By Michael Stewart@TheTruthNYG
The New York Giants are coming off arguably their worse opening day defeat 40-0 at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants lack of execution on both sides of the ball and their lack of any emotion were highly evident. The only good news is that it’s only one game and the Giants have the opportunity to right the ship against the Arizona Cardinals who also lost their opening day game to the Washington Commanders with a more respectable score of 20-16. Let’s dive right into my top 3 ways the Giants can win and/or lose this game against the Cardinals.
Top 3 Ways to win the Game
- Balance Attack: Offensively the Giants didn’t display any offensive production against a Dallas defense that looked more like the vintage Doomsday defense of years past. HC Brian Daboll and OC Mike Kafka need to implement a better offensive game plan which features a balance attack approach of Saquan Barkley carrying the rock along with Daniel Jones designed RPO plays. Through the air, the Giants need to get Darren Waller involved early and often to take advantage of possible mismatches. Once they establish Waller on mid-range passes, utilize Jalin Hyatt, Paris Campbell and Darius Slayton on some vertical plays.
- Where’s the Beef: The Giants offensive line was non-existence especially in the passing game against the Cowboys and that Giant fans needs to change against the Cardinals. The Cardinals defense is not equal the Cowboys, however; they did display solid results against a Washington offensive line with 6 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss and two takeaways with one leading to a score. The Giants must find a way to give Jones a little more time and Barkley little bigger running lanes to give the Giants a fighting chance to win.
- Load the Box: This is where Wink Martindale comes in and the Giants defense. With Josh Dobbs starting for the Cardinals at quarterback, Martindale and Giants defense must have that killer approach and load the box to shut down the Cardinals running game led by James Connors. The Giants defense must put the ball in Dobbs hands and challenge him to beat them. Martindale must create blitzes packages featuring Simmons along with Thibodeaux, Ojulari, Pinnock and corner blitzes to put constant pressure on Dobbs and force him into mistakes.
Top 3 ways to lose the game
- Avoid Mishaps: The Giants turn the ball over against the Cowboys countless times resulting in 17 points for Dallas. The Giants need to be better with the ball on offense and also look to create some takeaways on defense. I believe implementing a more aggressive defensive game plan (loading the box/blitzes package) would help accomplish that.
- Special Teams, M.I.A: The ongoing problems with the Giants special teams play have been around seemingly as long as the Giants inept offensive lines play. Regardless, this team needs to turn this ship around and at the very least have the special teams play not be contributing to the teams loses. Special Teams coach Thomas McGaughey could very well be on the hot seat if he can’t turn the team’s misfortunes around.
- Come out Flat: Despite this being the second game of the season, it’s utterly a must win for the Giants and if they come out flat, showing no urgency or emotion, they may not recover and start this season at 0-2 with the next four games against teams that have had good results against them.
I’ve always been a strong believer of winning the battles in the trenches and regardless of the new NFL being a passing league; I still feel strongly that the success rate of winning games coincides with controlling the line of scrimmage. If the Giants can achieve this on Sunday, there’s a strong possibility that they secure their first win of 2023.