Can the New York Giants get their offense on track against the Arizona Cardinals? That\u2019s one of the big questions hanging over the team as they enter Week 4.<\/p>\n
The Giants offense has been, in a word, bad since their surgical, suffocating win over the Dallas Cowboys back in week 1. Since then, they\u2019ve scored 6 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2 and a whopping 12 points against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3.<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t going to cut it going forward, and the Giants need to figure out their offense. Will that start against the Cardinals?<\/p>\n
The Cardinals were one of the (many) teams to hire a new head coach this offseason, hiring Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. LaFleur made the surprising decision to retain Nick Rallis as the Cardinals defensive coordinator rather than start fresh on that side of the ball.<\/p>\n
Rallis has been the Cardinals\u2019 defensive coordinator since 2023, which means that the decision to keep him gives the Giants much more tape to plan for his scheme and tendencies than they\u2019d have if LeFleur hired a new coordinator.<\/p>\n
And while Rallis spent two years coaching linebackers for the Philadelphia Eagles (2021 and 2022), he isn\u2019t the same kind of \u201cFangio Adjacent\u201d defensive mind that the Giants have seen in each of the first three weeks of the season. Instead, he runs an unorthodox defensive scheme that\u2019s built on a \u201cthree-deep\u201d coverage shell and the versatility of safety Budda Baker.<\/p>\n
By using a three-deep coverage shell, the Cardinals look to both take away explosive plays as well as add uncertainty to quarterbacks\u2019 pre-snap reads. They typically play with three defensive linemen, leading to light boxes that invite runs. However, Rallis makes heavy use of disguise in his scheme and led the NFL by disguising his defense on 70% of plays last year.<\/p>\n
To do that, he relies chiefly on Baker as a flex player who can either play deep or rotate down into the tackle box as a MONEY backer, or safety\/linebacker hybrid. That allows the Cardinals to effectively play base 3-4 concepts against heavier personnel sets or nickel concepts against lighter sets, as well as fluidly transition between base and nickel defenses on a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they lost starting cornerback Will Johnson to a neck injury, forcing 2025 fifth- round pick Denzel Burke into the starting role. Burke started eight games for the Cardinals last year and played relatively well, though he had eight missed tackles. This year he seems to have taken a step backward and surrendered a 72.7% completion rate, two touchdowns, and 9.1 yards per target through three games (one start)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that none of the Cardinals\u2019 corners are taller than 5-foot-11, which could present an opportunity for Malachi Fields and Isaiah Likely.<\/p>\n
More importantly, while the Cardinals\u2019 defense is unorthodox and generally well-schemed\u2026 It hasn\u2019t been very good this year.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re bottom three in the NFL with 0.15 EPA per play added to to the opposing offense, bottom three in passing touchdowns allowed (eight), as well as giving up a league-worst 6.5 yards per play. Their run defense has been better than their pass defense, however they\u2019re still in the bottom third of the NFL in yards and yards per carry allowed.<\/p>\n
Overall, the scheme of the Cardinals\u2019 defense will put the onus on Matt Nagy and Jameis Winston to decipher their rotations. Once they do, however, their propensity to run zone coverages and Cover 3 offers opportunities for Malik Nabers and Darnell Mooney to pick up yards after the catch, while Fields and Likely are proving to be effective zone busters. Likewise, their tendency to play lighter packages and counter the run with scheme may be an opportunity for the run-heavy Giants.<\/p>\n