The New York Giants (2-4) host the Arizona Cardinals (2-3-1) at MetLife Stadium this Sunday in face-off between the top two quarterbacks selected in this year’s NFL Draft.
Arizona chose Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray first overall, while the Giants used the sixth pick in Round 1 to take Daniel Jones of Duke.
Here are six things to know about Sunday’s matchup:
A rare Top 10 quarterback matchup
This will be the first time rookies — who were the first two quarterbacks chosen in their draft — will face one another since Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (No. 1) played against Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota (No. 2). back on Sept. 13, 2015.
Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, rookie quarterbacks selected in the Top 10 of that year’s draft have faced one another nine times with the quarterback selected higher winning five times.
Murray has started all six of the Cardinals’ games this season, while Jones was inserted into the Giants’ starting lineup in Week 3.
The Giants have dominated the series
This week’s game between the Cardinals and Giants extends the legacy of one of the NFL’s longest-running rivalries. These two franchises have met 126 times in a series that dates back to 1926. The Giants and Cardinals were NFC East rivals from 1950 to 2001 before Arizona joined the NFC West in division realignment.
The Cardinals franchise began in Chicago in 1920 and were called the Chicago Cardinals for every season though 1959 except in 1944 (Card-Pitt) when they combined with Pittsburgh Steelers for one season duding World War II. They played in St. Louis from 1960-1987. They moved to Arizona in 1988 as the Phoenix Cardinals, changing their name to Arizona in 1994.
The Giants lead the series 80-44-2. The Cardinals have won the last two — and three of the last four — meetings against the Giants, which includes a 25-14 victory in Week 2 of the 2014 season in Arizona’s last visit to MetLife Stadium.
Familiar faces will be all around
The Giants have several former Cardinals on their roster: S Antoine Bethea, LB Markus Golden, RB Eli Penny and DT Olsen Pierre are all now with the Giants, as is defensive coordinator James Bettcher, who served in the same position for Arizona for three seasons (2015-17) for two years (2013-14) as the team’s outside linebackers coach. Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert (2003) and assist special teams coach Anthony Blevins (2013-2017) both coached in Arizona.
Cardinals’ starting guard Justin Pugh was the Giants’ first round selection (19th overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft and played five years for Big Blue, starting 63 games. Linebackers coach Bill Davis served in the same capacity with the Giants in 2004.
The Murray effect
In his last three games, QB Kyler Murray has 986 total yards (834 passing; 152 rushing), five TDs (3 passing, 2 rushing) and just one turnover in 126 combined pass/rush attempts. His 128.2 passer rating and three TD passes last week versus Atlanta represent the highest single-game totals for a rookie QB this season.
After finishing the 2018 season with the NFL’s No. 32 ranked offense, Arizona has the NFL’s ninth-ranked offense in 2019 (376.8 net yard/game). They have committed just four turnovers in their first six games, tied with Chicago and Tennessee for the lowest total in the NFL. The 2019 season marks the first time in franchise history Arizona did not lose a fumble in the first six games of a season.
Arizona has 28 scoring drives this season, tied for the fifth-highest total in the NFL. The Cardinals have as many scoring drives through six games in 2019 (28) as they had through 13 games in 2018 (28).
Patrick Peterson is back
CB Patrick Peterson returns this week after a six-game PED ban. Peterson was taken with the 6th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and in his first eight seasons, he earned eight Pro Bowl selections and was named first-team All-Pro three times. Since his rookie season in 2011, only four players have more INTs than Peterson.
From Rotoworld: “The Cardinals’ secondary was dreadful in his absence, permitting an embarrassing 281.2 passing yards per game, third-worst ahead of only Tampa Bay (304.5) and the Giants (285). One of Tramaine Brock or Byron Murphy will lose their starting post to Peterson, who ranks 12th among active players with 23 career interceptions.”
Some key Giants numbers
Safety Antoine Bethea will play his 200th career game this Sunday. Wide receiver Golden Tate needs 171 receiving yards to reach 7,500 for his career.
Janoris Jenkins’ 62-yard interception return last week in New England is the longest in the NFC this season and the longest by a Giants player since Trumaine McBride’s 63-yarder on Nov. 1, 2015 at New Orleans.
Markus Golden’s 42-yard fumble return in the loss to the Patriots was the longest by a Giants player since Olivier Vernon’s 43-yarder versus Washington on Oct. 28, 2018, and the longest for a touchdown since Jason Pierre-Paul’s 43-yarder at Cleveland on Nov. 27, 2016.
*Courtesy to the Giants’ public relations team and Cardinals’ media relations department for the information and statistics.
