HOPES CHICAGO IS FOG-FREE TONIGHT
He was good, again, but the New York Giants were great, especially Eli Manning.
Manning threw for three touchdowns in his return to the scene of his Super Bowl MVP performance and the Giants (10-1) beat Arizona yesterday, 37-29. The loss snapped a seven-game home winning streak for the Cardinals (7-4).
Count on Warner and Co. to be really hungry when they visit Lincoln Financial Field Thursday for a Thanksgiving showdown with the Eagles (8 p.m., Channel 6).
The lead changed hands five times in the first half, but Warner (32-for-52, 351 yards), under fierce pressure all day, was intercepted once and fumbled once, both leading to Giants touchdowns. He also threw for a fourth-quarter touchdown to Anquan Boldin.
"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."
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 (26-for-33, 240 yards) had no interceptions, and was 16-for-18 for 156 yards and two scores in the second half.
"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."
Warner's touchdown pass to Boldin cut the lead to 34-26 with 4 minutes, 2 seconds to play. The Cardinals' subsequent onside kick bounced off the chest of Arizona's Ralph Brown and was recovered by the Giants' Chase Blackburn.
John Carney's third field goal, from 33 yards, put the Giants ahead, 37-26, with 1:55 remaining.
Neil Rackers' third field goal, a 44-yarder, cut it to 37-29 with 32 seconds left. New York's Steve Smith recovered the onside kick and the game was over.
Already without Jacobs, the Giants lost wide receiver Plaxico Burress early in the game when he aggravated a hamstring injury.
Still, Manning had plenty of targets. Domenik Hixon had kickoff returns of 83 and 68 yards and caught six passes for 57.
Six plays after the second-half kickoff, Warner was stripped of the ball by Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka recovered for New York at the Cardinals at the Arizona 40. On third-and-2, Manning threw 30 yards to Smith at the Cardinals 2. Manning's 2-yard touchdown toss to Madison Hedgecock boosted New York's lead to 24-12 with 10:35 left in the quarter. *
