Manning leads Giants in desert again, this time taking down Cards
Associated Press - From NFL.com
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Eli Manning insists he never flashed back to his previous game in Glendale. Everyone who watched him Sunday must have.
Manning threw for three touchdowns in his return to the scene of his Super Bowl MVP performance and the New York Giants beat Arizona 37-29 to snap the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak.
"It's just a totally different feel, it's just a different time," Manning said. "You never really compared it to the last time we were here. We knew we'd have a tough contest with Arizona."
Defensive end Justin Tuck, though, admitted to "a little deja vu."
"Once you got back out here, you see the field and this stadium looking like a space ship, you start to think about that night and how it felt," he said.
With starting running back Brandon Jacobs out with a knee injury, the Giants took to the air to win their sixth in a row. Manning completed 26 of 33 for 240 yards with no interceptions as the Giants moved to 10-1, tied for the best record in the NFL.
"He just continues to do whatever has to be done to win a game," New York coach Tom Coughlin said.
Kurt Warner, under fierce pressure most of the afternoon, was 32-for-52 for 351 yards and a touchdown for Arizona (7-4). He was intercepted once and fumbled once, both leading to Giants touchdowns.
"They're a good defense and we matched up with them very well and went toe to toe with them for 60 minutes," Warner said. "Of course, you never want to go away a loser and that part is disappointing. I think you leave from this game and move ahead. If we eliminate some of the mistakes we can play with anybody in the league."
Besides the turnovers, the Cardinals allowed two long kickoff returns to set up scores.
"Whenever you can put our offense in that type of field position, it's a great thing," Tuck said, "especially with the weapons that we have."
On the field where they upset New England in last season's Super Bowl, the Giants (10-1) took the lead late in the first half and never relinquished it.
"That's a well-coached football team with a tremendous amount of depth that doesn't make many mistakes," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "To me that was the key today. We just made too many mistakes."
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