Edmonds carries the load for Cardinals
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Fordham University is located 20 miles away from MetLife Stadium, and judging from the way he ran with the football on Oct. 20, it looked like Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds went back in time when he used to terrorize defenses with his speed and shiftiness in college.
With starter David Johnson only available on an emergency basis because of a tender ankle, Edmonds had no problems carrying the load, rushing for a career-high 126 yards and three touchdowns as the Cardinals hung on to defeat the Giants 2721 for their third consecutive victory after a 0-3-1 start.
Edmonds likes to joke he never got the chance to play in front of any massive crowds during his four years at Fordham, but with dozens of family members, friends and former teammates on hand here, he opened up a ton of new eyes during his performance in front of a crowd of 75,577.
“I never really thought about it once I got drafted to Arizona,” Edmonds said when asked if he felt he’d have a game like this in the NFL. “Fordham is such a small school. I never got any crazy media hype in college. But it’s a blessing just to be able to come back here. Everything went full circle for me, just being able to come here in front of all these people, in front of family and friends, and be able to have the game I had.”
Edmonds helped more than he knows, but if it wasn’t for the play of a multitude of others – and some key moments at critical times – the Cardinals probably wouldn’t have won this game on a dreary afternoon when it rained and rained and kept raining some more.
Kyler Murray completed a gutsy fourth-down pass to Pharoh Cooper on Arizona’s opening drive that ended with Edmonds’ first touchdown, a 20yard run with center A.Q. Shipley and guard Justin Pugh pulling to free things up perfectly. Inside linebacker Jordan Hicks had a first-quarter interception – the first of the season for Arizona’s defense – that led to Edmonds’ second touchdown, also from 20 yards out.
Chandler Jones finished with four sacks of Giants rookie Daniel Jones and also forced a fumble and recovered the ball, which led to Edmonds’ third touchdown on a 22-yard jaunt. But there was more, like Patrick Peterson sacking Jones and dislodging the ball on a cornerback blitz in his first action back from a six-game suspension. Brooks Reed added a huge late-game sack, as did veteran Terrell Suggs, who sacked his 75th different quarterback and added a forced fumble of his own.
Even though the Cardinals raced out to an early 17-0 lead, they needed all those big plays and more to hand the Giants (2-5) their third straight loss.
“No question, It was the entire defense,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “And (defensive coordinator) Vance (Joseph) called an incredible game. It helps to have one of the best corners (Peterson) to ever play the game back. We kind of survived the first part of the season without having that guy, and then you could see the difference he made on the field today – just having his presence and the confidence to call certain defenses when he’s out there.”
Peterson didn’t allow a single reception in man-coverage situations, and when the Cardinals were playing zone, he allowed only one catch for 6 yards.
“Yeah, that sounds about right. That’s typical,” a cocky Peterson said, adding later, “I think the ‘P2’ effect sit in because it’s the first time we got a pick in six weeks and as soon as I get back we get an interception. So, the ‘P2’ effect is definitely the real deal.”
On a day when the Cardinals’ penchant for being a precision-passing team landed in the swamp buckets because of all the rain, the actual real deal had to be Edmonds.
The Patriot League’s all-time leading rusher and career holder for most total touchdowns and rushing touchdowns, he saved the day with Johnson apparently hurting more than anyone knew.
Kingsbury and the Cardinals knew, however. And when third-stringer D.J. Foster pulled his hamstring last week in practice and nobody else available on the active roster, they knew they were basically down to only Edmonds, who knew it better than anyone.
“I told him, ‘I’m going to carry this load and hold it down,’ ” Edmonds said.
He carried the load, but after throwing up into a trash can on the sideline following his second touchdown, Edmonds had a difficult time “holding it down.”
The Cardinals kept going to the run as often as possible because of the weather and field conditions, as rookie quarterback Kyler Murray completed just 14 of 21 pass attempts for a season-low 104 yards. More important, though, Murray once again didn’t have any turnovers.
“I thought it was awesome,” Kingsbury said of Murray’s overall performance. “He protected the football and that won us the game. … It was hard to throw it and like I said, didn’t want a ton of that going on. But he protected it well, led the team well, got us in some good checks and won the game, which in this weather by a rookie quarterback on the road, that’s huge.”
Jones and the Giants had one last chance, but sacks by Suggs and Reed and two incomplete passes turned the ball back over to the Cardinals.
Arizona’s three victories matches the club’s entire win total from last season.
“Our biggest thing is that we can’t look too far ahead,” said Chandler Jones, who now has 8½ sacks to lead the team. “We started the season a little rough and we can’t look too far ahead.”