The New York Giants left Sunday’s 34-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals with a mixed bag: a strong home result, but three injuries that changed the feel of the afternoon.
Safety Jason Pinnock was the first notable loss. He exited with a concussion after playing 17 snaps, having split time early with Tyler Nubin.
Braxton Berrios also went down, leaving with a foot injury. The reserve wideout and kick returner had already been bumped off kickoff returns at the start of the game, with Charlie Jones taking over there. Once Berrios was injured, Jones also moved into the punt return role.
The third injury hit the defensive front. Chauncey Golston left with a neck injury, and Darius Alexander saw more snaps after that.
There was better news at center, where Bryan Hudson made his first NFL start and handled it well. Head coach John Harbaugh said Hudson was in the lineup because John Michael Schmitz missed practices late in the week after the birth of a child.
Hudson’s performance backed up the decision. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded as the fourth-highest center in Week 4 and posted a perfect 100.0 pass-blocking efficiency mark across 33 pass-blocking snaps.
Still, Harbaugh was careful not to turn that into a depth-chart shift.
“JMS had missed a couple days of practice, and Huddy had been doing so well,” Harbaugh said. “We kind of felt like he’s got the reps.
He’s made the calls, and we were kind of thinking about starting to work him in a little bit here and there, even some extra line stuff, if possible. And it just made sense.
I mean, JMS, he’d been up, his wife had the baby. He didn’t have a lot of rest.
It just made sense, and I think it paid off. It’s not a long-term thing.
I mean, we just have two centers we really like.”
The win also pushed the Giants to 3-0 at home for the first time since 2008. Since MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, it marked the first time they’ve opened a season that way in their current building.
“It means a lot. I think all of us, all of us, the players, coaches, we’re all very, the organization,” Harbaugh said.
“I know Mr. Mara, talked to him after the game, everybody’s very proud of that, very proud of that.
All right, now, next time we come back home, we got to extend it. We got to win the next one.”
In Other News...
Giants Win Got Overshadowed By A Viral MetLife Officiating Moment
The Giants Week 4 win over the Cardinals came with the usual mix of physical play and sideline frustration, but the postgame conversation quickly drifted away from the final score. A video from MetLife Stadium began making the rounds on social media after a line judge appeared to direct an expletive at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during the game, turning a routine officiating scene into the sort of viral clip that can swallow the aftermath of a Sunday afternoon.
McBride still had a quiet but steady day in the passing game, finishing with seven receptions for 31 yards as Arizona fell 36-24. For the Giants, the result was the headline they wanted, but the officiating moment became the one people kept replaying, adding an awkward layer to a game that was supposed to be remembered for New York controlling the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Fans Just Got An Officiating Controversy Theyll Want To See
A sideline moment from MetLife Stadium is drawing as much attention as the game itself after a line judge was caught on video appearing to use profanity directed at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during Arizonas Week 4 meeting with the Giants. The clip spread quickly on social media and added an odd officiating wrinkle to a game that already had plenty going on for both sides.
McBride still managed seven catches for 31 yards, but the Cardinals could not turn that work into enough offense in a 36-24 loss. For Giants fans, the incident is less about the final score than the kind of officiating controversy that can linger long after the game is over, especially when it plays out in full view on a viral clip. [Read more 🡒]
Giants May Have Found The Pass Rush Answer They Desperately Needed
The Giants came out of Week 4 with a clearer idea of how they may need to hunt quarterbacks this season, and it started with defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson leaning harder into pressure against Arizona. Against Jacoby Brissett, New York blitzed on 53.8% of his dropbacks after coming in at 32.8% previously, a notable shift for a pass rush that had been too quiet early in the year. The result was immediate, as the Giants generated pressure on 38.5% of those dropbacks and finished with two sacks in a win that offered a much-needed look at what this defense can be when it stops waiting on the front four alone.
Wilsons approach also echoed the kind of aggressive, quarterback-disrupting formula Brian Flores has used in Minnesota, which matters for a Giants team still searching for a sustainable answer up front. The bigger question now is whether that kind of blitz-heavy plan can become more than a one-game fix, especially with opponents soon getting a fuller picture of how New York wants to create chaos. The production against Arizona was encouraging, but the Giants will need to show it can travel before anyone starts calling it a true solution. [Read more 🡒]