The Game

UPDATE: Manning's second-and-10 throw to Smith is intercepted by Rolle and returned to the Cardinals' 22 with 1:08 remaining. Warner will kneel out the game. Final: 24-17 Cardinals. Giants' second loss in a row. Be back in a bit with a summary.

UPDATE: Jacobs goes for nine up the middle. Manning throws incomplete, but Jacobs picks up the first down with two yards to the 39.

UPDATE: Giants have two timeouts left.

UPDATE: Beatty jumped early to move it back to the 5. Bradshaw is thrown for a three-yard loss, and then gets hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty to put it at the 1. Second-and-18. Manning hits Nicks for three, and then Smith makes a tremendous catch for 34 to the Giants' 38. Manning's trying, but his throw to Smith goes out of bounds. Manning scrambles away from pressure, then gets good blocking from Beatty to buy enough time to find come-backing Nicks for 12 and a first down at midfield at the two-minute warning.

UPDATE: Interior line needs to stand strong here. Boss just made a great 26-yard catch, getting clocked by Rolle on the way down. But Bradshaw fumbled after a sizeable gain and the Cardinals recovered at their 42. Warner hit Fitzgerald for six on second down. Third-and-4, and Fitzgerald drops it to force a punt that Hixon fair catches at the Giants' 9 with 2:52 left.

UPDATE: This game isn't over yet. Manning has engineered more than his share of come-from-behind touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

UPDATE: Warner to Fitzgerald for 10 off a blitz. Wells went for 10 and a first down to the Giants' 44. Wells went for two. Wells for 5. Third-and-3. Kiwanuka, who is having a solid game after I critizied him during the week, got a seven-yard sack, forcing a punt that Hixon fair caught at the Giants' 17. No choice here but to score a touchdown.

UPDATE: Arizona returned the kickoff to their 31. Just something to watch when the Giants get the ball again. Safeties Antrel Rolle and Adrian Wilson are both getting worked on on the sidelines.

UPDATE: Giants are struggling as Jacobs got stopped on third-and-2. But he takes it seven for a first down on the 28, after which Manningham srops a pinpoint pass at the goal line. Manning hit Smith for 11 yards. A first-down throw to Jacobs goes high incomplete under pressure. A completion to Smith gets it to the 4, and Jacobs can't get the first down on a two-yard gain. Tynes hit a 20-yard field goal, which the Giants needed anyway, to tighten things to 24-17 with 8:14 remaining.

UPDATE: Manning took a shot on third-and-2 (questionable, anyone) and threw it out of bounds to Smith. Feagles punted to the 12 and the Giants' defense is holding. Warner's long shot to a limping Boldin (he's got that ankle, remember) goes long and incomplete. Graham's punt is brought to the Cardinals' 49 by Hixon, and then an ineligible player downfield call on the punt puts it at the 44.

UPDATE: Another lousy possession. Third-and-14 after a n illegal procedure call, but a roughing the passer call accompainies a completion to Steve Smith for a first down at the Giants' 46. Manning's eight-yard throw to Manningham ends the quarter with the Cardinals up 24-14.

UPDATE: Hixon returns to the 22.

UPDATE: A minus-2-yard completion forces a punt that Ben Graham puts down on the Giants' 19. Jacobs got a nice seven-yard run up the middle. But then he's stopped around right tackle. The offensive line has not had a stellar day of blocking or pass-protecting. Manning's second delay of game call brings up third-and-7, and then he throws an interception to Adrian Wilson on a pass intended for Jacobs, Wilson returning to the 20. Wells brings it up the middle for 15 to the 5, but then loses a yard when Blackburn stops him on a pitch right. Warner dumps it off to Jason Wright for six yards and a touchdown. Cardinals 24-14.

UPDATE: Giants benefitted from a hold and a chop block, giving the Cardinals second-and-27. GIANTS NOTE: Nicks is the first Giants rookie WR with four touchdowns in four games since Bobby Johnson in 1984.

UPDATE: That's four straight punts that Feagles has hit it less than 35 yards, and not by design, either.

UPDATE: Kick's in the end zone. Ball on the Giants 20. Manning is sacked as DT Alan Branch beats Seubert, and the Giants can't move from there. Feagles is having an absolutely horrible game, hitting this punt 30 yards to the Giants' 48.

UPDATE: Third-and-goal from the 1. Hightower took it up the middle for a touchdown. Cardinals 17-14 with 10:19 left in the third.

UPDATE: Giants are still getting pressure, but Warner hit passes of 27 and 27 to the Giants' 7, and then Wells took it to the 3. Wells went for two yards to the 1 before an Arizona timeout.

UPDATE: Feagles' punts it 35 yards to the Arizona 45. Cardinals have clearly won the field position battle so far, but the defense is keeping them from doing anything with it.

UPDATE: And we're off again. Hixon returns to the 20. Special teams is leaving something to be desired tonight. Giants start with a three-and-0ut. Not a good sign at all here.

UPDATE: Have to say the pressure is vastly improved tonight from last week. They're not getting to Warner all the time, but they're making him uncomfortable. Next thing is to knock the ball out on him.

UPDATE: Manning kneels out the half. 14-10 Giants.

UPDTE: Warner's throw goes behind Fitzgerald at the goal line, and Rackers hits a 30-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the half. 14-10 Giants.

UPDATE: Back to back timeouts from Cardinals and Giants with 0:25 left in the half.

UPDATE: Crowd's cheering DEFENSE. C.C. Brown must have heard them, as he made two nice stops in a row. It's third-and-3 from the 12.

