The Cardinals started Sunday’s game white hot on offense, but everything flipped in the second quarter and now the Giants have a 19-14 lead at halftime.
Marvin Harrison Jr. caught his first touchdown since Week 10 of last season when he hauled in a 12-yard score from Jacoby Brissett to give Arizona an early 7-0 lead. Then Tyler Allgeier put in a 22-yard touchdown on Arizona’s second drive to make the score 14-3.
The Cardinals averaged 9.4 yards per play over their first two possessions, gaining 132 yards to end up with a pair of touchdowns.
But that trend stopped early in the second quarter, with the Giants picking off Brissett on a deep pass to the right.
From there, the Giants took a 19-14 lead with a 50-yard field goal, a 12-yard Jameis Winston touchdown pass, and a 25-yard Winston touchdown to Malik Nabers — who exited the game briefly with an apparent shoulder issue. He was able to return to catch the scoring strike.
But when New York had another opportunity to extend its lead late in the half, Winston threw an interception. Arizona’s Chad Ryland hit a 60-yard field goal to end the second quarter, narrowing New York’s lead to just two points.
The Giants will receive the second-half kickoff.
Cardinals Clips
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will make his first appearance of the 2026 season on Sunday.
Porter is active for the Cowboys less than a week after joining the team in a trade with the Steelers. Porter was listed with a back injury while in Pittsburgh, but his contract impasse with the team was seen as the true reason for his inactivity and Porter was not on the injury report for the Cowboys.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Porter is expected to play a limited number of snaps against the Texans in his Cowboys debut, but his presence should be welcomed for a defense that has struggled to find consistency over the first month of the season.
Cowboys at Texans
Cowboys: LB DeMarvion Overshown, CB Cobie Durant, CB Caelen Carson, RB Emari Demercado, LB James Houston, OL Ajani Cornelius, WR Camden Brown
Texans: LB Azeez Al-Shaair, DE Chris Braswell, OL Febechi Nwaiwu, OT Nate Thomas, TE Marlin Klein
Titans at Ravens
Titans: RB Michael Carter, CB Jaylon Jones, G Drew Moss, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, LB Trey Hendrickson, WR Chris Moore, DT Aeneas Peebles
Patriots at Bills
Patriots: OT Dametrious Crownover, TE Tanner Arkin, QB Behren Morton, CB Christian Gonzalez, DT Christian Barmore, CB Channing Canada
Bills: WR Skyler Bell, S Jalon Kilgore, CB Christian Benford, LB Mike Danna, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OT Jude Bowry, DL T.J. Sanders
Jets at Bears
Jets: WR Adonai Mitchell, RB Breece Hall, CB Nahshon Wright, LB Kiko Mauigoa, LB Kinglsey Enagbare, G Dylan Parham, TE Mason Taylor
Bears: QB Caleb Williams, OL Ozzy Trapilo, CB Cam Lewis, DL Jaydon Loving, DL James Lynch, DL Jamree Kromah
Jaguars at Bengals
Jaguars: CB Montaric Brown, WR C.J. Williams, CB Christian Braswell, S Jalen Huskey, LB Jack Kiser, OL Daniel Faalele, DE Wesley Williams
Bengals: S Bryan Cook, S Kyle Dugger, LB Swayze Bozeman, OL Myles Hinton, WR Colbie Young, DT B.J. Hill, DT Landon Robinson
Cardinals at Giants
Cardinals: QB Carson Beck, CB Starling Thomas, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, LB Cameron Robertson, OL Josh Fryar, WR Reggie Virgil
Giants: S Ar’Darius Washington, RB Devin Singletary, CB Nikko Reed, LB Jihad Ward, OL J.C. Davis, TE Thomas Fidone, DL Bobby Jamison-Travis
Rams at Eagles
Rams: WR C.J. Daniels, QB Ty Simpson, CB Cam Lampkin, CB Jaylen Watson, OL Bill Murray, TE Colby Parkinson, DT Aaron Donald
Eagles: WR Hollywood Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, QB Cole Payton, S Marcus Epps, LB Zack Baun, OT Lane Johnson, OL Fred Johnson, TE Dallas Goedert
Packers at Buccaneers
Packers: OL Jacob Monk, G Kevin Zeitler, G Aaron Banks, DT Anthony Campbell
Buccaneers: LB Rueben Bain, QB Baker Mayfield, DB Benjamin Morrison, TE Ko Kieft, OL Luke Haggard, OL Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart
On the surface, Sunday’s game between the Cardinals and the Giants brings little if any sizzle to the NFL menu. But there’s a surprising amount of history embedded in the series.
Via NBC Sports research, the two teams first met 100 years ago next month, on November 7, 1926. Today’s game will be the 130th time they’ve squared off.
From 1950 through 2001 (with the exception of 1968 and 1982), they played twice per year. Even after the Cardinals moved to Arizona, they remained in the NFC East for more than a decade.
Since the realignment of the divisions in 2002, they’ve played 11 times. Most recently, they met in 2023. The Giants won that one, 31-28; the Cardinals had won four in a row before that.
A win for the Giants would give them a 3-0 record at home for the first time since 2008. A win for the Cardinals would end a 16-game losing streak against teams that entered the contest with a losing record.
Of the eight games in the 1:00 p.m. ET window, it still doesn’t generate a ton of excitement. But at least we tried.
The Cardinals listed a key member of their defense as questionable to play in this Sunday’s game against the Giants.
Linebacker Josh Sweat landed in that category after a limited practice on Friday. Sweat was listed as limited on Thursday for a rest day, but the Cardinals added a groin injury to the report on Friday.
Sweat has three tackles and a tackle for loss so far this season. Baron Browning, Zaven Collins, Jordan Burch, and Eku Leota are the other outside linebackers on the 53-man roster in Arizona.
Safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson has been ruled out for this weekend. Taylor-Demerson is dealing with a back injury.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson has earned a reputation as an offensive innovator, but he didn’t come up with the idea that led to one of his team’s touchdowns in Monday’s 27-7 win over the Eagles.
Quarterback Case Keenum ran for a one-yard score in the fourth quarter on a play that saw the two Chicago guards pull in opposite directions while Keenum followed center Garrett Bradbury up the middle for the score. After the game, Johnson credited former Rams head coach Mike Martz with coming up with the play design.
“That’s a Mike Martz special right there, that’s the old sucker sneak,” Johnson said. “I think they were a little bit tight initially and then they stemmed out at the last second, which gave us the green light to get to that play. It’s an old play, an old but a good play right there.”
Martz memorably called the play during Super Bowl XXXVI and it resulted in a Kurt Warner touchdown run. Johnson was a teenager when that game was played, but Martz’s ingenuity stuck with him.
In the first two weeks of the season, the 49ers dominated. In Week 3, they had to gut out a surprisingly tough win.
Despite the 49ers jumping out to a 14-0 lead, the Cardinals weren’t going to go down without a fight, and the game was close until the final moments, when the 49ers finally finished out a 36-30 win.
San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy turned in another strong game, throwing for 297 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. Purdy also ran for a 45-yard touchdown late in the game, although that touchdown was called back and turned into only a 35-yard gain because George Kittle was holding deep downfield.
Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett also deserves credit for his performance in a losing effort, throwing two touchdown passes and keeping the game close deep into the fourth quarter.
The injury-prone 49ers lost wide receiver Mike Evans with a rib injury, which has to be a big concern. They also saw left tackle Trent Williams leave with a stinger, although he was back on the sideline in the second half and looked OK.
The 49ers also may be concerned about kicker Eddy Pineiro, who hit a 57-yard field goal but also missed two extra points.
At 3-0, the 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFL. The 1-2 Cardinals are playing better than people expected, but they’re still a distant fourth in the NFC West.
