By Andrew Rosario
This was a game the Giants needed to win. At MetLife Stadium, hosting the 2-3-1 Arizona Cardinals, who traveled cross country on a overcast rainy Sunday. The 2-4 Giants, knowing a win could get them within 1 game of the conference as a result of the Dallas-Eagles game, came out as flat as a team could be.
Arizona would score the first two times they touched the ball as rookie quarterback and first round draft choice Kyler Murray would lead his team to touchdowns the first two times the team the ball. Running back Chase Edmonds (Fordham University 27, 126 yards, 3 td’s) blasting in both times from 20 yards.
Daniel Jones helped the Cards second score by throwing an interception as his pass was intended for wide receiver Golden Tate. Arizona put 3 more points on the board (17-0) before the Giants offense would wake up.
The Giants got on the board quickly going 79 yards in 4 plays with Jones finding tight end Rhett Ellison for the 20 yard touchdown catch. Then, the special team stepped up. Safety Michael Thomas breaking through the line to block the punt with as Eli Penny recovered it in the end zone bringing them within 3.
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The Cardinals extended the lead (24-14) as Edmonds scored for third time running it in from 22 yards this time. Looking to get within one score, field goal kicker Aldrick Rosas misses from 37 yards out.
Running back Saquon Barkley (72 yards on 18 carries) returned after missing the previous three games with an ankle injury and got the team within 3 after his 7 yard touchdown run. “It felt good to get back out there,” Barkley said. Then, head coach Pat Shurmur made some head scratching calls down the stretch.
With more than 4 minutes to go and on their own 30, Shurmur call a draw play to Barkley needing 18 yards for the first down. He gains three yards. Instead of electing to punt with a time out and the two- minute warning, Shurmur calls a pass play. Jones (22-35, 223 yards, 1td, 1 int) gets sacked as Arizona added a field goal (27-21) with the Giants needing a touchdown to steal the victory. It didn’t happen. “I had planned to go for it,” Shurmur said of the last two plays. “We just didn’t execute the play.”
The New York Giants came out flat at home against a team that flew cross country. A victory could have gotten them within one game of the division after Dallas blew out Philadelphia later that night. It’s not like they didn’t have their chances. “As a whole we gotta get better,” said Barkley of the offense.
The Giants travel to Detroit to take on the Lions Sunday.
