By Alex Lewin - InReeseWeTrust.com 10/25/09
As the Giants prepare to take the field tonight against the Arizona Cardinals, it will mark the 124th time the Giants will have played the Cardinals franchise, including stops in Chicago, St. Louis, and now Arizona. That ranks third all-time behind the Redskins (153) and the Eagles (150).
The Giants have historically dominated the Cardinals, posting an 80-41-2 record since 1925, which equates to a .660 winning percentage for the Giants. The Giants and Cardinals have never met in the postseason, and the Cardinals are currently on a two game skid against the Giants, last beating them in 2004. As most of you know, the Cardinals were a member of the NFC East starting in 1970 all the way until 2001. Prior to that, the Cardinals won the 1925 and 1947 league titles while in Chicago. It took until 2008 for the Cardinals franchise to win another title again (NFC Title).
In the 14 years the Cardinals were in the Arizona, they swept the Giants only once, which was in 1999. Amazingly, in the 32 years the Cardinals were part of the NFC East, they swept the Giants only five times, and four of those were in the second half of the 1970's (1974-1976, 1979). Conversely, in that time period of the two teams being in the NFC East, the Giants swept the Cardinals 13 times.
Few games have been memorable between the so called "rivals" but the Cardinals were the first game after Jim Fassel's infamous, "this team is going to the playoffs speech" in 2000. The Giants ended up winning that game 31-7 and went on to win the next 6 games in route to a Super Bowl apperance. Another memorable game was back in 1995 when the Giants rallied from a 14 points down to beat the Cardinals 27-21 in ovetime. Another was back in 1990. The Giants were 5-0 and down 19-3 to the then Phoenix Cardinals. The Giants rallied back behind Jeff Hosteler who came in for an injured Phil Simms, and won the game on a last second field goal 20-19 and keep their perfect season alive.
The last time these two met was last year in Phoenix, where the Giants took care of the eventual NFC Champs by the score of 37-29. The last meeting between the two teams at Giants Stadium was back in the regualr season opener in 2005, a 42-19 Giants win. The last time the Cardinals beat the Giants at Giants Stadium, you have to go all the way back to November 28th, 1999, a 34-24 beat down of the Giants, led by Jake "the Snake" Plummer. In fact, the Giants are 5-0 at home Vs the Cardinals this decade, and going back to 1976, the first year of Giants Stadium, the Giants are 20-6 at home vs. the Cards including a consecutive winning streak at home from 1984-1994. So, if going by numbers alone, the Giants have a good shot of beating the Cardinals tonight.
