Scouting the Cardinals: Arizona Allows 8.4 Net Yards per Pass Attempt; Giants' Rush Is Without Burns
Arizona has one sack in its last two games. Jacoby Brissett averages 2.62 seconds to throw. The Giants rank last in pressure rate and lost Brian Burns, who had five of their 11 pressures.
The Arizona Cardinals come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday at 1-2 with one of the league's worst pass defenses. They have allowed 8.4 net yards per pass attempt and a 121.9 opponent passer rating, both second-highest among the 32 teams, and they have one sack in their last two games.
The Giants (2-1) bring the quarterback who throws into tight coverage most often, by Next Gen Stats' measure, and the league's least productive pass rush, which is now without Brian Burns. Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET.
Who Arizona is
The Cardinals won 26-14 at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, lost 31-7 at home to Seattle and lost 36-30 at San Francisco on Sunday. They have scored 63 points and allowed 81.
The Giants won the last meeting 31-28 in Arizona on Sept. 17, 2023. Neither head coach from that game is still in the job. Arizona fired coach Jonathan Gannon Jan. 5 and hired Mike LaFleur to replace him Feb. 1. Nathaniel Hackett is the offensive coordinator, and Nick Rallis stayed on as defensive coordinator. The Cardinals released Kyler Murray on March 11 and re-signed Jacoby Brissett in July.
Brissett, 33, has started all three games. Gardner Minshew II and third-round rookie Carson Beck are behind him on the team's depth chart.
Brissett has completed 82 of 117 passes for 652 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. His 6.1 intended air yards per attempt is well under the league average of 7.9. Tight end Trey McBride has 34 of the team's 113 targets and 26 catches for 211 yards. Marvin Harrison Jr. has four catches on nine targets while playing 77% of the offensive snaps. First-round rookie Jeremiyah Love has 160 yards on 41 carries, and the team averages 3.6 yards per rush.
On defense, the depth chart lists a three-man interior of Dante Stills, Roy Lopez and Walter Nolen III, with Josh Sweat and Zaven Collins at outside linebacker and Jack Gibbens and Mack Wilson Sr. inside. Safeties Budda Baker and Andrew Wingard have played every defensive snap. Arizona has allowed eight touchdown passes, third-most in the league, including an 82-yarder to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and an 80-yarder to Deebo Samuel.
The secondary is thinner than it was in Week 1. Arizona placed cornerback Will Johnson on injured reserve with a neck injury Sept. 23 and promoted cornerback Starling Thomas V from the practice squad. Johnson had been targeted 14 times in two starts. Safety Kitan Crawford went on injured reserve with an ankle injury Sept. 16.
Arizona's pass rush against Winston
Arizona has four sacks and a 22.2% pressure rate, 21st in the league. Three of the four sacks came in Week 1 against the Chargers. The Cardinals had one against Seattle and none at San Francisco. Baker, a safety, leads the team with 1.5. Sweat has three pressures and no sacks in 87 defensive snaps.
Jameis Winston has been pressured on 29.1% of his dropbacks this season, above the league average of 23.1%. He was sacked three times for 18 yards against Tennessee.
Winston's 24.5% aggressiveness rate, the share of throws into tight coverage, is the highest of the 37 passers on the Next Gen Stats leaderboard. His completion percentage is 9.1 points below expectation. We reported last week that the gap was 11.5 points after his relief appearance against the Rams. Against Tennessee he threw three of 22 passes into tight windows, and his average intended air yards fell from 10.1 against the Rams to 5.7.
Arizona's combination of 8.4 net yards per pass attempt allowed and a pressure rate below the league average gives Winston room for the tight-window throws he cut back on against Tennessee.
Arizona's run defense against the Giants' ground game
Arizona has allowed 383 rushing yards on 84 carries, 4.6 yards per carry against a league average of 4.2. Only six teams have allowed more rushing yards. On designed runs, opponents have a 44.3% success rate against the Cardinals, seventh-highest in the league, by our calculation from nflverse play-by-play data. The league rate is 39.7%. San Francisco succeeded on half of its 22 designed runs in Week 3.
The Giants ran 33 times for 138 yards against the Titans. Cam Skattebo had 60 yards on 20 carries, and Najee Harris had 52 on nine. Our Week 3 film review found the Giants leaned on heavier personnel, with fullback Patrick Ricard playing 30 snaps and tight end Chris Manhertz 28. For the season, the Giants average 3.9 yards per carry, and their designed runs have succeeded 39.1% of the time, 16th in the league by the same nflverse calculation.
The Giants' edge rush against Arizona's tackles
The Giants have one sack, the second-fewest in the league (Miami has none), and a 10.5% pressure rate, the lowest of any team. Burns accounted for five of their 11 pressures. Abdul Carter has two pressures and the team's only sack, and Kayvon Thibodeaux has two.
The Giants placed Burns on injured reserve Sept. 29 after he tore his ACL against Tennessee. They had not added an outside linebacker as of Wednesday. Carter and Thibodeaux were the only outside linebackers other than Burns to play a defensive snap against Tennessee. Carter played 58 of 60 snaps and Thibodeaux 40.
Coach John Harbaugh said at his news conference Monday that “it's not going to be a problem for Kayvon to play more snaps.” He said opponents have been getting the ball out quickly and chipping to slow the rush.
Brissett has taken 2.62 seconds to throw on average and has been pressured on 21.8% of his dropbacks, below the league average. He has been sacked five times. Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and right tackle Elijah Wilkinson have played all 212 of Arizona's offensive snaps.
Brissett was a full participant in practice with a hip injury on Arizona's Week 3 injury report. The Cardinals had not posted their Week 4 report as of Wednesday morning.