Arizona Cardinals vs. New York Giants: Full Report-Card Grades for Arizona
Football is a team game. It takes a complete team to win in the NFL, and the Arizona Cardinals proved that for a second consecutive week to begin the 2014 season. The New York Giants had a fourth-quarter lead, just as the San Diego Chargers did last week, and the Cardinals found a way to get it done and emerge victorious.
With quarterback Carson Palmer on the shelf Sunday with a shoulder injury, backup Drew Stanton stepped in and led the team on an early touchdown drive. From there, the offense sputtered and put-putted its way to four field goals, which, along with a Ted Ginn Jr. 71-yard punt return for a touchdown, were enough to hold off Eli Manning and the Giants.
Arizona is 2-0 and will exit Week 2 with at least a share of the NFC West division lead.
How did each positional unit perform in Sunday's 25-14 win? Let's find out.
Quarterback
1 of 10
For the first time since 2010, Drew Stanton threw a pass in an NFL game. He looked sharp early but was wild and inaccurate after the first couple of drives.
He took four sacks, three of which were likely his fault after holding onto the ball for too long. One—credited to left guard Ted Larsen against defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins—was not his fault. Overall, Stanton looked like you would expect: a quarterback who hasn't played for three-and-a-half years.
It wasn't all bad.
He targeted Larry Fitzgerald 10 times, connecting with the former All-Pro receiver six times for 51 yards (8.5 yards per catch) and did not turn the ball over. He drove the ball downfield willingly and accurately at times, including on third downs and late in the first half when the television broadcast suggested he should kneel on it and get to halftime.
Stanton would be the long-term option in the horrifying event Palmer is unable to play for an extended time, but that would be bad. The Cardinals beat a lousy Giants team with Stanton behind center, but the NFC West beckons, and all three defenses he would face are far superior to what he encountered Sunday.
Stanton earned a high grade for his courage given the situation.
Grade: B-
Running Back
2 of 10
Unlike last week, we didn't see running back Stepfan Taylor at all in this game; it was all Andre Ellington and Jonathan Dwyer.
They did not disappoint.
Ellington was the offensive catalyst all afternoon, rushing 15 times for 91 yards (6.1 yards per carry). Dwyer carried nine times for 31 yards (3.4 YPC) and the lone Arizona offensive touchdown.
Six of Ellington's 15 carries netted six yards or more; three of those covered at least 15 yards. He caught only one pass, but it converted a first down on a drive that resulted in a Chandler Catanzaro field goal to move the Cardinals within a point of the Giants.
Fullback Robert Hughes had an interesting day, allowing a blocked punt and turnover but providing great run blocking for Ellington all game long.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Fitzgerald showed up ready to play, leading the receiving corps with his six-catch, 51-yard afternoon. But other than the veteran, no one really wowed spectators.
Wideout Michael Floyd had only one reception for 19 yards, and rookie John Brown added three receptions for 28 yards (9.3 YPC). Neither was a big part of the offense with Palmer sidelined.
Tight end John Carlson was second on the team with 43 yards on two receptions (21.5 YPC), both of which went for first downs.
Overall, the blocking from Arizona's receiving corps was solid once again, especially from the tight ends. All three—Carlson, Rob Housler and rookie Troy Niklas—took out Giants defenders in the run game at times and looked good blocking downfield.
Had Palmer been healthy enough to play, the receiver grade would likely be higher, given he is a better quarterback. Stanton missed some throws throughout the game, limiting what the corps could do.
Grade: C
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Four sacks allowed looks bad for the offensive line, but it really wasn't that poor of a performance. As noted previously, Stanton could have gotten rid of the football earlier or looked to escape the pocket in a timelier fashion in order to prevent some of those sacks.
The Larsen sack was bad, and he struggled throughout the game, but he was a blip on an otherwise solid performance in both pass blocking and run blocking for the offensive line.
Penalties were not much of an issue for the line, as only one of two was accepted. Left tackle Jared Veldheer was called for a facemask that nullified a 22-yard Stanton-to-Fitzgerald pass play that would have put the Cardinals within Catanzaro's range. Other than that, it was a pretty clean slate for Arizona's line.
I was impressed with the way the linemen opened lanes for Ellington. Like last week, they dominated up front and provided truck-sized lanes for the running backs.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
We saw some heavy pressure on a few occasions from the defensive line against the Giants Sunday. But, like last week, the opposing quarterback had a clean pocket and all day to find a receiver most of the game.
Defensive end Calais Campbell had a sack called back because of a penalty, but he made up for it as time was short for Manning and the Giants, sacking the former No. 1 overall pick late in the fourth quarter. He had a game-high 10 tackles, all solo, and three tackles for loss. He lived in New York's backfield, which is what we're accustomed to seeing from big No. 93.
Dan Williams was a monster in stopping the run as usual, totaling three tackles but allowing others around him to stop ball-carriers by taking up multiple offensive linemen. Much of the time, Williams could be seen on run plays leading his lineman directly to the running lane intended for Giants backs.
