New York Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals: Top 5 matchups
By Henry Buggy
The G-Men are 0-2 under interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo and travel to Arizona seeking their first conference win of the season in Week 16.
There’s no shortage of storylines for Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals despite a disappointing year for both franchises.
Big Blue was expected to compete for an NFC East division title after making the playoffs in 2016, and the Cardinals were hoping to have a bounce-back season one-year removed from their NFC Championship loss to Carolina. Clearly, things didn’t go as planned.
Both the Giants and Cardinals lost their best offensive weapons, Odell Beckham Jr. and David Johnson, to season-ending injuries. Giants quarterback Eli Manning had his 210-game starting streak come to an end, while Cardinals veteran quarterback Carson Palmer had his season cut short due to a broken arm.
Arizona has since started Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert, and head coach Bruce Arians announced this week that Stanton would be returning to the starting lineup, via ESPN.
"“It is no fault of Blaine. I think Blaine is going to be a hell of a player, but Drew already knows all those scenarios. He’s healthy enough now and it’s just a matter of getting those touchdowns that are there from experience, and trying to win this game.”"
The 10-year veteran quarterback has amassed a 9-6 starting record since entering the league in 2007 and will likely look to take advantage of Big Blue’s banged up secondary.
The G-Men were unable to get a win over NFC East rival Philadelphia last week despite scoring a season-high 29 points and will need to win five key matchups if they hope to pull off the upset in the desert.