Giants-Cardinals final score: Giants beaten by Arizona, 27-21

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants missed an opportunity Sunday in a game in which they were favored, falling to the Arizona Cardinals, 27-21, at a rain-soaked MetLife Stadium.

The Giants fall to 2-5 with their third straight loss. The Cardinals are now 3-3-1.

Trailing 24-21, the Giants had an opportunity to tie or go ahead. They had the ball at their 25-yard line with 4:28 to go, but couldn’t mount a drive. Daniel Jones was sacked by Patrick Peterson on fourth-and-15 from the 33-yard line and Haason Reddick recovered at the Giants’ 17-yard line with 2:28 to play.

Coach Pat Shurmur said he went for the first down because “it was going to play out the way I thought. Stop ‘em, make ‘em kick a field goal at the very least and we go down and score a touchdown. Plus, I wanted to get a chance to make it on fourth-and-15.

“That’s the way it played out. We had the ball with a chance to go down and score a touchdown to win the game.”

The Giants got the defensive stop, but not the game-winning touchdown.

The Giants held the Cardinals to a 35-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez that gave them a 27-21 lead with 2:09 to play.

With one final chance, the Giants took over at their 12-yard line with 2:02 to play snd no timeouts. They turned the ball over on downs at their own 4-yard line with :34 left.

Awful start for Giants

The Giants played themselves out of the game before they ever had a chance. Arizona led, 14-0, after two possessions. They went 75 yards in 13 plays for one score, and 32 yards in 3 plays after a Daniel Jones interception for the second score. Both came on 20-yard runs by Cardinals’ backup running back Chase Edmonds.

Arizona’s third possession ended with a 47-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal for a 17-0 lead with 13:30 left in the first half. That drive went 54 yards in 9 plays.

“I think that after the hole we dug for ourselves early, there was a sense of urgency,” Jones said. “We fought back, but you can’t afford to do that to yourself early. You can’t afford to put yourself in that hole and it definitely makes it harder on you. Yeah, there was an urgency, and I thought we fought. But it’s just hard to do when you put yourself down like that.”

Getting back in it

The Giants got back in the game in the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Rhett Ellison and an Elijhaa Penny recovery in the end zone of a blocked punt by Michael Thomas.

The second half

The Giants couldn’t capitalize on their second-quarter momentum.

They got within 24-21 on a 7-yard run by Saquon Barkley with 8:13 left. That capped an 8-play, 82-yard drive, but the Giants could not complete the comeback.

Stat stuff

Jones completed 22 of 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked eight times and fumbled three times, losing two. Jones has now fumbled six times and thrown seven interceptions in five starts.

“He’s a tough son of a gun, he’s fighting through it,” Shurmur said. “He made some good throws, too, today. Did a lot of really good things. We’ve just gotta try to cut back on some of the mistakes.”

“They [the Cardinals] did a good job upfront,” Jones said. “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. But yeah, they deserve some credit.

“I think I’m making progress in some areas, and still need to improve a lot in others. Obviously, 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 carried 18 times for 72 yards.

Golden Tate caught six passes for 80 yards.

For Arizona, Chase Edmonds ran 27 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for scores of 22, 20 and 20 yards.

Chandler Jones had four sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for Arizona.

What’s next?

The Giants will host the Detroit Lions in Week 8. That is another 1 p.m. ET start. The game will be televised on FOX.