Manning returns to the site of greatest triumph
Glendale, Ariz. — In his turbulent 14th NFL season, Eli Manning returns to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs.
Manning will lead the New York Giants (2-12) into University of Phoenix Stadium to face Arizona (6-8) today in the Cardinals' final home game of a difficult season.
It was in the same building, in January 2008, that Manning was the MVP in the Giants' dramatic 17-14 Super Bowl win over New England.
"I hope he doesn't repeat it," Arizona coach Bruce Arians said.
That Giants team went 10-6 in the regular season. This one has gone through a miserable year that included the firing of coach Ben McAdoo on Dec. 4.
New York is 0-2 under interim coach Steve Spagnuolo, but Manning is coming off a strong performance two games after his unexpected onegame benching. He completed 37 of 57 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in last weekend's 34-29 loss to Philadelphia.
But Manning said it's tough to duplicate those kinds of numbers.
"You learn quick in football that nothing carries over from week to week," he said. "It's about we're going against an uncommon opponent. We haven't played Arizona in a while, so we got to have a great preparation and that's starting with me. But, everybody just understanding their schemes, what they're going to do and we just got to execute.
"Last week, guys made some great individual efforts. We got to continue to do that and then just find a lot of GIANTS AT CARDINALS 4:25 p.m., University of Phoenix Stadium (Ch. 61)
completions."
The Cardinals' defense features outside linebacker Chandler Jones, the NFL leader in sacks (15), and has mostly played well, especially lately.
But the offense has sputtered, producing nine field goals and no touchdowns in the past two games. In fact, it's been 10 quarters since an Arizona player crossed the opponent's goal line.
That led Arians to make a change at quarterback, benching Blaine Gabbert after five starts in favor of Drew Stanton, who still is recovering from a knee injury. Stanton is 7-4 as a starter for Arizona, 1-1 this season.
"Unless it's a drastic change in the type of quarterback, we just defend the scheme," Spagnuolo said. "I think both Blaine and Stanton are very similar in that regard. One might be a little more athletic or they might run a few more movement passes, but Bruce likes to throw the football."
Not pass-happy: The Giants are coming off their best offensive performance of the season, posting season highs in points (29), yards (504), third down conversions (10) and pass attempts (57).
The key was the quick passing game. Manning hit a lot of passes that resulted in yards after the catch. Look for that trend to continue.
The problem is the Giants want more balance. Last week was 26th time in their regular-season history in which the Giants threw at least 50 passes. Their record in those games is 2-24, including 2-22 when one quarterback throws all of the passes.