Official Game Day Thread - ARI @ NYG December 13
Dec 11, 2020 5:54:21 GMT -7
thomas cat and Cardinals Junkie like this
Post by End Zone on Dec 11, 2020 5:54:21 GMT -7
Hello and welcome to the Forum’s 13th Game Day thread of 2020. I trust that everyone is maintaining a healthy sense of humor through a challenging 2020 year. Fortunately for some of us, the calendar year is almost ended.
Away from pro football, the real-world national-level health, social, and political issues have nearly tapped me out, causing a range of emotions from malaise to hope to anger. Inside my pro football world, a kind of sensory vortex is consuming much of my time until the Cardinals season is concluded. It is not all that strange to me that the real-world events and the Cardinals’ events are emotional roller coaster rides and that both feel the same between my ears. I am seasick as a Navy “pollywog.” Dramamine Rx is not the answer. I accept that I may need other professional help by early 2021.
“Win some, lose some,” is no consolation heading into the Cards @ NYG game on December 13th. Our Arizona Cardinals football team has battled through 3/4 of the season so far, winning 6 games and losing 6 games. Like last October, then 2-2, the team is again stuck at .500. Out of those 6 losses, just 2 games were awful team performances: Cards @ Panthers on October 4th, and the Rams @ Cards on December 6th. Several exceptionally painful loses were because of inept performances by hopefully soon-to-be-replaced K Zane “Gonzo” Gonzalez. Argh, Navy mate’s! Ahead for the team in December and January, just 4 games remain on the regular season schedule: NYG (road), PHI, SF, and LAR (road). Mathematically, the Cardinals can still pull out a double-digit 10-win season. I can also win the Powerball lottery this weekend! My wife is way smarter than me, and her money says I should NOT bet on either a 10-win season or a lottery ticket. By the way, I am 100% certain that I “married up”—and on that point, she totally agrees with me. LOL!
Before I launch into the heart of the Game Day Thread, I want to segue to a new topic: the psychology of losing and winning. Why do some people or teams seem to constantly win? And others seem to constantly finish second or as an “also-ran”? There is a large body of research on this topic worth mentioning to Forum members.
In football and in life, whenever we lose, we try to be stoic, and console ourselves with brave thoughts about lessons learned, about how we played the game. Reflection is a healthy response to adversity and an opportunity to change behaviors. Because, as the saying goes, “Winning isn’t everything.” Fine. Then again, suppose winning is everything?
Heard of testosterone and dopamine chemicals? Winning is a heck of a lot of fun. Winning produces chemical reactions. First, abundant testosterone is released into the human bloodstream. Then, dopamine levels are dramatically increased. When the dopamine hits the brain’s reward center, KA-POW!, we instantly feel better, even euphoric. Feeling better, it seems, makes us live better lives and probably live longer. Winners know that ‘feeling’ and, like addicts, will do almost anything to feel better again and again. Losers can fall into a dark hole, become depressed, and may struggle to find a way out of the gloom. How the adversity of losing is managed is typically the key to finally winning and then becoming a consistent winner.
My message to the Forum members, regardless of how the 2020 season turns out, is that we are all winners in our own lives already. Setting and achieving goals within our area control matters far more than whether the Cardinals team gets a lucky football bounce or calls an OT coin flip leading to a win on Sunday. It’s what is in your heart that matters to your family and that makes you a true winner as a person. You are already tough, grizzled, and resilient, and you never give up. You are a Cardinals fan after all, and if you are like me, you are a Cardinals fan for life!
NY Giants History. The team was founded in 1925 and owned by Mr. Tim Mara until his death in 1959. The team remains in the Mara family today. The Giants have won 8 NFL championships, 4 of which came in the Super Bowl. The Giants are credited by some as elevating the NFL to its current perch atop all American sports. At the NFL Championship in 1958 and on broadcast TV, the Giants played the Colts in a back-and-forth game for 60 minutes, resulting in a tie score and the first ever overtime championship game. In OT, after winning the coin toss and receiving the ball, the Giants offense stalled and was forced to punt. From their own 20-yard line, the Colts drove to the Giants 1-yard line, where Colts RB Alan Ameche ran for a TD to give the Colts the NFL Championship, 23-17. In the quiet year 1958, American males became hooked on the NFL! A year later, in 1959, the two teams again met in the NFL Championship game, and again the Colts showed the Giants a thing or two, winning 31-16. The Giants successes in the 1950s and 1960s quickly translated into huge TV contracts, with CBS paying the Giants up to 400% more than small market teams, allowing the Giants to literally buy any player the Mara brothers wanted. The Maras soon realized that TV money could destroy the burgeoning NFL, handicapping some teams while enriching others. The Mara’s convinced all team owners to share TV revenues, thus saving the NFL from its own large market success and ensuring small market teams survived.
I know FLCF already posted much Cardinals-Giants history at the Pre- and Post-Game Thread. Therefore, I will be brief with my data discussion.
In the 127-game head-to-head competition, the Cardinals won 45 games and the Giants won 80 games. There were 2 tie games. The Cardinals won 4 of the last 5 meetings since October 25, 2009. The teams have played just 2 OT games: 1983, teams tied 20-20 at St. Louis; and 1995, Cardinals lost to the Giants 27-21 at NY.
