If you think that I'm being harsh about this, you probably didn't watch the entire game. The Arizona Cardinals dominated a broken New York Giants team for 30 minutes and many in the NFL realm were laughing at the fact that Daniel Jones was a $160 million laughingstock.
But something happened at halftime. Brian Daboll was not the NFL Coach of the Year last season for nothing. New York was outscored 67-7 in the first six quarters of 2023. He and his team decided to finally wake up and realize that they were playing a squad that is supposed to be "tanking" to get Caleb Williams. The Giants systemically went back-and-forth on the Cardinals for the last 30 minutes and used Saquon Barkley as a lethal part of their offense. Unfortunately, he left the game due to an ankle injury. (Side note: Hopefully he comes back quick due to fantasy football.)
As for the Cardinals, they are a squad that is still trying to get their feet on the ground. I know that the title of this is kind of harsh and they are going through some growing pains as a new regime. This should be a learning experience for them. When they have a big lead as yesterday, FOOT ON THROAT. Josh Dobbs played the best half of his career for the first 30 minutes. Then the second half happened, and it went all for naught. The defense simply forgot to tackle, cover or apply a pass rush during the second half. These are many things that a defense should to, especially in the last 30 minutes of a game. The coaching staff is also going through these growing pains as well. Plain and simple the Giants adjusted for the second half, the Cardinals did not.
Earlier today, I was listening to a talk radio show here and someone pointed out that it's become a common theme to see some of the fans wear the visiting team's apparel and they cheer as the game ends since their team has defeated the Cardinals inside State Farm Stadium. Here lies a huge problem for the last couple of seasons. The Cardinals' inability to defend their home turf and having the opposing club and fanbase celebrate as they were at their home. This is where the building block of the new regime starts, taking back their home field. Once they are winning home games, Arizona can have the personnel and confidence to go on the road and defeat their adversary at their home spot. As George Harrison once sang, it's going to take patience and time.
So, as much as I don't want to get cynical about this, what happened yesterday was a choke job, but it was also a learning experience as well.
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