stats aside, giants pass by arizona, 37-29!

eli manning passed for 100 fewer yards than kurt warner. but eli did connect for 3 touchdowns and the giants beat arizona on their home field, 37-29. the giants are now tied with the titans (thanks to an awesome assist from the jets yesterday) at 10-1 for the best nfl record after 11 games!

arizona's vaunted quarterback racked up his 5th straight 300+ yard game - an impressive stat no matter how it's looked at! warner's 351 yards (32 of 52) easily overshadowed 240 manning's passing yardage (26 of 33). but never lose site of the quality. one 3rd quarter example says it all: the cards went 90 yards to score a td, with warner accounting for 54 of those yards (5 0f 8), and cut the giants lead to 24-19.

what the stats don't show is the bogus pass interference call against the giants that kept arizona's drive alive - instead of 3 and out. 2 more penalties against the giants moved them down the field toward that seemingly inevitable ref-assisted touchdown. but the giants didn't let the score stay close for long. the next possession eli marched the giants down to the end-zone (unassisted by the referees) in a 10 play, 80 yard scoring drive that restored the 12 point lead.

the stats also failed to show manning worked without the benefit of plexico (one play, then out for the game because of his hamstring). so manning spread the ball around and completed passes to 6 different receivers. the giants also lined up without brandon jacobs (knee injury). that may have kept the giants total rushing yards under 100 (and ended a string of games with 200+ rushing yards). but winning with the players on the field is a sign of great team - which the giants continue to do!

still, the giants have a lot more football to play. three straight division games ahead of them, and the last two games are against wild card contenders carolina and minnesota, respectively. no time to get complaisant!