3 Biggest Takeaways From The Giants Week 2 Victory Against The Cardinals

After going down 0-20 (and 0-60 in their first 6 quarters of the 2023 NFL season) the New York Giants stormed back for a 31-28 win over a Cardinals team that never should’ve had a lead.

Here are my 3 biggest takeaways from the Giants Week 2 W over the Cardinals:

1. Acknowledge Danny 3-piece

Before this season, Danny Jones signed a 4-year $160 million contract extension, putting a strange target on his back.

The man had 3 head coaches and 2 of those 3 are the worst coaches in NFL history.

I will never forgive Joe Judge for calling back-to-back QB sneaks on 2nd and 3rd and long from the team’s own 4-yard line. Jones was being led by straight-up losers.

Then he had an atrocious Week 1 performance against a Cowboys team that made the Giants offensive line look like they were playing with their cleats glued into the turf. The Giants offensive line looked like the 5 of them had met, like, 3 minutes before the opening kickoff.

Jones threw for only 104 yards and tossed 2 interceptions. He was sacked 7 times but it felt like he was sacked every single time he dropped back.

It didn’t help Jones’s rep to go into halftime against a Cardinals team clearly tanking the season with only 62 passing yards and an interception.

So naturally, Daniel Jones stock was at its lowest.

But something happened in the locker room that revived this team and Daniel Jones put the entire franchise on his back.

DANIEL JONES RUSHING TD! pic.twitter.com/ebRyLon1Om

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 17, 2023

Here’s what Daniel Jones finished with in Glendale:

26-for-37 (70%)
321 passing yards
2 touchdowns
1 interception
59 rushing yards
1 touchdown
380 TOTAL yards
3 TOTAL touchdowns

But we also have to give credit to a much improved offensive line who looked like they were 5 random guys who won a local radio contest for a chance to play for the Giants last week.

Bounce-back performance from the #Giants offensive line. Allowed only seven pressures.

The Pass Block Win Rates:
LT Josh Ezeudu 89.7% (21st)
LG Mark Glowinski 93.8% (18th)
C JM Schmitz 100% (T-1)
RG Marcus McKethan 89.7% (27th)
RT Evan Neal 93.1% (15th)

Massive improvement…

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 18, 2023

Huge round of applause to my guy John Michael Schmitz who was snapping footballs at Jones’s feet last week and this week, was the best center in the entire league.

When Daniel Jones has time, he can win you football games.

I think there’s a misconception in this league.

Fans and (some organizations) believe you need a once-in-a-generation QB like Patrick Mahomes in order to win. And recently, having Mahomes has been a cheat code for the Chiefs.

But I’m more of the belief you simply need a guy who isn’t afraid in the 4th quarters. We watched Eli Manning throw beach balls all season but the second the games mattered most, he leveled up into a Hall of Fame caliber player throwing perfect balls where only his receivers could catch them. Eli turned David Tyree and Mario Manningham into Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.

Daniel Jones doesn’t need to throw 300 meaningless yards every week like some of your favs (looking directly at Justin Herbert and his zero playoff wins).

All he needs to do is keep blacking out in the second halves of these games and the Giants can win with him.

That contract is going to start looking like a discount soon, especially when you look at some the of guys who make more than him. I would 100000% rather have Daniel Jones back there than Kyler Murray or Deshaun Watson.

I’d also 10000% rather have Deshaun Watson in prison but that’s a conversation for another day.

ACKNOWLEDGE DANNY 3-PIECE.

2. This defense desperately needs playmakers

It is absurd how great the Cardinals offense looked in the first half.

You cannot consistently win football games in this league allowing Josh Dobbs to march down the field. Josh Dobbs looks like Harry Potter’s house elf. This man should never feel confident.

You also cannot consistently win football games without winning the turnover battle.

Where are the guys on this team who are picking off bad passes? Knocking the ball out of opposing QBs hands as they sack them?

Kayvon Thibodeaux was supposed to be the new, young, star pass rusher on this team and his name wasn’t even in the fucking box score until halfway through the 4th quarter.

Kayvon Thibodeaux.

I can totally pull this outfit off. #NYGiants pic.twitter.com/DaO50xgDzt

— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) September 17, 2023

Russell Westbrook had to average a triple-double before he got these types of fits off. Kayvon is walking around like an established star and has had ZERO impact this season.

Leonard Williams literallyyyyyyy didn’t do shit in Arizona.

The man went out to Glendale to chill for a weekend. 0 tackles. 0 sacks. 0 QB hits. Just vibes. We are witnessing the worst contract year in sports history.

And it’s Don Martindale from now. You don’t get the cute ‘Wink’ nickname until you can coach a defense capable of stopping third-string quarterbacks.

The constant zone defense doesn’t work when no one in the secondary understands what their zone responsibilities are. Every time the ball was in the air, a Giants DB was looking around expecting another DB to be back there helping only to realize it was their own mistake.

Every time.

But again, this team needs playmakers. Someone who can confidently jump a route and make a play on the ball.

Shout out to Jason Pinnock. He was all over the field but there’s only so much he can do when he’s playing with Xavier McKinney—who like Thibodeaux, was supposed to be a star playmaker—who got truck-sticked by a frail QB.

Xavier McKinney that’s a free running QB what are you doing 😂

Giants are costing us draft positionpic.twitter.com/V6U55c4faE

— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) September 17, 2023

It’s only Week 2. Players can emerge as the season goes on but I can’t help but get angry seeing guys like Montez Sweat and Josh Allen—who the Giants could’ve drafted—have 3 sacks each already while the Giants couldn’t get a single sack against one of the worst teams in the NFL.

3. Arizona sucks

I mean, I’d be remiss to not point out how atrocious the Arizona Cardinals looked after going up 20-0 in the first half.

Now, I know a bunch of jokes about the Cardinals tanking are coming. Anything to undermine a Giants W.

But we all know you cannot get a room of 53 players on non-guaranteed contracts to go out there and intentionally lose in order for a franchise to get a higher draft position to potentially select guys who will be taking their jobs.

No, this isn’t tanking. This is just stinky ass football.

The Cardinals are 1-14 at home in the last 2 seasons. They haven’t been tanking for 2 years. Getting Caleb Williams won’t fix this stench.

The problem is Cardinals owner, Michael Bidwell—who was recently in trouble with the league for using burner phones to communicate with then-general manager Steve Keim who was serving a DUI suspension.

Oh, and a former team executive, Terry McDonough, accused Bidwell of being racist to his employees:

McDonough described Bidwill’s treatment of a Black employee and two pregnant women in a negative light and said the owner “created an environment of fear for minority employees.”

On Sundays, no one’s thinking about the owners. Well, except Cowboys fans since Jerry Jones makes sure he’s in at least one camera shot a quarter.

But then the games end and you remember most of the teams are owned by white dudes who have no idea how to interact with the black guys they’re employing.

The Arizona Cardinals have an ownership issue and no amount of tanking is going to suddenly fix the entitled rich kid who was handed an NFL franchise by his father.

Shout out James Conner though. 106 rushing yards and a TD. Sorry you’re playing for a guy who probably tried to connect with you by asking you what your favorite Jay-Z song is before he awkwardly rapped 99 Problems at you in an elevator.

Thanks for reading.

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