Cardinals score 1st shutout since ’92
Cardinals throttle Giants for first shutout win since 1992
Twenty-five years ago, a team known as the Phoenix Cardinals shut out the New York Giants. Fast-forward to Christmas Eve 2017 and the now-Arizona Cardinals are doing it again, dominating the Giants 23-0.
Arizona has been playing hard and trying to make memories in the final weeks of the season, even though their playoff hopes began to dim long ago. The Cardinals’ defense has risen to seventh after being ranked 24th in the NFL. It will likely move up a few more spots after Sunday’s game. The offense hasn’t fared as well, but it did play better than it has in a few weeks.
It may have been wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s last game at University of Phoenix Stadium. He became the oldest NFL player to catch at least 100 passes for more than 1,000 yards in a season.
The Cardinals’ football season ends after next week’s game in Seattle, but they haven’t stopped trying to make memories in these final weeks.
They succeeded on Sunday, beating the Giants 23-0 at University of Phoenix Stadium. It was the Cardinals’ first shutout since 1992, when they were known as the Phoenix Cardinals and beat the Giants in front of 28,452 fans at Sun Devil Stadium.
Defensive coordinator James Bettcher figures he was in junior high back then, and defensive tackle Frostee Rucker was a 9year-old “probably stealing orange juice out of a cart,” he said, laughing. “Who knows what I was doing?”
Rucker, 34, then turned serious and tried to put the season in perspective. The Cardinals (7-8) have continued to play hard, he said, even though their playoff hopes began dimming weeks ago.
“The way this season has been a roller coaster for us, we’ll take this one. We’ll cherish it,” he said. “This group of men are so talented. I hope they (management) don’t break it up. But across the board, even with all our injuries, we’ve got a group of guys in here who are fighters. I just hope everyone gets a shot to come back.”
The Cardinals defense began improving dramatically seven games ago, rising from being ranked 24th in the NFL to seventh. They figure to climb a few more spots after limiting the Giants to 293 yards and stopping them 16 of 18 times on third and fourth downs.
If the offense had just improved to reach mediocrity, the season finale against the Seahawks next week might have had playoff implications for both teams.
That didn’t happen, but the offense did play better on Sunday than it has for several weeks. The Cardinals scored a touchdown in the second quarter, ending a 10-quarter streak without one, and added another to open the second half.
It didn’t qualify as an explosion, but it was more than enough to beat the Giants (2-13). Quarterback Eli Manning’s 45 passes produced 263 and two interceptions, both by safety Antoine Bethea.
The Giants rushed for only 43 yards, a 2.2-yard average.
“There are moments or some plays that we had a chance to make early in the season, and we are making those plays now,” Bettcher said.
The Giants entered the game ranked near the bottom of the NFL in offense and points scored. But they scored 29 points and gained 504 yards in a close loss last week to the 12-2 Eagles.
“I didn’t care what they were ranked,” Bettcher said. “I saw one of the best offenses I have seen on tape in four, five, six weeks.”
The Cardinals handled the Giants’ up-tempo style well, relying heavily on Bethea, 32, and linebacker Karlos Dansby, 36, to make adjustments on the fly.
Defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, a first-round pick in 2016, made his biggest play in two years. Nkemdiche picked up the ball after linebacker Deone Bucannon stripped Manning of it and ran 21 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
In a season full of oddities, Nkemdiche added another. He scored a touchdown in the NFL before registering a sack.
“It felt amazing. It felt like a breakthrough,” Nkemdiche said. “I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I know I can be.”
As the game progressed, securing the shutout became a bigger goal, but obstacles had to be overcome. The Giants intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter and took possession at the Cardinals’ 26.
Three penalties on the Giants ruined that opportunity, and the Cardinals shut the Giants down again after they made it to the Arizona 35.
“They had some good schemes that gave us some troubles,” Manning said, “and then, they did a good job getting a pass rush. We just didn’t make some of the tough catches that we needed to.”
The Cardinals had someone who did: Larry Fitzgerald. He caught nine passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, with 104 yards and the score coming in the first half. In the process, Fitzgerald, 34, became the oldest NFL player to catch at least 100 passes for more than 1,000 yards in a season.
Including a 21-yard pass Fitzgerald threw to Jaron Brown, Fitzgerald had a hand in gaining 140 of the Cardinals first 173 yards.
After taking Christmas Day off, the Cardinals’ full attention turns to their final game of the season in Seattle. A victory would give the Cardinals an 8-8 record for the season and end Seattle’s playoff hopes.
“There’s our playoff game,” Rucker said.