The New York Giants head into their Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals with hopes of rebounding from their Week 1 embarrassing shutout loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.
With plenty of difficult games on the front half of the Giants’ schedule, getting a win against the Cardinals will be vital for Big Blue.
Buy Giants TicketsThere weren’t many positives to take out of the Giants’ Week 1 performance.
Here are three causes for concern ahead of the Giants’ matchup against the Cardinals.
Overlooking their opponent
With the way they lost in Week 1, the Giants’ game against the Cardinals has suddenly become a must-win for Big Blue. With plenty of challenging games in the coming weeks, including a game against the San Francisco 49ers just four days later, the Giants must stay focused on the Cardinals.
Many expect the Cardinals to be one of the league’s worst teams this season. However, Arizona put up a fight in week 1 against the Washington Commanders.
Big Blue has not faired well against backup quarterbacks in recent memory.
The Giants looked completely unprepared in Week 1, so it will be important for them to bring their A-game against the Cardinals.
Offensive line struggles
Certainly, the Cardinals’ pass rush is not as threatening as the one the Giants played in the season opener.
However, with the way the offensive line struggled in Week 1, it’s hard to be optimistic that the offensive line will be able to hold its own this week. Arizona did rack up six sacks in their game last week against the Washington Commanders.
The offensive line will certainly need to improve if the Giants’ offense is going to be able to function the way offensive coordinator Mike Kafka would like.
Improvement, however, will be no easy task with Andrew Thomas nursing a hamstring injury.
Even if Thomas plays against Arizona, it’s doubtful he will be 100 percent.
Giants pass rush
The Giants will not have to worry about the elusiveness of Kyler Murray on Sunday with the Cardinals quarterback currently on the physically unable-to-perform list.
However, the Giants pass rush was nonexistent against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
If Big Blue doesn’t get pressure on quarterback Joshua Dobbs and allow him to get comfortable, they could have trouble slowing down the Cardinals’ offense.
