The Giants' fourth quarter was a textbook example of how not to finish a football game.
Turnovers? Check.
Dropped passes? Check.
Penalties? Check.
Special-teams meltdowns? Check.
The result, a 25-14 loss to the Cardinals and backup quarterback Drew Stanton, was as predictable as the Giants' performance was disappointing. It's hard to pinpoint the biggest gaffe. There were so many.
"When you are losing because of not executing, shooting yourself in the foot, multiple turnovers, penalties and those types of things it is hard to live with," said running back Rashad Jennings, one of the many offenders. "That is kind of what happened today."
There was Victor Cruz's drop on third down, short-circuiting a drive. Ted Ginn. Jr.'s ensuing 71-yard punt return for a touchdown. Returner Quintin Demps decision to take a kickoff 3 yards deep out of the end zone and promptly fumble deep in Big Blue territory. Or, how about Jennings' fumble without getting hit with the Giants at the Cardinals 17-yard line and down eight points with 4:42 left.
"To see the ball come out on something like that, no contact," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "I don't know how you explain that."
While the Giants weren't playing great football entering the fourth quarter, they were ahead 14-10. Eli Manning had found his rhythm after an early interception and Arizona hadn't scored since its second possession.
But then everything went haywire. The Cardinals kicked a field goal, a Chandler Catanzaro 37-yarder that made it 14-13 with 11:42 to go.
There was an ominous feeling in the building when Cruz dropped the perfectly placed throw — one of two fourth-quarter drops form the usually sure-handed star — from Manning on third-and-6 from the Giants 26. It would've taken time off the clock and set the Giants up near midfield.
"I've got to be able to make the play for my team and make the play whenever Eli looks my way," Cruz said. "Any time you have a drop, its disappointing. I've just got to do a better job of reeling the ball in whenever it's in my direction and moving the chains for my team."
Instead, one play later, Big Blue was behind after Ginn took Steve Weatherford's kick to the house with 10:10 left. The game was never truly in doubt again.
"Fumbling and turning the ball over, that can't be characteristic of this team, so we have to be able to go back to the drawing board, see what we did wrong, learn from it and continue," Cruz said. "I think our team was put against the wall today and we had to come off that wall. In a couple of instances, we didn't respond, but we've bot to pick ourselves up and continue."
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