Back again fans with this weeks Giants matchup Madden game simulation. As you see by the score above, Giants handled the Cards pretty well. However, it didnt start out this way. Also, Arizona's 14 points were of the unconventional variety. Explainations to come...

On the opening kickoff, Mark Herzlich forced a fumble on LaRod Stephens-Howling. It looked like the G-men were gonna recover deep in AZ territory however they couldn't scoop up the ball. Cardinals didnt get far, going three and out, followed by a Giants three and out. Each team traded more defensive stands until Giants came through on a Lawrence Tynes 28 yd FG. On the next Cardinals possession, they evened the score with a Jay Feely 55 yd FG. After a pair of punts, things started to get interesting. Cardinals punt went out of bounds at basically the half yard line, and on the ensuing Giants play, Darnell Dockett broke free sacking Eli Manning in the end zone for a safety. First Quarter ended with Cardinals up 5-3.

After the safety punt, AZ was able to move into scoring position, but the Giants defense did not break and only yielded a Feely 37 yd FG. Cards up 8-3. So far it had been a defensive struggle. Giants were moving the ball, but kept stalling and neither team were able to break into the endzone. This changed right before the end of the 2nd quarter with a 43 yd TD pass from Eli to Mario Manningham. Giants took the lead 10-8 into the half.

First Half Stats

Rushing: Giants 44, Cardinals 57

Passing: Giants 176, Cardinals 76

Total Offense: Giants 220, Cardinals 86

First Downs: Giants 9, Cardinals 7

Third Downs: Giants 2/4 (50%), Cardinals 1/5 (20%)

Score: Giants 10, Cardinals 8

After a Giants 3 and out, Patrick Peterson was able to return the punt to the Giants 41. A few plays later and Cardinals retook the lead on a Kevin Kolb to Early Doucet 27 yard pass. They went for the two point conversion to make it a 6 point game, but Kolb threw his pass into traffic and it was batted down by Aaron Ross. With AZ up 14-10 now Giants needed to respond but the drive fell apart on their own 48 yard line. A coffin corner punt pinned AZ inside their own 10 and then Kenny Phillips came up big again (hes doin great in the virtual world too!) by picking Kolb off at the Giants 38 yard line. This set up an Ahmad Bradshaw 4 yard TD run and Big Blue was up 17-14. At this point the Giants never looked back. As you see by the score above, AZ didn't score again. G-men added another Tynes FG (28 yds) and another Bradshaw TD run (14 yds) before the end of the third quarter to make it 27-14. Lastly in the 4th, Tynes hit a 36 yd FG to bring it to the final score of 30-14. And thats all she wrote. Giants get their 3rd win of the season in 4 games and all is golden!

Final Game Stats

Rushing: Giants 132, Cardinals 86

Passing: Giants 315, Cardinals 162

Total Offense: Giants 447, Cardinals 248

First Downs: Giants 18, Cardinals 12

Turnovers: Giants 0, Cardinals 1

Third Downs: Giants 4/11 (36%), Cardinals 2/10 (20%)

Score: Giants 30, Cardinals 14

Giants Individual Stats

Passing

Eli Manning: 20/29, 315 yds, 1TD, 0INT, sacked twice

Rushing

Ahmad Bradshaw: 18 carries, 92 yds, 2 TD's

Brandon Jacobs: 12 carries, 40 yds

Receiving

Mario Manningham: 6 catches, 125 yds, 1 TD

Hakeem Nicks: 3 catches, 71 yds

Victor Cruz: 3 catches, 52 yds

Devin Thomas: 3 catches, 20 yds

Ahmad Bradshaw: 2 catches, 22 yds

Jake Ballard: 2 catches, 18 yds

Jerrel Jernigan: 1 catch, 7 yds

Drops: Cruz (2), Ballard (2), Thomas

Sacks: Chris Canty, Justin Tuck, Michael Boley

INT: Kenny Phillips

Force Fumble: Mark Herzlich

Kicking: Lawrence Tynes 3/4, (Made 24, 28, 36), (Missed 52)

Cardinals Individual Stats

Passing

Kevin Kolb: 13/30, 162 yds, 1TD, 1INT, sacked three times

Rushing

Beanie Wells: 17 carries, 43 yds

Chester Taylor: 4 carries, 27 yds

Kevin Kolb: 2 carries, 16 yds

Receiving

Larry Fitzgerald: 5 catches, 67 yds

Early Doucet: 3 catches, 41 yds, 1TD

Chansi Stuckey: 2 catches, 22 yds

Andre Roberts: 1 catch, 14 yds

Chester Taylor: 1 catch, 10 yds

Todd Heap: 1 catch, 8 yds

Drops: Heap (2), Doucet, Stuckey

Sacks: Darnell Dockett (2)

Kicking: Jay Feely 2/2 (Made 55, 37)