Giants Choke On First Place, Lose to Cardinals

 CARDINALS 26 - GIANTS 7 

If there is one thing we should have learned about the New York Giants, never trust the New York Giants. 

A week after their stunning victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Giants delivered a clunker against the Arizona Cardinals, falling 26-7 at home. 

The Giants were sloppy and careless with the football, and allowed Kyler Murray to rip them to shreds both through the air and on the ground a week after shutting down one of the league's best quarterbacks in Seattle's Russell Wilson.

The trouble started right away when Daniel Jones was strip sacked on second and 10 from the 50-yard line on the Giants opening possession. Arizona's Markus Golden recovered the loose ball, rumbled 30 yards to the Giants' nine. Fortunately, Big Blue stuffed the Cardinals and forced a turnover on downs when Murray hurried a throw out of bounds on fourth and goal. 

However that would be the highlight of the day for Big Blue. 

The mistakes and misfortune would only continue. A huge 24-yard punt return by Christian Kirk set up Arizona deep inside Giants territory again. This time the Cards settled for three points and a 3-0 lead. 

Things would only get worse for the Giants come the second quarter. A fumble by Dion Lewis on a kick-off when the ball was kicked out of his hands by Arizona's Kritian Fields led to an Arizona recovery at the Giants' 21-yard line. Four plays later, Murray found Dan Arnold for a seven yard score to make it 13-0. 

The Giants never responded, as the offense continued to sputter out of control under quarterback Daniel Jones, who clearly wasn't right at all Sunday. In fact, back-up quarterback Colt McCoy was warming up as early as the second quarter. 

McCoy didn't come in right away however, and Jones did catch some fire early in the third quarter when he led the Giants on their only scoring drive of the day, a Dion Lewis 1-yard plunge that was set up by a nifty catch by Golden Tate for 39-yards. But that wasn't enough. 

The Giants were already down 20-0, and the score only made it 20-7. 

They never got close again. The Giants would punt on their next three possessions, and Jones would be replaced by McCoy by the fourth quarter. Jones finished 11-of-21 for 127 yards. He was sacked six times, and fumbled three times. McCoy was no better getting sacked twice. 

The Cardinals recorded eight sacks and five tackles for loss Sunday. 

 The defeat was made worse by the fact the Washington Football Team annihilated the  San Francisco 49ers 23-15 behind a spirited defensive effort by Chase Young. The Football Team even lost Alex Smith in the process, but they find themselves in first place at the moment at 6-7. The Giants are 5-8. Even worse the Eagles shocked the Saints behind Jalen Hurts, meaning the Eagles are right back in the mix at 4-8-1. 

With three games left, things are not looking good for Big Blue. The Giants host the Browns next Sunday night, before traveling to Baltimore on Christmas week.