Your NFC East-leading New York Giants defeated the Arizona Cardinals 36-24 Sunday in a game that was much closer (to say the least) than that final score indicates. This game had a lot of the things we fear and that we hope for from this team. Let’s talk about a few of them.
Dennard Wilson finally decides to be aggressive – and it pays off
Wilson came to the Giants with a reputation as a defensive coordinator who likes to force the action, the polar opposite of the passive Shane Bowen. Through three games, we didn’t see much evidence of that. Wilson’s defense only
broke up five passes in the Giants’ first three games. Well Sunday, things changed…a lot.
Jacoby Brissett was slicing and dicing (h/t Walt Frazier) the Giants’ defense in the first quarter, and it looked like things might get out of hand in a hurry when the score got to 14-3 before the first quarter was edone. Then Dennard finally started being aggressive. All told, he wound up blitzing on 20 of 39 Brissett dropbacks. Not Brian Flores-level blitzing, but still a lot. Brissett was only 5 of 17 on those dropbacks for 43 yards. When not blitzed he was 16 of 18 for 123 yards. After that first quarter, the Cardinals only had 10 points the rest of the game. The defense broke up 6 passes today, one more than in the first three games combined.
Jameis Winston + Matt Nagy = oil + water
Last season, when Jaxson Dart went down with a concussion, Jameis Winston took over and the Giants’ offense, though different in nature without the threat of Dart’s legs, didn’t miss a beat. In the two games Dart played before being injured, he threw for 433 yards and two touchdowns. In Winston’s two starts, against Green Bay and Detroit, he threw for 567 yards and two touchdowns. Yes, Jameis comes inevitably with interceptions, but the offense didn’t look noticeably worse or awkward with Winston at the helm other than the absence of the threat of QB runs.
This season so far is a completely different story. Winston appears very uncomfortable in the Nagy et al. offense. He’s hesitating after dropping back, bailing the pocket at a moment’s notice. Sunday we saw both good and bad Jameis, with three TD passes and 250 yards but also two interceptions and four sacks.
Winston just looks unsure when he drops back in this offense. And maybe with good cause. Obviously the Giants want to run more this year than when Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka were designing the offense, no surprise there. The question, now that Winston is the starter, is whether Nagy can design an offense that will click against the better defenses the Giants will see down the line, or whether his starting days are numbered once J.J. McCarthy gets up to speed.
Is Deonte Banks’ career being resurrected?
During training camp we heard the coaching staff say nice things about Deonte Banks. I for one took those with a grain of salt and agonized about what the Giants’ pass coverage would look like with Cor’Dale Flott gone and no obvious immediate replacement on the roster. Yes, the Giants signed Greg Newsome (who gave up six receptions Sunday but did have an interception) and drafted Colton Hood (who, to my knowledge, did not see the field Sunday), but none of that gave me faith.
Fast forward to Week 4, and we’re seeing something that gives me hope. Banks didn’t look bad in the opener against Dallas and then missed the next two games. Today, though, he was one of the players of the game. The Cardinals picked on him, targeting him eight times. He gave up three completions, for 19 yards, but he had responsibility on two of Arizona’s touchdowns. He came up big late in the game, though. With the Cardinals knocking on the door at the end of the game seeking the winning score, Banks made two consecutive great plays, first getting a hand in to break up the potential winning TD to Trey McBride, and then stepping in front of Michael Wilson for a pick-6 to end the game.
I’m not ready to say that Banks will ever justify his first-round pedigree, but he looks like he might finally become the viable cornerback that we saw glimpses of in his rookie year.
Speaking of first round picks…
It is not taking Arvell Reese long to adjust to playing football at the NFL level. He was a monster on Sunday: nine solo tackles (five of them stops), three passes defensed, and an interception, plus a hit on Brissett. Wilson had Reese rush the passer 13 times, about twice as often as he had in his first three games. He was targeted six times and gave up 6six completions, but only for 36 total yards. He really seems to be the total package as a defensive player, a chess piece Wilson can move all around the board.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ other recent top five draft pick, Abdul Carter, is starting to make noise. He pressured Brissett nine times:
As you can see, Wilson lined him up all over the place, both sides, inside and outside, and he got pressures no matter where he lined up.
And finally, welcome back, Malik Nabers! Six targets, six receptions, 112 yards and his first TD of the season. This is the first time since his injury that Nabers looked to my eye as if he wasn’t thinking about it anymore. Maybe Nagy will finally start pushing the ball downfield more often.
Honorable mention
I’m only supposed to get four things for this post, but I would be remiss not to once again mention kicker Dominic Zvada (3 for 3 field goals today and 9 of 9 for the season) and punter Jordan Stout (3 punts, 48.7 yard-average, 2 inside the 20). The Giants’ special teams are finally special.