At the last competition on October 20, 2019, the Cardinals won by the score 27-21 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ. RB Chase Edmonds burst onto the NY scene in front of 73,577 Giants fans, rushing for 3 TDs (20yds, 20yds, 22yds), and easily outshined RB Saquon Barkley, 1 TD (7yds). K Gonzalez was perfect, hitting 2 FGs (47yds, 35yds) and 3 extra points. The Cardinals offense ran the ball 38 times for 156 yards, and passed 21 times for 89 yards. The Cardinals defense held rookie QB Daniel Jones (2019 Draft, Rd 1, 6th pick) and Barkley to 263 total yards. The Giants RB E. Penny blocked a ST punt by P Andy Lee and recovered the ball in the Cardinals end zone for a TD, the only major flaw in the Cardinals otherwise solid performance. Notable individual performances: Passing – ARZ QB Kyler Murray 21/14 for 104 yards, rating 78.3. NYG QB Daniel Jones 35/22 for 223 yards, rating 78.6. Rushing – ARZ RB Edmonds 27 rush for 126 yards. ARZ QB Murray 10 rush for 28 yards. NYG RB Barkley 18 rush for 72 yards. NYG QB Jones 4 rush for 35 yards. Receiving – ARZ WR Cooper 4 catches 29 yards. ARZ RB Edmonds 2 catches for 24 yards. NYG WR Tate 6 catches 80 yards. NYG WR Fowler 4 catches for 35 yards. Defense – the Cardinals had a huge day, sacking NYG QB Jones 8 times (P. Peterson 1, T. Suggs 1, C. Jones 4, C. Peters 1, B. Reed 1).
This Sunday, December 13th, the Cardinals (6-6, 3-3 away) are favored over the Giants (5-7, 2-3 at home) by 2.5 points. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Cardinals a 60.5% chance of winning, the Giants at 39.2% chance of winning, and the chance of a tie game is 0.3%. The Cardinals have lost 3 in a row, and the Giants have won 4 in a row. Momentum (is there really such a thing?) seems to favor the Giants to win this game. The Vegas money guys set the O/U at 45 points. In my view, given the scoring struggles for these two teams Offenses after 12 games, the O/U is maybe high by 5-7 points. I like a 21-17 score, with the Cardinals winning. Also, 4 of 5 newspapers in NY like the Cardinals to win by a similar score. Expect a Defensive show for 60 minutes.
However, the NFC-East leading Giants are finding new ways to win and stay close in recent games. Their Defense is carrying all the water for the Offense at the last 5 games and scores reflect improvement: lost to Brady and TB 25-23, beat WFT 23-20, beat PHI 27-17, beat CIN 19-17, and beat Wilson and SEA at home 17-12 in a shocker last week. The Giants defense has been utterly dominant lately, giving up just 16.5 points per game across the 4-game win streak.
Season leader statistics after 12 games: Passing – QB Murray 285-426, 2987 yards, 22 TDs, 10 INTs; NYG QB Jones 228-361, 2335 yards, 8 TDs, 9 INTs. Rushing – RB Drake 178/768 yards, 8 TDs; NYG RB Gallman 100/504 yards, 6 TDs. Receiving – WR Hopkins 85/1019 yards, 5 TDs; NYG Slayton 39/598 yards, 3 TDs.
Other notable team’s averaged statistics after 12 games: Points per game (Cardinals) 27.7, (Giants) 19.3; Points allowed per game (Cardinals) 24.7, (Giants) 22.1. Total yards (Cardinals) 399.5, (Giants) 327.2. Passing yards (Cardinals) 248.8, (Giants) 207.4. Rushing yards (Cardinals) 150.6, (Giants) 119.8. Defense: Yards allowed (Cardinals) 377.4, (Giants) 360.2. *** The Giants run defense is significantly improved over 2019. I do not predict the Drake-Edmonds-Murray combo to run roughshod over the Giants defense this weekend.
The “White Hat” for the Cardinals @ Giants game is Referee Ron Torbert, #62. He is an NFL official since 2010 and is well respected around the League. He was promoted to Referee in 2014. Referee Torbert was the alternate Referee for Super Bowl LIII. At the 13 games worked so far in 2020, Torbert’s crew generally lets teams play football and penalty flags are near the League average. FAN WARNING: Torberts crew worked the Cardinals @ Panthers game last October 4th and roughed up the Cardinals with 10 penalties for 72 yards. His crew really stuck it to the Eagles @ Steelers players a week later on October 11th, tossing down 15 penalties for a gaudy 170 yards. The Cardinals must play SMART football on Sunday or they will be flagged again and again by Torberts’ crew. Ron Torbert is is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is a practicing attorney like fellow Referee Clete Blakeman.
Game day weather for MetLife Stadium on December 13th: temperature 55F, skies cloudy, wind SW at 10-11 mph, and 50% chance of cold rain. MetLife Stadium is open-air. No paying fans can attend. Franchise employees and player family members can attend. The 82,500-seating capacity stadium will be mostly empty with some piped-in friendly crowd noise.
As of December 11th, I note only NYG RB Devonta Freeman on the COVID-19 exemption list. WR Larry Fitzgerald is cleared to resume play. FLCF and I will ensure the injury reports and active rosters are posted prior to kickoff. At this point in the season, the player active roster and PS roster merry-go-round is spinning fast. Injuries can be positive COVID hits. Players must pass pre-game and game day COVID tests to travel and play. There can be roster churn at the last minute.
The game is NATIONALLY BROADCAST on FOX and NFL’s Red Zone. Listen to local AZ radio and mobile devices at Sirrus FM.
MetLife Stadium has artificial turf with a reputation for contributing to terrible lower body injuries. Let’s not have any injuries to Giants and Cardinals players. Be safe. Stay safe. Go Cardinals! Win #7 by any means possible.
Click to enlarge old-time B/W photo. 'Mud Game'