Sept 17,
4:05 PM Giants at Cardinals
Game 2 | | 1st |
2nd | 3rd |
4th | Final |
Giants | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 | 31 |
Cardinals | 7 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 28 |
Giants
win over the Cardinals 31-28 
"After
last week, I didn't know what to expect from the Giants. Daniel Jones and his
group couldn't do anything against the Cowboys defense, and the Cardinals looked
very strong in that area, after seeing the way they played against the Washington
Commanders. I guess I should have expected the worst, because that's what I got
at the start. The Giants offense could barely stay on the field except for their
longest drive in the first half that ended up with an interception that bounced
off Saquon Barkley's hands to a defender. The Cardinals kept scoring all this
time and the Giants were down 20-0, and it would have been even worse if the Cardinals
didn't miss on their first possession field goal attempt. Before I could give
up on the season, Jones threw his first pass of the second half to Jalin Hyatt
for a 58 yard completion and just like that, the Giants were down at the Cardinals
17-yard line. Two plays later, Jones ran with the ball 14 yards for a touchdown.
It was the first points of the season for the Giants, and it looked like their
offense finally woke up. The question now was how about the defense, and soon
it looked like the answer was no. The Cardinals didn't even face a third down
as they marched downfield and scored a touchdown. As if to rub things in that
the Giants couldn't stop them, they even went for a 2-point conversion and made
it, so the score was now 28-7. It was only five or so minutes into the third quarter,
and they were up by so many points that it didn't make sense to me. Were they
worried that the Giants would suddenly score three touchdowns and catch up?
Well guess what? That's exactly what happened, though it wasn't so sudden. The
Giants squashed the Cardinals on their next three possessions, while Jones and
his crew scored on each of theirs to tie the game at 28-28 with four and a half
minutes left. The defense stayed strong, and after they got the Cardinals off
the field with a 3-and-out, the Giants used up almost all the clock and Graham
Gano kicked a 34 yard field goal to put the Giants up 31-28. Like most fans,
I couldn't believe it. The Giants had turned what was a mess of a season, and
this mess of a game, into a win. I don't want anyone to tell me that this was
expected, as the Cardinals are a bad team. The fact is the Giants were a bad team
as a whole right up until the last two quarters of this game, and I want to see
them continue to do what they just did, and carry that drive into the next game." 
"The
Giants had a lot to figure out coming off their last game with the Cowboys, and
today were facing what looked to be the weakest team they would face all season.
The Cardinals scored just 9 points on offense last week, and there was no reason
to expect much of an improvement with their new quarterback having added one extra
week of experience to the two weeks he's been with the team It turns out that
Joshua Dobbs is a fast learner, and the Giants defense must have been snoozing
in class, as they still couldn't get to the quarterback. There were no sacks,
and no 3-and-outs in the first half. The Cardinals had 16 first downs, an even
7-7 rushing and passing, and had 2 from penalties committed by the Giants. By
the end of the half, Dobbs had missed on only 4 of his 16 passes while averaging
just over 9 yards a throw, and one of his three runs for 41 yards was a touchdown. Running
back James Conner was doing his job, carrying the ball 13 times for 50 yards and
1 touchdown. Wide receiver Marquise Brown and tight end Zach Ertz were doing their
jobs, each catching 4 passes for a total of 84 yards. The Giants offense meanwhile
came up with just 6 first downs, and Daniel Jones had thrown 16 times with 9 completions
and 1 interception, and had taken 2 sacks. No drive had lasted longer than 5 plays,
except for the one that ended with the interception. The Giants flipped the
switch in the second half, and finally showed us some of what we saw in their
games last year. Jones went on to complete 17 of 21 passes for 2 touchdowns, and
he ran for another. In the first half, he ran one for 1 yard. In the second he
added 8 carries for 58 yards, including that touchdown. Saquon Barkley had more
opportunities, had one rushing touchdown, and took a 9 yard pass from Jones that
he drove into the endzone. Every time the Giants had the ball in the second half
they scored, and they needed every point to win this game. While the defense
came up with very few pressures and no sacks, they clamped down after giving up
one more touchdown. The Cardinals last 17 plays over 4 possessions netted them
just 3 first downs and 48 yards. One disturbing thing was seeing Barkley being
injured on one play leading up to Graham Gano's 34 yard field goal that put the
Giants ahead. They say that the Giants first six scoreless quarters to open
up the season was the first time the team had done so since 1934. Their 21-point
comeback win matched the largest in franchise history, and the biggest in the
Super Bowl Era. Their win today matched the team's biggest comeback win in franchise
history since the Super Bowl era. The Giants don't have much time to enjoy their
comeback win. They will stay in Arizona
until Wednesday, then travel to San Francisco for their matchup with the San Francisco
49ers on Thursday Night Football."
First Quarter
| CARDINALS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
James Conner 4 Yd Run (Matt Prater Kick) Drive info: 9 plays, 86 yards, 4:41
Cardinals 7-0 |
Second Quarter |
CARDINALS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Joshua Dobbs 23 Yd Run (Matt Prater Kick) Drive info: 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:27
Cardinals 14-0 CARDINALS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Matt
Prater 37 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 9 plays, 54 yards, 5:02 Cardinals
17-0 CARDINALS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Matt
Prater 44 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 6 plays, 8 yards, 3:11 Cardinals 20-0 |
Third Quarter
| GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Daniel Jones 14 Yd Run (Graham Gano Kick) Drive info: 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:17
Cardinals 20-7 CARDINALS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Marquise Brown 3 Yd pass from Joshua Dobbs (Dobbs Run for Two-Point Conversion)
Drive info: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:09 Cardinals 28-7 GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Saquon Barkley 1 Yd Run (Graham Gano Kick) Drive info: 12 plays, 75 yards,
6:07 Cardinals 28-14 |
Fourth Quarter | GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Saquon Barkley 9 Yd pass from Daniel Jones (Graham Gano Kick) Drive info:
13 plays, 80 yards, 5:50 Cardinals 28-21 GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Isaiah Hodgins 11 Yd pass from Daniel Jones (Graham Gano Kick) Drive info:
6 plays, 64 yards, 3:06 Tied 28-28 GIANTS
- FIELD
GOAL Play: Graham
Gano 34 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 8 plays, 56 yards, 2:12 Giants 31-28 |
Next Games:
Sept 21 Giants at San Francisco Oct 2 Seahawks at Giants
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