Manning leads Giants in late rally, 31-27

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Eli Manning threw the ball to his big-play receiver in man coverage in the left corner of the north end zone at University of Phoenix Stadium to cap a come-from-behind victory.

Again.

The last time he did that, of course, was in Super Bowl XLII when he found Plaxico Burress for the winning touchdown against the Patriots. On Sunday, nearly four years removed from that magical moment, Manning and the Giants duplicated it with eerie accuracy. It was even the same corner of the field.

The only thing missing was the confetti. And there won't be any parade down the Canyon of Heroes for a 31-27 win over the Cardinals. But it did improve the Giants' record to 3-1 and keep them tied with the Redskins atop the NFC East.

"We've had some good games here and this was a great game," Manning said after completing 14 of 17 fourth-quarter passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns on scoring drives that took a total of nine plays and 2:10. "A great win."

"I can't even explain how huge it is," safety Antrel Rolle said of the comeback. "It was nothing but a team effort."

The Giants trailed 27-17 with 5:16 remaining after Beanie Wells scored his third rushing TD of the game. The Giants responded with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was keyed by a 26-yard reception by Nicks to the 1, setting up a scoring pass to Jake Ballard in the back of the end zone.

The Giants' defense forced the Cardinals off with a three-and-out on a drive that took up only 27 seconds, and two plays later, Manning found Nicks in the end zone for the 29-yard TD that made it 31-27.

"These games are fun," Manning said, "but I don't think you want to play in these games every single week."

The Cardinals (1-3) scored 10 points off Giants turnovers, capitalizing on an Ahmad Bradshaw fumble on the first drive with a field goal and turning a Manning fumble in the third quarter into a touchdown and a 20-10 lead.

There was almost a third major giveaway when Victor Cruz left the ball on the turf after he went down but was not tackled. The officials ruled that he had given himself up, though, and the Giants kept the ball. A play later, perhaps with the Cardinals still confused over what had just happened, Manning found Nicks for the game-winner. "They came after us with the blitz," Manning said of the score. "We had thrown a couple of back shoulder balls and finally we threw one over the top. I think the corner [Patrick Peterson] kind of stopped and was expecting a back shoulder. It was a good job by Hakeem making the catch."

If anything, the Giants scored too quickly. The Cardinals had 2:39 and two timeouts left with the ball, but they had to score a touchdown to win it.

"We talked as a defense and said that this was our chance to redeem how we had played early in the game," end Dave Tollefson said.

Osi Umenyiora, in his first game of the season, came up with a big sack, his second of the game, on the final drive and Corey Webster was able to bat away a pass for Larry Fitzgerald on fourth down to seal it.

"We hadn't made some very good plays [against him] and then this particular one we coordinated a nice play," coach Tom Coughlin said.

Back in the locker room, the symmetry of what happened Sunday and what happened in February 2008 was hard to escape. Tollefson, who had two sacks, even pointed to the row of lockers where he and the defensive linemen were sitting for that other game a few years back. "That's something that you're just never going to forget," he said. "It's not like we won a regional championship or something. We won the world championship here."

Sunday's effort didn't win anything but an early-October regular-season game. But it did help rejuvenate the memories of Super Bowl XLII. And if it does anything to help the Giants' confidence on their quest for another title, its value will be even more significant.