was going to get the better of Powers all day, because Powers was not displaying the right kind of recovery burst off Cruz's cuts---until the 4th quarter when Powers started undercutting Cruz's routes and forcing Manning to throw over the top, which resulted in high passes. Credit Powers for finding a way to alter the QB-WR timing.
The defense can't take the Giants' running game lightly either. These Giants can pound the ball better than the Chargers.
The Cardinals did not allow the Giants to pound the ball---and no one should take this for granted. This was one of the most important aspects of the Cardinals' win. Dan Williams was the man, as was Tommy Kelly---and, if you noticed Bowles was playing a lot of 4 man lines even on running downs, with Foote, Minter, Shaughnessy and Acho ready to step up and force the run at all times. Acho made a nice athletic play on the key first half interception.
Special teams are going to be a significant factor in this game---and having watched Tom Coughlin coach in practice on occasion, he always starts and ends each practice with heavy emphasis on STs.
The Giants were winning in the return game and they blocked a punt. But, at the end of the day, it was the Cardinals' STs that stole the momentum away from the Giants, as alluded to previously. Plus, the Cardinals got 4 FGs from rookie Chandler Catanzaro, while the Giants had none.
It sure would help for the Cardinals to get Dave Zastudil back---and to show significant improvement in their return game, especially from the blockers who have been whiffing and drawing flags throughout the pre-season and in game one versus the Chargers.
While the Cardinals did not get Zastudil back, they got the big blocks and tackles on STs when they needed them most.
This game is going to be quite a challenge for the Cardinals. Wearing the big-boy pants is going to be of paramount importance.
What I will remember the most about this game is how numerous Cardinals who had made earlier mistakes, fought back, adjusted and righted the ship again. Each offensive lineman made a glaring mistake---but each of them minimalized the mistakes from there. Robert Hughes---holding on one return and gave up the punt block later, but made big tackles and the key recovery on the Demps fumble. Jerraud Powers...Patrick Peterson...Calais Campbell, robbed of one sack and reaches down deep to get one late---and even though BA went for 2 again this week and failed, it's his aggressive approach that has this team where it is today (like throwing the ball to Troy Niklas instead of playing right into the Giants' hands), and so---it certainly can be said that the Cardinals did bring their "big boy pants" to NY. They fought, were aggressive, played through a variety of mistakes, but seized the momentum back to their side in the face of adversity and prevailed.
To Coin a BA Phrase...
The Cardinals had better "bring their big-boy pants" to the Meadowlands this Sunday.
The Cardinals did not take this game lightly at all. As BA said, "We are coming to NY to win the game." And the first play from scrimmage set a great tone for the day. Having turned to #2 QB Drew Stanton now that #1 QB Carson Palmer couldn't "wake up the nerves" in his ailing shoulder, it was quite a statement to the Giants and to the Cardinals as a team when on the first play Stanton play-actioned to the left, waggled a little to the right and threw a 15 yard sideline strike to Michael Floyd. The message was: we are not changing anything about our aggressive approach.
The psychology of this game is the Cardinals' biggest challenge. They are feeling good about their win on MNF. And rightfully so.
If you heard BA and the Cardinals' players prior to the game, this is exactly what they were talking about---how the Giants were going to be super amped at home with a chance to rinse the bad taste out of the mouths from MNF versus the Lions and how the Cardinals needed to bring all of their focus and will power to this game.
The Giants, on the other hand, are smarting about their MNF drubbing, and now get a chance to redeem themselves in their home opener.
And for while there in the 3rd quarter it looked as if the Giants were taking command of the game---and the Cardinals were losing poise.
This is going to be a very physical game---the Giants are going to be highly motivated. They are a proud franchise---and their head coach is a bad loser, in the good sense.
Then came the play of the game---Ted Ginn Jr.'s electrifying punt return wherein he took quite an initial shot, but on this return, unlike his shaky others, Ginn Jr. had the eye of the tiger. One would imagine that he had received quite an earful from BA or one of the coaches, because on this play Ginn Jr. was not to be denied, and he did what he had failed to do on his other returns which was to accelerate forward and not sideways.
Then came another huge play on STs when Kenny Demens stripped the ball from KR Quintin Demps and Robert Hughes, who had committed two poor errors on STs previously, pounced on the ball and suddenly the game was back in the Cardinals' hands.
When discussing the time it typically takes for a QB to assimilate into and grow comfortable with a new offense, Tom Coughlin insisted, "I am not a man of patience."
In other words---nope, not buying it. The time is now.
Eli Manning had called for after practice meetings with the offense to go over protections and keys---and the Giants were executing their passing offense reasonably well, save for some 4th quarter incompletions on somewhat high passes by Victor Cruz and a back-breaking slip fumble by RB Rashad Jennings that nullified what looked to be a Giants' scoring drive. But---the Giants were very well prepared. The Cardinals played sloppy at times in the secondary---and two of the deep passes versus Patrick Peterson showed Peterson reverting back to his old habit of holding the arm or wrapping an arm around the WR, both on balls that couldn't be caught---the second of which resulted in a gift pass interference flag that gave the Giants the ball on the 1 yard line.
