Beanie Wells: The Arizona Cardinals' Key to Stopping the New York Giants

Beanie Wells declared that he will "definitely" play against the New York Giants this Sunday.  And with that, the Arizona Cardinals (1-2) should have the edge on New York (2-1).

After three weeks of regular season play, the Giants are ceding over 100 yards per game in their rush defense.

The G-Men have faced Tim Hightower, Cadillac Williams and LeSean McCoy. Out of that trio, only McCoy qualifies as an elite runner. McCoy gashed the Giants for 128 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.  

This Sunday, you can expect similar results from Wells.  

In the two games Wells has played this year—he lined up against the Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins—he's averaging 5.7 yards per carry. .  

Given Carolina's porous defensive line, Wells' success was expected; Washington, on the other hand, is ranked 11th against the run.

In the first half, the Redskins defense had the upper-hand on Beanie Wells' ground attack. Or so it seemed.  

During the entire first half of play, the Cardinals ran the ball a total of three times—once in the first quarter and twice in the second quarter for six yards from Wells.

Undoubtedly, Wells craved more of an opportunity than those three plays. It appeared that Beanie argued his case to offensive coordinator Mike Miller during halftime, and Miller listened.

Miller called Wells' number on five of the 10 plays in the Cardinals' opening drive of the second half. Wells rumbled for 32 yards on those five carries, showing a nice burst and tremendous vision, even gracing Cardinal fans with a sneak peak at that battering ram he calls a stiff-arm.  

On the day, Wells averaged 6.6 yards per carry and scored one touchdown against Washington's vaunted rush defense.  

If Wells is able to suit up for Week 4 this Sunday, the Cardinals would be wise to feature him as they did in the second half of the Washington game.    

Once Beanie has established the ground game, QB Kevin Kolb can exploit the Giants' struggling secondary, which allowed Rex Grossman and Sam Bradford to throw for over 300 yards.  

The Giants secondary ranks 20th against the pass and has yet to defend against an elite wideout as talented as Larry Fitzgerald.  

Coming off a four-touchdown performance, Eli Manning will look to expose the Birds' young secondary; Eli's look will have to be a quick one.  

Manning has been pummeled 10 times this year, a pace that rivals Jay Cutler's 56 sacks in 2010. Arizona's nine sacks ranks seventh in the NFL.  

The Cardinals' strong front-seven will hound Manning all game, something the Eagles' pocket-sized linebackers were incapable of. Look for at least two of Eli's signature interceptions for Week 4.  

While the Cardinals have endured the bitter taste of losing their past two games by a combined four points, this Sunday, Wells, and his stiff-arm, will have the Cardinals enjoying the sweet taste of victory.