Big Blue O-line folds vs. Cards
Edmonds rumbles to career day just miles from where he starred in college
The damage was already done by the time right guard Kevin Zeitler found out just how bad it got for the Giants offensive line Sunday.
In a 27-21 loss to the Cardinals at MetLife Stadium, the Giants gave up eight sacks.
“Oh God, really?” Zeitler said. “I had no clue.”
That was eight sacks, or six fewer than the Cardinals had recorded in their first six games combined. That was eight sacks, or four fewer than the Giants had given up in the first six games combined.
Daniel Jones, who had to absorb those eight sacks — three of which caused fumbles — and four more quarterback hits, may have had a better feel for the beating he took, but shouldered the blame instead.
“They have some good pass rushers over there and they did a good job,” Jones said. “But I need to do a better job of getting rid of the ball, getting through my reads and getting the ball out.”
Jones’ linemen hardly did him any favors.
The Giants had two chances to put together a game-winning drive in the final five minutes and failed on both, in large part because of four sacks on their final 11 plays. There was no sack on the 11th play, but Jones was still drilled in the end zone as he got off a prayer that went unanswered.
“That’s a tough situation,” left tackle Nate Solder said. “That’s when we gotta be at our best. We gotta be perfect up-front. We know we’re throwing, they know we’re throwing and we gotta be able to protect the QB so he can get the ball out.”
The Cardinals entered Sunday as a bottom-five defense in the NFL in most categories, but left feeling good about themselves. The Giants’ revamped offensive line, meanwhile, had shown improvement but took a step back in brutal fashion.
“It obviously just sucks, straight up,” Zeitler said. “That’s as plain and blunt as you can be. It sucked today.”
The night before every game, Reginald Edmonds talks to his son, Chase, by phone. Saturday night was no different. They talked for almost an hour the night before Sunday’s 27-21 Cardinals win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium, where Chase would end up having the game of his life.
“With some of the things he said to me, I knew that he was going to have a big game,’’ Reginald told The Post about an hour after Chase rushed for a career-high 126 yards and three TDs to lead the Cardinals to their third consecutive win. “He knew David [Johnson, the Cardinals starting running back] was hurt and he said, ‘Dad, I think I’m going to get a lot of playing time.’ I said, ‘ You know what you’ve got to do: Every time you get an opportunity, take advantage of it.’ ’’
The kid took advantage all right.
Edmonds, who entered the game with 369 rushing yards and three TDs in his NFL career that began last season when Arizona drafted him in the fourth round, gave the Cardinals a 14-0 firstquarter lead with two 20-yard scoring runs. And his 22-yard scoring run in the third quarter gave Arizona a 24-14 lead.
It was difficult to tell what element to the day was more storybook — that Edmonds’ performance took place with his parents, Reginald and Alison, watching from the stands with about 15 other family members and friends, or the fact that he delivered his career moment a mere 14 miles away from where he starred in college, at Fordham University.
“Just indescribable, a proud moment. … I couldn’t have imagined anything like this, not in the backyard from where he went to college,’’ Alison told The Post.
“This ranks right up there to when he was 5 years old and he first put cleats on,’’ Reginald said. “He said, ‘Dad, I want to play football,’ and I said, ‘Listen, if you start, you know you’ve got to finish.’ He said, ‘Oh, I promise, I’ll finish, I’ll finish.’
“So, he went out that Monday and he went out that Tuesday and then Wednesday he came home crying, saying, ‘I don’t want to play no more.’ I said, ‘ You go on back. You finish it, and if you don’t want to play next year, it’s all good and well. But we finish what we start.’
“He went back and he never looked back. That’s what this reminds me of today.’’
Chase Edmonds outrushed and outshined Giants star back Saquon Barkley, who was picked in the first round of that same 2018 draft and ran for 72 yards and one TD on Sunday. He said he “never really thought about’’ having a day like this so close to Fordham “once I got drafted to Arizona.’’
“He played college right down the road, an FCS school, and then to come back and do that … what a great story,’’ Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said.
“Coming back here, being a small-school guy, I already had a chip on my shoulder,’’ Chase Edmonds said. “Obviously, Saquon was coming back and I knew it was going to be an electric atmosphere. So, I just wanted to go out here and show the people and make a name for myself. I’m still a second-year player trying to make a name for myself in this league.”