Credit the Cardinals' defense for stuffing the run on first and goal---the Cardinals once again played very physical versus the run---but once again in the end zone could not guard the TE---which resulted in an easy pitch and catch TD and a 14-10 deficit.
The Cardinals head into the game after a week of practice in which Drew Stanton received the vast majority of reps at QB and Andre Ellington spent the majority of his time riding a stationary bike. While, BA points out that Palmer had what could have been his best passing game last year under similar circumstances, doing so at the Meadowlands, even having had the right amount of reps during the week, is a daunting challenge.
As it tuned out, Stanton was the man. And so was Ellington. Stanton withstood a very lively Giants' pass rush, and quite a violent shot in the back on a play stopped by the whistle. But Stanton stood in the pocket and did a solid job. The key was he didn't turn the ball over---he played well within himself and the offense. It was a little surprising that he didn't try to run the ball on a couple of occasions---and he was hurrying some of his passes down the stretch. His deep passes were late and he didn't influence the safety well enough. I kept wondering whether we would see Jaron Brown emerge as a big playmaker, because Stanton seems to have great chemistry with him. Fitz had a very good first half, but Stanton needed another WR to click with. The screen passes were characteristically poor---but it has as much to do with the coverage in that they called screen on plays where the Giants were in man coverage and the Giants do what Todd Bowles has his LBers do, which is rush if the RB stays in to block and stick right with him if he slips out for a pass.
As for Ellington, he warmed up as the game ensued, and started to make the most of his touches (15/91/6.1) and made a key 10 yard reception after dropping an easy pass earlier.
On defense, the Cardinals have to find a way to pressure Eli Manning without having to throw full house blitzes at him on every passing down. Minus John Abraham and Frostee Rucker, one can only wonder how the Cardinals are going to manage to keep the pressure on Manning and be able to stifle the short to intermediate passing game and, in particular, one of the best slot WRs in the game in Victor Cruz.
Manning played (26/39/277/2 TDs-2 INT) well---but, like Stanton got a little too quick late in the game. The problem was the Cardinals were not able to get consistent pressure on him, and did have to send full house blitzes, which were fairly well accounted for in pass pro by the Giants' offensive lineman. It was great to see Calais Campbell record a nice sack late after having been robbed of a sack/strip fumble on a phantom holding call on Jerraud Powers.
For a while it appeared that Cruz was going to get the better of Powers all day, because Powers was not displaying the right kind of recovery burst off Cruz's cuts---until the 4th quarter when Powers started undercutting Cruz's routes and forcing Manning to throw over the top, which resulted in high passes. Credit Powers for finding a way to alter the QB-WR timing.
The defense can't take the Giants' running game lightly either. These Giants can pound the ball better than the Chargers.
The Cardinals did not allow the Giants to pound the ball---and no one should take this for granted. This was one of the most important aspects of the Cardinals' win. Dan Williams was the man, as was Tommy Kelly---and, if you noticed Bowles was playing a lot of 4 man lines even on running downs, with Foote, Minter, Shaughnessy and Acho ready to step up and force the run at all times. Acho made a nice athletic play on the key first half interception.
Special teams are going to be a significant factor in this game---and having watched Tom Coughlin coach in practice on occasion, he always starts and ends each practice with heavy emphasis on STs.
The Giants were winning in the return game and they blocked a punt. But, at the end of the day, it was the Cardinals' STs that stole the momentum away from the Giants, as alluded to previously. Plus, the Cardinals got 4 FGs from rookie Chandler Catanzaro, while the Giants had none.
It sure would help for the Cardinals to get Dave Zastudil back---and to show significant improvement in their return game, especially from the blockers who have been whiffing and drawing flags throughout the pre-season and in game one versus the Chargers.
While the Cardinals did not get Zastudil back, they got the big blocks and tackles on STs when they needed them most.
This game is going to be quite a challenge for the Cardinals. Wearing the big-boy pants is going to be of paramount importance.
What I will remember the most about this game is how numerous Cardinals who had made earlier mistakes, fought back, adjusted and righted the ship again. Each offensive lineman made a glaring mistake---but each of them minimalized the mistakes from there. Robert Hughes---holding on one return and gave up the punt block later, but made big tackles and the key recovery on the Demps fumble. Jerraud Powers...Patrick Peterson...Calais Campbell, robbed of one sack and reaches down deep to get one late---and even though BA went for 2 again this week and failed, it's his aggressive approach that has this team where it is today (like throwing the ball to Troy Niklas instead of playing right into the Giants' hands), and so---it certainly can be said that the Cardinals did bring their "big boy pants" to NY. They fought, were aggressive, played through a variety of mistakes, but seized the momentum back to their side in the face of adversity and prevailed.
Last edited:
