Arizona Cardinals RB Chase Edmonds runs all over Giants in win

David Johnson may be active, but it’s the Arizona Cardinals’ backup RB who is stealing the show at the Meadowlands.

Chase Edmonds erupted against the New York Giants from the start, scorching the opposing defense for 126 yards and three scores on 27 carries in the team’s 27-21 win. He also added two catches for 24 yards.

After Johnson started the game, taking one carry for two yards, Edmonds got the bulk of the work in the team’s opening 13-play, 75-yard drive. The running back accounted for 27 of the total yards, finishing off the drive with a 20-yard scamper for the first score of the day.

“They were really packing things inside, and we knew if we could get the ball on the perimeter we had a chance and he hit it,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury told 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Station’s Paul Calvisi after the game. “You could see his explosiveness on the edge.”

The first TD of this NFL Sunday goes to… Chase Edmonds 👏#AZvsNYG pic.twitter.com/SfK3f1ls3e

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 20, 2019

Going with what worked already, the Cardinals went right back to Edmonds following a Daniel Jones interception, Arizona’s first pick of the season.

“I always want more, my cup’s never full. That’s what Larry [Fitzgerald] always taught us, ” Edmonds told reporters. “Always want more, gonna go back to the drawing board and find ways to get better.”

This time, however, Edmonds wasted little time finding pay dirt. The two-year pro was handed the rock on every play of the drive (three), extending the Cardinals’ lead to 14-0 on another 20-yard run.

Chase Edmonds GOING OFF already with 2 TDs 👊 @ChaseEdmonds22 pic.twitter.com/J4vdKIXPCD

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 20, 2019

The RB continued to rumble in the second half.

“Chase had a great, great game,” cornerback Patrick Peterson told reporters after the game. “He picked up the slack. Obviously not having David here today, he did a great job of stepping in here and he was ready.”

Following a strip-sack from LB Chandler Jones, the Cardinals offense went back to the ground behind the duo of Murray and Edmonds. The one-two punch moved the chains before an unnecessary roughness call added another 15 yards to the drive. The turnover turned into points for Arizona, as Edmonds found the end zone yet again, this time from 22 yards out.

If you were one of those who started Chase Edmonds in fantasy, consider yourself a genius 🔥 @ChaseEdmonds22 pic.twitter.com/2MBOEhTngd

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 20, 2019

Edmonds is the first player in franchise history to record three scores of 20 or more yards. The last RB in the NFL to do so was Doug Martin back in 2012.

“Extremely stoked,” Edmonds said when asked about his performance. “Coming back here being a small school guy, I already had a chip on my shoulder. Obviously Saquon was coming back and I knew it was going to be an electric atmosphere so I just wanted to go out here and show people, make a name for myself. I’m still a second-year player just trying to make a name for myself in this league.”

Adding to the offensive assault, rookie QB Kyler Murray completed 14 of his 21 passes for 104 yards. On his ninth pass of the game, the quarterback set a new NFL record for the most completions by a player in his first seven career games (162). He also carried the ball 10 times for 28 yards.

“We’re just finding what we do well, and we’re going to keep doing it,” offensive lineman Justin Pugh told Calvisi after the game. “We have trust in each other, we have trust in these coaches. We have unbelievable amount of faith in what Kyler and the running backs and they keep doing it and making us look good.”

For Cardinals fans, Edmonds’ performance is a very encouraging sign, but for fantasy football enthusiasts with Johnson on their rosters, it’s a different story.

David Johnson owners watching Chase Edmonds go off rn pic.twitter.com/AC7t6oXOBC

— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 20, 2019

David Johnson fantasy owners right now pic.twitter.com/st2Py1Ja6p

— The Ringer (@ringer) October 20, 2019

It appears David Johnson was “active,” not active. pic.twitter.com/HVR6eYBgUw

— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) October 20, 2019

Very cool of the Cardinals to not just have David Johnson inactive so we could all put Chase Edmonds in lineups today.

— Yaya Dubin (@JADubin5) October 20, 2019

Leonard Fournette stuffed at the 1 and Chase Edmonds out-touching David Johnson is fine. pic.twitter.com/pzuoFx9Vav

— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) October 20, 2019

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