Giants @ Cardinals Week 2 Game Preview
Jonathan Fuller previews the Week 2 matchup between the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals from a fantasy football and betting perspective.
New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals
This game features two teams who lost in very different fashions in Week 1. The Cardinals proved to be somewhat frisky as they were leading the Commanders in the fourth quarter, but they ultimately fell 20-16.
On the other hand, the Giants were absolutely shellacked 40-0 by their divisional rival, the Dallas Cowboys. Vegas certainly seems to expect the Giants to bounce back and has them as 5.5-point favorites on the road in Week 2.
But from a fantasy perspective, this game doesn’t look all that compelling. Both teams were ranked in the bottom 10 for neutral pass rate in Week 1 and their projected 40-point game total is among the lowest on the week.
In addition to the conservative play calling, both teams were relatively slow-paced in Week 1 with the Cardinals 21st and the Giants 26th in seconds per play.
As this chart from NFL Next Gen Stats shows, Daniel Jones failed to get much going at any level of the field. A lot of this likely has to do with the Dallas defense, which looks to be one of the elite units that we need to be aware of for fantasy purposes this year.
The Giants should find much more success in the desert this week as they take on a Cardinals defense that ranks 27th or worse in each of Fantasy Life’s defensive positional unit rankings.
Darren Waller seems primed for a big game this week. The Giants will be watching tape of Logan Thomas’ 8-target performance against Arizona and they’ll want to feature their big summer signing.
But the rest of the Giants’ pass catchers turned in pedestrian performances in Week 1 with no player commanding targets or showing real playmaking ability. So the opportunity should be there for Waller.
On the Cardinals' side, it’s no surprise the offensive output wasn’t great considering their starting QB joined the team just a couple weeks before the season started. That being said, Dobbs’ 132 passing yards were far from the worst QB performance of the week (looking at you Joe Burrow). So there may be some hope for modest fantasy value from Arizona pass catchers moving forward.
If the offense can continue to get players open the way Rondale Moore and Trey McBride were in Week 1, Dobbs should be functional enough to get the ball in their hands.
The WR depth chart appears firmly set with Marquise Brown, Michael Wilson, and Rondale Moore dominating routes and playing a very specific role as their ADoT shows.
The most surprising aspect of the Cardinals offense, in my opinion, was the massive role Zach Ertz played in his first game back from knee surgery. Not only did he dominate snaps and targets at the TE position, his 18.4 expected PPR points were the most at the TE position per PFF’s Expected Points model. As long as these route rates remain so lopsided, Trey McBride is off the fantasy radar.
I fully expect the Giants to bounce back in this spot and cover the spread with big performances from Barkley and Waller, making them two of my favorite plays in DFS and Underdog Battle Royale contests in Week 2.