That's what you want to see from your nose tackle. He was superb.
Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who started in place of the injured Frostee Rucker, deflected a pass and recorded three solo tackles. He didn't get much pressure on Manning, so that hurts the grade some.
Still, though, the run defense from this group was good enough to make up for it and then some.
Grade: B-
Linebackers
6 of 10
The Larry Foote show continued Sunday against the Giants. He had eight more tackles, bringing his season total to 16 on the year. He is on pace for 128 total tackles, which would be by far his career high. It's awful early in the season to project total tackles, though, so we'll hold off on that for now.
Though the linebacking corps did not get much pressure on Manning, the run defense was great as a whole. Both inside linebackers, Foote and Kevin Minter, were around the ball a lot at the line of scrimmage. For being a massive downgrade to Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington, those two sure are playing well early on.
With no John Abraham as the veteran mulls retirement, outside linebacker Thomas Keiser got the start and had just one tackle. His name was not called much, which means he did not do much to impress the announcers. I didn't notice anything special from him, either.
Outside linebacker Sam Acho picked off Manning in the first quarter, leading to a Catanzaro field goal. He is notoriously solid in coverage, and that appeared no different on Sunday. He also recorded a batted pass of Manning.
Bottom line: We need to see more pressure on opposing quarterbacks from this group.
Grade: C+
Secondary
7 of 10
This is where the team will get dinged this week. Star cornerback Patrick Peterson and slot corner Jerraud Powers both had forgettable days. Powers was repeatedly torched by anyone he covered, leading to first-down grab after first-down grab. Peterson allowed a touchdown for the second consecutive week and lost his cool; he was momentarily benched by coaches after some frustrating "point-of-emphasis" penalties on the fourth-year defender.
He may be fined by the league this week after bumping into one of the referees, in fact. I've never seen Peterson get that angry and frustrated.
Antonio Cromartie played well covering the side of the field opposite Peterson and was targeted only a few times, coming away relatively unscathed in the process. He had a great pass breakup on a deep ball late that helped thwart a Giants comeback.
Covering tight ends has been an issue since last season, and the problem reared its ugly head in this one. Relatively unknown tight end Larry Donnell led the Giants with seven receptions for 81 yards (11.6 YPC), while Daniel Fells caught a 1-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give Manning and Co. the lead.
Manning was 26-of-39 passing (66.7 percent) in this one for 277 yards, two scores and two picks for an 83.0 passer rating.
Grade: D-
Special Teams
8 of 10
Until Ted Ginn Jr. returned a punt 71 yards for essentially the game-winning touchdown with 10:10 left in regulation, this grade would have been very average. Despite Catanzaro's perfect day of kicking field goals, his kickoffs and Ginn's poor returns left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
Not to mention, there was yet another blocked punt from the opposition. Catanzaro connected on all four of his field goals with a long of 49 yards, though. That's a bright spot.
I'm keeping it short like Ginn's punt-return average before the touchdown...
Grade: B-
Coaching
9 of 10
A defensive coach can dial up all the blitzes he wants, but if he doesn't have the personnel to get pressure, no amount of blitzing will matter. That's the issue facing Todd Bowles this season, as his defense has just two sacks in two games.
The calls against run plays were masterful, however, as Foote, Minter and Co. held the Giants to just three yards per carry on the day.
And not to sound negative after a win, but Bruce Arians continuing to call passing plays with an eight-point lead late in the game when he should be giving the ball to his running back, who averaged 6.3 yards every time he touched the ball Sunday, will significantly drop the overall coaching grade. There is no reason to have your backup quarterback throwing incompletions while attempting to protect a one-possession lead.
Can't do it.
Grade: C-
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| QB | B- |
| RB | A |
| WR | C |
| OL | B |
| DL | B- |
| LB | C+ |
| Secondary | D- |
| Special Teams | B- |
| Coaching | C+ |
| Cumulative Grade | B- |
The Cardinals have eked out two straight wins to start the season. That looks good on paper and, in a tough NFC West, they'll need all the outside-the-division wins they can get. But holes on the team have to be addressed by the bye week, or things could spiral quickly.
Then there's this:
"Bruce Arians definitely started laying the groundwork during his presser for Palmer to miss next week and continue resting during the bye.
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) September 14, 2014"
If Palmer is forced to miss next week's home game against the San Francisco 49ers, that doesn't bode well for Arizona's chances of starting the season 3-0 and beating its division rivals for the first time since December 2011.
Obviously, it's a long season. Allowing Palmer to rest next week, coupled with the Week-4 bye, will give him three weeks of resting his throwing shoulder. That sounds like a good idea, but at what cost? The Cardinals missed the playoffs by two division losses last year. If they beat the St. Louis Rams in Week 1 and the 49ers once, they're in, and San Francisco is out.
Anyway, the team must find a pass rush before the 49ers come calling, because not getting to Colin Kaepernick is asking to lose the football game.
All stats provided by ESPN.com.
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