UPDATE: I've said it before and I'll say it again. The more I see of Hakeem Nicks, the more I like him. That's four TDs in four games for him.

UPDATE: This one you had to see to believe. Manning tossed one to Manningham, who was covered closely by Rogers-Cromartie. The DB leaped with Manningham and tapped the ball, apparently for the breakup. But Hakeem Nicks was standing about 10 yards away, snatched the ball out of the air and went 61 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. But Breaston returned the kickoff to the 37 and, just before the two-minute warning, Warner found Boldin, who had beaten Bruce Johnson badly, for 44 yards for a first down at the 19.

UPDATE: Can't blame the front four right now. They're getting good pressure on Warner, but Warner's guys are adjusting well. Hightower was wide open as the heat came down on the quarterback. Hixon brings the kickoff back to the 25.

UPDATE: This offense is a disaster right now. Third-and-14 at the 13 thanks to Jacobs' four=-yard loss. Cardinals are getting pressure on Manning. Must be contagious. Feagles hit another clunker, a 33-yarder to the Giants' 46. Cardinals are moving thanks to a third-and-3 throw to Boldin for 13 yards to the 26. Warner missed Fitzgerald in the end zone, covered by C.C. Brown on second down. Giants are pass rushing, but Hightower caught one to the 13, and Wells brought it the rest of the way as he bounced away off the left side and went all but untouched into the end zone. 7-7 with 4:18 left in the half.

UPDATE: Danny Clark didn't bite on a second-down play-action and sacked Warner for eight yards, after which Hightower dropped an easy pass. Hixon fair catches on the Giants' 17.

UPDATE: Minimal movement on the possession, and then an 11-yard sack by Calais Campbell up the middle, and then Feagles shanks one for 28 yards to the Cardinals' 44.

UPDATE: Giants got good pressure from Kiwanuka on third-and-4 pass, but then Dockery almost loused up the punt as he touched it and nearly had it recovered by a Cardinal. But the defender knocked it out of bounds and the Giants have it at their 31. Dockery gets a fumble and a 0-yard return.

UPDATE: That makes eight touchdowns in 13 turnovers on the season.

UPDATE: Thomas just intercepted an underthrown pass to Fitzgerald and returned it 13 yards to the Cardinals 29. Then Jacobs takes it to the 4 behind some nice blocking. Manning missed a fade to Nicks, but Jacobs brings it in on a cutback up the middle, carrying half a team with him. Giants 7-0.

UPDATE: Do hope there's more action going on in the Yanks' game than this one. Just a lot of back-and-forth here. One turnover each, and neither did a thing with it. Wells took it 13 yards up the gut for a first down at the 25 as the first quarter runs out. No score yet.

UPDATE: A delay of game marched them back five, and a dump pass to Bradshaw lost two more to bring up a punt that Feagles knocked out of bounds at the Arizona 12.

UPDATE: This is not stacking up as a good possession. Bradshaw for no gain, and then for minus-2. They pick up five yards on an offsides call. Another offside gives them third-and-2. Bradshaw's eight-yard gain gives them a first down on the 37. Some pressure off the right side forced Manning to throw away the first-down pass. That's Beatty who got beat. Manningham makes a nice sideline catch for 20 yards to move into Cardinals territory. Bradshaw gets four on a run. Manning's doing a good job of avoiding pressure, this time scrambling for no yards, which is technically a sack.

UPDATE: Warner completed to Boldin for 18 as Thomas gambled, but loses five on an illegal formation after that for first-abd-15 from the Arizona 38. Giants haven't done a bad job defensively, and they force a punt on three Warner passes, one that went for 10 yards to Jerheme Urban. Interesting note: they had both Dockery and Brown on Fitzgerald in front-back coverage. Hixon returned the punt to the 20.

UPDATE: Jacobs broke a nice one on the cutback right up the middle, for 17 yards, and then gets six on a completion. But it all goes for naught when Manning play-actioned a beautiful throw to Hixon deep, only to have Dominique Rogers-Cromartie wrestle the ball out of his hands as they tumbled across the goal line. Arizona gets the interception and the ball at the Arizona 20. Great idea, great throw, and one of the best interceptions you'll ever see by anybody.

UPDATE: Good pressure by Michael Johnson on Warner's third-down pass forces a punt to the Giants' 30. They're doing a good job stopping the run so far.

UPDATE: Incompletion forces a Feagles punt fair caught by Breaston on the Arizona 15. Giants need to get the pass rush going, but Warner is got the ball out pretty fast on his first possession.

UPDATE: Giants are moving on completions to Manningham and Hixon, and a four-yard gain, but Diehl jumped early to bring up third-and-11.

UPDATE: Call was reversed on challenge to a fumble caused by Tuck and a recovery at the Giants' 27 by Michael Johnson.

UPDATE: Ball was returned to the Arizona 34 after a short kickoff. Breaston started it off with a 23-yard reception. Warner hits Fitzgerald for a first deown and still no sign of that pass rush. But Tuck threw Hightower for a loss on a play where the ball came loose. Coughlin is challenging the down by contact.

UPDATE: Cardinals are receiving. We'll get an immediate look at that dormant pass rush.

UPDATE: Just another note. McKenzie's missed start ends the offensive line's streak of games playing as an intact unit at 37 straight. Will be interesting to see how Beatty, the second-rounder, holds up over a whole game.

Thought I'd try something new to give you guys a little more information on the game. Here's the game page from the NFL website with a few notes and stats, just to whet your appetite for the feast that is Cardinals-Giants.

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EP