Struggling Giants offer opportunity for cushion
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Cardinals will face a number of obstacles Sunday when they meet the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
They are playing on a short week after opening the season Monday night. That means less rest for sore or injured bodies, although the practice routine was mostly normal this week.
"We do have a ways to go to get to where we need to get," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Wednesday on a conference call with Arizona media. "We had many disappointments the other night, needless to say, and didn't play the way we wanted to play. We had been playing very well in preseason just in terms of not handing games away, not giving games away and beating ourselves. In this game, I felt like we fragmented again."
The Giants struggled out of the gate last season as well, losing their first six games, but Coughlin would rather not use that as a rallying point.
CARDINALS (1-0) at GIANTS (0-1)
When:
10 a.m. Sunday
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
TV: FOX, Ch. 10 (Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch, Pam Oliver)
3 THINGS TO WATCH
Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald: After last week's one-catch performance and subsequent Twitter flap with his father, will Fitzgerald be more a part of the offense this week? He says he knows each week ahead of time if he's going to be involved, which flies in the face of coach Bruce Arians' contention that passes go where the defense dictates. Fitzgerald has never been one to beat defenders with his speed for separation; he beats them with a long frame, strength and an ability to catch balls at the height of his leap with those vice-like hands.
Running back Andre Ellington: He wore a boot this week and did not participate in practice on Wednesday or Thursday; normally the two days reserved for installing a game plan. Could the Cardinals rest him against a weaker opponent in anticipation of next week's big division showdown with San Francisco?
QB Carson Palmer: Palmer didn't throw in practice as much as usual this week because of what Arians called a nerve issue in his right shoulder. Palmer missed practice the week before the Rams game on Dec. 8, 2013, then completed 27 of 32 passes in a win, so Arians believes he can play without much preparation. Backup Drew Stanton hasn't thrown a pass in a game since December 2010.
PREDICTION
Cardinals 27, Giants 14
"To be honest with you, nobody wants to learn that type of thing. I'd rather kind of do it the other way," he said. "We happened to show our team the first 10 years that we've been here and there's one big, ugly looking record, and that's the beginning of the '13 season. I haven't recalled it. I haven't talked to them about it. I'm sure that the media is asking enough questions that some of our players may have responded, but we'd certainly rather play ourselves into a positive circumstance rather than the one we found ourselves in."
The same can be said of the Cardinals, who started last season 3-4 and wound up one win shy of the postseason because of that start.
"We've actually talked about that quite a bit," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "Fast starts are important. When you look at the teas that make the playoffs, they usually get off to good starts."
The Cardinals can improve to 2-0 with a win in New Jersey, and that cushion could really help when the schedule turns tougher and their already-thinned defensive depth gets thinned all the more by the NFL's annual attrition.
Following this game, the Cardinals face the 49ers in a big division game before their bye. Then it's on to Denver. In the final 14 games of the season, Arizona faces seven teams that made the playoffs last year.
A loss to the Giants could be one the Cardinals end up looking back upon as a critical blow at the end of the season.
A chance to move to 2-0 with a big division game against the 49ers the following week. Arizona has suffered massive personnel losses in the preseason and Week 1. At some point, that will matter. Best to build some cushion while they can against weaker opponents.
Cardinals: LB Alex Okafor (thigh) and DE Frostee Rucker (calf) are out. RB Andre Ellington (foot), QB Carson Palmer (nerve in right shoulder) and P Dave Zastudil (groin) are questionable. RG Paul Fanaika (knee), S Rashad Johnson (ankle) and S Tyrann Mathieu (knee) are probable.
Giants: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring), T James Brewer (back), LB Devon Kennard (hamstring), DT Markus Kuhn (ankle) are out. P Steve Weatherford (left ankle) is questionable. LB Jon Beason (foot), DT Cullen Jenkins (hip), T Charles Brown (shoulder) and DE Jason Pierre-Paul (neck) are probable.
-- Giants S Antrel Rolle played for the Cardinals from 2005-09. He was the team's first-round pick (8th overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft. Giants CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie spent the first three years of his NFL career with Arizona (2008-10). He was the 16th overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft.
-- Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was born in Paterson, N.J. and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is a native of Elizabeth, N.J.
-- With 300 yards passing this week, Palmer would become just the second QB in franchise history to throw for 300+ passing yards in each of the team's first two games of a season, joining Charley Johnson (1965).
-- Cardinals tight end Darren Fells' older brother, Daniel is a tight end for the Giants. Daniel is a six-year veteran, having originally come into the league as an undrafted free agent with the Falcons in 2006. He has played in 71 career games with the Falcons, Rams, Broncos and Patriots and also spent time with the Raiders and Buccaneers before signing with the Giants in January.
-- Giants LB Devon Kennard played his high school football at Phoenix Desert Vista; Giants CB Prince Amukamara played at Glendale Apollo.