Daniel Jones redeems himself for the ignominy against Dallas?

If you asked New York Giants fans about their biggest fear heading into the first NFL game, exciting answers would surely have been provided. Even their worst fears, however, might not even come close to what happened to the traditional franchise this past Sunday. In front of their home crowd, the preseason playoff contenders fell 40-0 (!) to the Dallas Cowboys in a divisional duel, embarrassing themselves to the bone.

Now Daniel Jones and Co. get the chance to make amends next weekend. The fact that the odds on the Cardinals against the Giants are significantly lower than the odds on the men from the “Big Apple” underlines the fact that the best bookmakers are assuming that the Giants will slip up in view of the sporting breakdown a week ago. The home side’s problems, on the other hand, are buried deeper and are unlikely to be addressed within eight days.

Leaded by quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who has never been more than a backup in his previous stops, the Cards also conceded a tough loss on the first day of play, but are at least looking forward to home-field advantage on Sunday. Whether this will lead to a prediction between the Cardinals and the Giants on the team of head coach Jonathan Gannon, however, may be highly doubted. Qualitatively, the Giants are in any case stronger to assess.

Arizona Cardinals – statistics & current form

The Arizona Cardinals are definitely among the top favorites this season. Not among the top favorites to win the 2024 Super Bowl, though, but among those hottest contenders for the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. In other words: Hardly any other franchise is rated as weak as the Cardinals, who also currently rank 32nd and thus last in the NFL’s power rankings.

The previous week’s performance against the Washington Commanders didn’t really serve as a mood booster. In a largely low-scoring game, the Cards lost 16-20 and were in worrying form, especially offensively. Almost all the concerns of their own supporters came true and if the coming weeks do not bring a significant improvement in performance, it is likely to be a long, arduous and unsuccessful season.

Are the Cardinals currently the worst NFL team?

With the help of some statistics, it quickly becomes clear why the Cardinals are also classified as underdogs against the Giants according to odds. In the opener, for example, the Arizona franchise failed to score an offensive TD of its own. Ten of the 16 points against the weak Commanders were scored by kicker Matt Prater. The only touchdown was scored by the defense, which did a decent job of keeping the pass rush in check.

In the end, however, Joshua Dobbs’ 132 yards (0 TD, 0 INT) were not enough to make it to the end zone. The receivers around Marquise Brown were often at a loss, only running back James Conner was able to put in a solid performance with 4.4 yards per carry. Since the pressure of the opponent will be greater on Sunday and we estimate the team of the inexperienced head coach Gannon qualitatively weaker, the forecast must swing between the Cardinals and the Giants in the direction of New York.

Predicted Arizona Cardinals lineup:

• QB: Joshua Dobbs
• RB: James Conner
• WR: Marquise Brown
• WR: Rondale Moore
• TE: Zack Ertz
• K: Matt Prater

New York Giants – Statistics & current form

A team can’t start a new season much worse than the Giants. From the first to the last minute, everything went wrong the previous week against the Cowboys, who were by no means sensational. Fumbles, blocked field goals, interceptions as well as dropped passes determined the performance of coach Brian Daboll’s team, who had to face unpleasant questions in the interview after the encounter.

The main focus of the media was the personnel issue of Daniel Jones, who despite a hopeless deficit and considering his injury history was somewhat surprisingly on the field until the end and was not taken out early. Head coach Daboll argued that he still wanted to give his quarterback a positive feeling along the way. It was no use. The playmaker remained without points, afforded himself two interceptions and was also sacked seven times (!)

What is stuck in the minds of the Giants players?

However, the 26-year-old model athlete knows how to deal with setbacks, as he has proven several times in the past. After significant defeats, Daniel Jones has recently been able to redeem himself on a regular basis. His last nine defeats were followed by victories in seven of them. If you even want to bet on the Giants quarterback scoring a touchdown himself on Sunday evening, you can get quotes of over 3.00 for it. Such a scenario can’t be ruled out, because Jones likes to march into the end zone himself, especially in play-action mode, if he can’t find a touchdown station.

Because we also assume that last season’s playoff participant was a slip-up, it is the odds on the away win before the Cardinals vs. Giants matchup that give us a better feeling. This is not least due to Saquon Barkley, who showed his undisputed class as a running back in the previous week and will now probably play a big role against the Cards. Tight end Darren Waller, who did not practice with the team during the week, is still in question.

Predicted lineup of New York Giants:

• QB: Daniel Jones
• RB: Saqueon Barkley
• WR: Isaiah Hodgins
• WR: Darius Slayton
• TE: Darren Waller
• K: Graham Gano

Arizona Cardinals – New York Giants head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Very irregularly the two franchises face each other in the NFL. The last five head-to-head duels date back to 2011. Four of those five encounters were won by the Cardinals. The last meeting three years ago also ended in a clear 26-7 victory for Arizona. However, the 2020 Birds still had Kyler Murray on the court, who is currently missing due to injury and will be missed at every turn. As such, the head-to-head doesn’t have much bearing on Sunday night’s upcoming matchup.

Arizona Cardinals – New York Giants Tip

All NFL fans are eagerly looking ahead to University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday night. Neither the Arizona Cardinals nor the New York Giants are contenders for the Super Bowl, but it will be exciting to see how Daniel Jones and his colleagues from the “Big Apple” have digested the embarrassing 0:40 defeat from the previous week against the Cowboys.

Admittedly, the Cards are a pleasant opponent for the Giants. Arizona is currently one of the worst teams in the National Football League, has hardly any weapons worth mentioning offensively with the exception of James Conner and will have to fight for every point with Joshua Dobbs at quarterback. Giants coach Daboll can rely on more individual quality, which is why the Cardinals vs. Giants betting odds are understandable.

Since the 1.47 on the two-way market is not enough for us to identify a passable value, however, we still combine this approach with a maximum of 46.5 points in the course of the game. That there will be a high-scoring spectacle seems extremely unlikely after the impressions from the previous week. Especially because the Cardinals will again have a hard time finding offensive solutions.

In the matchup of two offensive lines that went without a touchdown in the previous week, we recommend betting on the Cardinals and the Giants to win away + Under 46.5 points.