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The similarities between the 2-4 New York Giants and the 2-3-1 Arizona Cardinals, who meet Sunday at MetLife Stadium in Week 7 of the NFL season, are striking.
- The teams are led by rookie quarterbacks, the first two signal-callers taken in the 2019 NFL Draft. Kyler Murray of the Cardinals was the No. 1 overall pick and Daniel Jones of the Giants was, of course, No. 6.
[Related: Mark Schofield breaks down Jones and Murray on the latest ‘Valentine’s Views’ podcast | Schofield gives us a progress report on Jones]
Rookie QBs selected in top 10 vs. each other since 1970
| Date | Higher Drafted Quarterback | Lower Drafted Quarterback |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Higher Drafted Quarterback | Lower Drafted Quarterback |
| 11/07/1971 | New England’s Jim Plunkett (No. 1) | Houston’s Dan Pastorini (No. 3) |
| 09/19/1993 | New England’s Drew Bledsoe (No. 1) | Seattle’s Rick Mirer (No. 2) |
| 10/04/1998 | Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning (No. 1) | San Diego’s Ryan Leaf (No. 2) |
| 10/10/1999 | Cleveland’s Tim Couch (No. 1) | Cincinnati’s Akili Smith (No. 3) |
| 09/25/2011 | Carolina’s Cam Newton (No. 1) | Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert (No. 10) |
| 11/04/2012 | Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck (No. 1) | Miami’s Ryan Tannehill (No. 8) |
| 09/13/2015 | Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (No. 1) | Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota (No. 2) |
| 12/09/2018 | Jets’ Sam Darnold (No. 3) | Buffalo’s Josh Allen (No. 7) |
| 10/20/19 | Arizona’s Kyler Murray (No. 1) | Giants’ Daniel Jones (No. 6) |
- Both teams have struggling defenses. The Cardinals are 29th in points and 30th in yards allowed. The Giants are 27th in points and 28th in yards allowed.
- Both lost star players to PED suspensions to begin the season. Golden Tate of the Giants served four games and Patrick Peterson of Arizona is returning this week from a six-game ban.
- Both have fortunate victories aided by missed kicks from opponents. The Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3 when Matt Gay of the Bucs missed a 34-yard field goal on the final play that would won the game for Tampa Bay. The Cardinals beat the Falcons by a point last week thanks to a missed extra point by Atlanta’s Matt Bryant with less than two minutes to play.
- The teams feature not only the first quarterbacks taken in the draft, but the first cornerbacks as well. DeAndre Baker was the 30th overall pick by the Giants and Byron Murphy the 33rd overall pick by Arizona.
The Giants are a 3-point favorite in Sunday’s 1 p.m. game.
The Cardinals will, of course, be bolstered by the return of Peterson, the three-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback. The Giants could be getting back their best two offensive playmakers as running back Saquon Barkley (high ankle sprain) and tight end Evan Engram (sprained MCL) seem primed to return this week.
Big Blue View’s constantly updated Giants-Cardinals StoryStream will give you all of the coverage you need — from pre-game to post-game — for this interesting matchup.