What Went Right, What Went Wrong in Giants 27-21 Loss to Arizona

Looking back at the key plays and decisions in the Giants' 27-21 loss to Arizona.

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants suffered their third straight loss Sunday in an ugly 27-21 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals.

Although the Giants had ten days to prepare for their matchup with the Cardinals, they couldn't get off to a fast start on either side of the ball, gaining just three yards of offense while giving up 151 yards (and 14 points) to the Cardinals.

The Cardinals entered the day with the 12th ranked rushing offense (122.7 yards/game) but finished with 156 yards on 38 carries.

Running back David Johnson, who has been dealing with an ankle sprain, only had one carry for two yards, but backup running back Chase Edmonds ran wild, rushing for two early 20-yard touchdowns en route to a 126-yard day on 27 carries with three rushing touchdowns.

He is the second player to score three touchdowns against the Giants defense this season (Mike Evans) and the third player in NFL history (per NFL Research) to score three touchdowns of at least 20 yards in one game.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones began the game going 1-of-4 for -4 yards with an interception.

The Giants finally awoke in the second quarter when Jones dropped a beautiful 28-yard dime to tight end Rhett Ellison to put the Giants on the scoreboard. After his initial slow start, Jones went 8-of-10 for 104 yards and a touchdown pass in the first half.

Despite a 17-0 deficit, the Giants battled back to shift momentum in their favor with the Jones-to-Ellison touchdown pass, followed up by a blocked punt by Michael Thomas that Eli Penny recovered in the end zone to bring the score to 17-14 at halftime

After both teams exchanged punts to start the second half, the Giants looked like they were starting to put something together as they reached mid-field. Unfortunately, edge Chandler Jones blew into the backfield to commit the strip-sack of Jones and force the turnover. Jones tormented Daniel Jones all day, recording a career-high 4.0 sacks and one forced fumble.

This strip-sack set up Edmonds' third touchdown run, this one 22 yards, which extended the Cardinals lead to 24-14.

Jones and the Giants drove down the field on a 12-play 49-yard drive to set up a 37-yard field goal try for Aldrick Rosas. Unfortunately, the attempt hit the right crossbar.

Despite this series of unfortunate events, the Giants were able to bounce back for a strong 8-play 82-yard drive capped off by Saquon Barkley's 7-yard touchdown run to bring the team within 3 points yet again.

The Giants defense was able to force another punt to put the ball back in the hands of their offense with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Once again, it was Chandler Jones, who brought down Daniel Jones for an 8-yard sack. Two plays later on 3rd-and-18, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur called a draw play with Barkley, which only gained three yards.

Then, instead of punting the ball down three-points, Shurmur opted to go for it on 4th-and-15 from the Giants 33-yard line. Patrick Peterson came in on a corner blitz from the backside to force the strip-sack of Jones.

Jones finished 22-of-35 for 223 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, but struggled again in the turnover department with three fumbles (two lost) and one interception on the day. He now has 11 turnovers on the season.

Jones was also under pressure all afternoon and was sacked eight times and hit 16.

“They have some good pass rushers over there, and they did a good job. But I need to do a better job of getting rid of the ball, getting through my reads and getting the ball out,” said Jones.

“Taking care of the ball is a big thing and has been. To not do that today is disappointing. I have to get better there.”

Barkley had 18 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown in his first game back since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 3.