Giants at Cardinals 2017, Week 16: Staff picks, predictions

Can the New York Giants win on Sunday, avoiding the fate of setting a franchise record for losses in a single season? Here is how your Big Blue View staff members think the Giants will fare vs. the Arizona Cardinals.

Mike Gallop

I believe last week’s performance was 100 percent the team rallying around Eli at home to save face. The Cardinals are also out of the playoff race, and are still a tough out at home. I think it will be a low scoring snooze fest in the desert, with the home team nailing one extra meaningless field goal.

Final score: Cardinals 16, Giants 10

Dan Pizzuta

Neither one of these teams is really any good. They rank 22nd (Cardinals) and 30th (Giants) in DVOA. Heading into the season, this isn’t where either one of these teams imagined they’d be. Both teams have injuries and the Cardinals are going back to their second quarterback (Drew Stanton) after going five games with their third (Blaine Gabbert).

The one thing that separates these two teams is one of them has a dominant unit — Arizona’s defense ranks fifth in DVOA. That could be the biggest factor in the game. Chandler Jones should be getting way more consideration for Defensive Player of the Year than he’s receiving right now. He leads the league in sacks, quarterback hits, and tackles for loss — spread pretty evenly between stops against the run and the pass. That side of the ball still features the most talent for any unit in this game, it’s what’s kept the Cardinals from completely bottoming out this year, and it should be what gives them the advantage on Sunday.

Final score: Cardinals 20, Giants 10

Chris Pflum

I really want to pick the Giants to win this week. Considering all the injuries the Cards have sustained on the offensive side of the ball, this should be a winnable game.

But the Giants have shown a knack for finding ways to lose games. They made C.J. Beathard look like Jimmy Garoppolo and sunk their best offensive performance in two years with a trio of special teams gaffes. Their two wins came in games that nobody expected them to win. But for one reason or another, they were unable to build on those successes and went right back in to their shells the next week, which is what I'm predicting for this week.

Final score: Cardinals 24, Giants 17

Valentine’s View

I am going to make it a clean sweep. Much like Chris, I would like to pick the Giants to win. I would like to predict a 30+ point outburst that would get them across that plateau for the first time in two seasons. I just can’t. The Cardinals are bad. The Giants are worse.

Final score: Cardinals 27, Giants 20

Season record

Dan Pizzuta 10-4
Chris Pflum 8-6
Ed Valentine 4-10

Kevin Haswell and Mike Gallop have picked some games.

Kevin 5-5
Mike 3-6