New York Guardians Week 4: Make or Break

The New York Guardians week 4 match up against the Wildcats will be make or break. Yes for two weeks we have seen some pathetic offense and miscues on defense on special teams. All of that can be erased if they can win at home and get back to .500. The weather this week should be ok with gusty winds. Hopefully the Guardians offense can weather the storm of the Wildcats defense while the defense may catch a break. The Guardians will also have to clean up their special teams if they want to compete. Let us dive in and talk about the keys for a New York Guardians week 4 win.

Guardians Offense vs Wildcats Defense

We begin by stating that the Guardians need to do everything different offensively than they have the past two weeks. It may be easy to point the blame at one person but this has been a collective failure so far. Whoever the quarterback is they will have to play turnover free football in order to beat the Wildcats. Last week the Wildcats defense stifled the red hot Defenders and Cardale Jones. They picked him off 4 time with two coming from cornerback Mike Stevens. The consistently got pressure and had 3 sacks. As usual I am concerned with the offensive line but hopefully the addition of Derek Dennis can help. One of the Guardians wide receivers needs to step up because I have seen no spark in this unit. Hopefully we see also Luis Perez on the field because to me the Guardians cannot win.

The running game could finally come to life this week in my opinion. Last week the Wildcats gave up 200 total yards on the ground. Yes most of this was due because they were so worried about the passing game but the Guardians could attack this. I expect the Guardians to try and get Cook and Victor involved a ton this game. Their passing attack has clearly been struggling and they need to change the game plan up a bit. The Wildcats do have a versatile front seven led by Tre’ Williams at linebacker. Williams had 8 combined tackles last week and could run the complete field. The Guardians will have to get a push in the trenches to open up some holes for their running backs. If they could run effectively this week they could have a chance to win.

Guardian’s Defense vs Wildcat’s Offense

The Guardians defense has been hit or miss throughout the games. They have held their own but still have lapses that hurt them. The one thing they will have to do this week is contain Josh Johnson. The Wildcats quarterback is having a terrific season where we saw him throw 3 touchdowns last week. The one plus the Guardians have is that the Wildcats will be missing top receiver Nelson Spruce. Spruce has been having a terrific year but is out with injury. Jamar Summars will be matched up against Tre McBride who exploded last week. Look for Summars to be asked to play a shutdown role in this match up as he has been. If he can do that the rest of the secondary can match up against the rest of the Wildcat’s receivers. That will allow for some unique coverage in hopes to throw Johnson off his game.

The defensive front will have to get a ton of pressure to make Johnson uncomfortable. Bunmi Rotimi has been much better than anticipated for this front and he will need to get after Johnson this game. He could be a guy we see make a game changing defensive play for this unit. I also think the linebackers will have to get more involved for this team. Heeney has to be a leader and help this unit get into position and maintain their gaps. The Wildcats running game has not been exciting but as shown last week teams have been able to break big plays against this defense. They will have to be prepared for anything as teams are looking to open up their offenses as the weeks go by.

Special Teams

The special teams unit last week was horrendous for the Guardians. They let up a kickoff return for a touchdown and a blocked punt. This unit will need to play mistake free football to not put the team in a disadvantage. When you have a struggling offense you need to try to make momentum changing plays rather than give them up. I hope the Guardians special team’s coaches can put a trick play in the game plan in order to give us something unique.

Prediction

The New York Guardians week 4 is a must win. We need to see one of the quarterbacks come out and be a leader. This offense needs to start to get something going or the season could be over soon. I expect the defense to play well if they can get pressure and Summers plays a great game. The team as a whole will have to be disciplined and play mistake free football in order to win this game. A loss like last week likely will kill their playoff chances with the match ups they have coming up. I will give the win to the Guardians due to being at home and feeling the desperation but ever so slightly.

New York Guardians 23 – Los Angeles Wildcats 21