PFF: Cardinals at Giants, Week 2
New York Giants – Three Performances of Note
Eli Manning, QB: +0.9
Breakdown: Although he gets his share (and more) of the blame when things aren’t going well, Manning showed that when given time, he is still one of the better quarterbacks around. He struggled when under pressure, completing just three of 10 passes for 22 yards and an interception, but otherwise he was 23-of-29 for 255 yards, a solid 8.8 yards per attempt. Against Arizona the offensive line kept him pretty clean, allowing pressure on just 12 of 42 drop-backs, despite the Cardinals blitzing exactly half of the time.
Signature Stat: Manning’s average Time to Throw so far this year has been just 2.41 seconds, one of the lowest in the league. In addition, he has had seven passes dropped, second most overall.
Larry Donnell, TE: +4.0
Breakdown: Donnell continued his terrific start to the season with an even better performance than his opening act in Detroit. He hauled in seven more passes on nine targets for 81 yards, including a pair of acrobatic catches in tight coverage.
Signature Play: Q4, 7:51 remaining. Donnell shows excellent body control, snagging a throw from Manning as Cardinals safety Deone Bucannon can only watch.
Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, CB: +2.2
Breakdown: Rodgers-Cromartie was solid in coverage all game, allowing just three catches for 18 yards on eight total targets, after allowing 126 last week. He also demonstrated some unusual physicality while keeping Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald in check for most of the afternoon, totaling five tackles.
Signature Play: Q2, 8:37 remaining. Playing off-coverage on a little hitch route, Rodgers-Cromartie hammers Floyd, separating him from the ball and preventing an Arizona first down.
Game Ball
After signing a big free agent deal in the offseason with the Cardinals to help bolster the return game, Ted Ginn delivered in a big way, earning our game ball.