49ers wide receiver Mike Evans has been knocked out of today’s game with a rib injury.
Evans took a hard hit while catching a pass in the second quarter and walked off the field in obvious pain. Once he got to the sideline he went to the ground and had to be helped to a cart and taken to the locker room.
When healthy, the 33-year-old Evans has been among the best wide receivers in the NFL for years, but he’s had a hard time staying healthy recently. Last year he missed most of the season with a string of injuries that included a hamstring strain, a concussion and a broken collarbone. He also missed time the year before with a hamstring injury. Now the 49ers will hope he can recover from his rib injury soon.
The 49ers were also without cornerback Deommodore Lenoir for much of the first half while he was evaluated for a concussion, but Lenoir was cleared and returned in the second half.
Despite the injuries, the 49ers keep rolling and are leading the Cardinals 17-6 in the third quarter.
The 49ers will try to improve to 3-0 on the season when they host the Cardinals on Sunday and it looks like wide receiver Mike Evans will be part of that effort.
Evans was listed as questionable on Friday due to a hip injury that caused him to miss two days of practice. He returned for a limited workout on Friday and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that he plans to be in the lineup on Sunday afternoon.
Evans has nine catches for 103 yards and a touchdown so far this season.
The 49ers have dealt with a number of injuries at wide receiver since the start of training camp and they placed Demarcus Robinson on injured reserve Saturday. De’Zhaun Stribling, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian Kirk were already on that list, which leaves Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins, and KhaDarel Hodge to go with Evans against Arizona.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed defensive end Nick Bosa will miss multiple weeks after injuring his calf before Thursday’s practice.
“We can’t say exactly, but I’m guessing around a few weeks,” Shanahan said of Bosa’s timeline, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com.
The 49ers ruled out Bosa and rookie defensive end Romello Height (hand surgery) for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. They have been hit hard by injuries in the defensive line.
Defensive tackle C.J. West (knee), defensive end Sam Okuayinonu (foot) and defensive tackle Alfred Collins (patellar tendon) are on injured reserve. Rookie defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. has a high-ankle sprain that will keep him out multiple weeks.
“Losing Bosa was rough yesterday,” Shanahan said. “I mean, losing six out of the 10 D-linemen in the last two weeks that have made our team is a little unusual. I don’t think I’ve been a part of that, so that has been different.”
Bosa returned from a torn ACL in his right knee and played 70 snaps over the first two games. He injured his knee in Week 3 last season, almost exactly a year ago, in a game against the Cardinals.
It is unclear whether Bosa injured his right calf, as Shanahan said he wasn’t sure.
Bosa was warming up before the walkthrough when he injured his calf.
“I know he’s bummed out, but he’ll be back,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers are still deciding whether to place Bosa on injured reserve. Only eight players can return from IR during the season, and the team already has several players on IR who it plans to return to the roster.
“He’s right there at that point, along with a couple of other guys that are all in the same boat,” Shanahan said. “Because of the number we have on [injured reserve], we won’t be able to do all of them. So we’ve got to decide, and we’re just trying to guess which ones will go longer, which ones have the chances of being sooner, and it’s just a guess.
“They’re all really in the same boat, so we’ve got to decide that by tomorrow.”
49ers wide receiver Mike Evans returned to practice Friday, but he is questionable to play Sunday.
Evans’ hip injury kept him out of practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
He has nine catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in two games.
Evans missed nine games in 2025 and three games the previous season after sitting out only nine games over his first 10 seasons.
The 49ers ruled out defensive end Nick Bosa (knee/calf), defensive end Romello Height (hand), wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (ankle) and defensive tackle James Thompson (ankle).
Bosa injured a calf muscle during Thursday’s practice, and he is expected to miss multiple weeks.
Height underwent hand surgery this week, and Robinson and Thompson have high-ankle sprains that could keep them out multiple weeks.
