Eli Manning looks good, but mistakes by NY Giants and Ted Ginn's punt return ...

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images Ted Ginn returns a punt 76-yards to break the game open for the Cardinals.

It took two long months for the Giants new West Coast offense to find a little bit of rhythm, and it took a backup quarterback to get the Big Blue defense looking dangerous.

And then it took 30 seconds of fourth-quarter miscues for none of that to matter.

These are your 2014 Giants. On Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, the Giants spent three quarters making what coach Tom Coughlin termed progress against an Arizona Cardinals team that started its backup QB. But they still lost the game, doing everything they could possibly think of to transform a one-point fourth-quarter edge into a 25-14 loss that dropped the Giants to 0-2.

We take the lead, 14-13, and from then on, its like watching I dont know what, said Coughlin. From there, it was a nightmare.

The nightmare erased so much good the Giants had done, because for three quarters they actually did seem to make progress. Embattled Eli Manning completed 13 of his first 15 passes on his way to a 277-yard, two-TD afternoon that proved that Ben McAdoos new system wasnt the problem, and Rueben Randle came alive, making a fantastic seven-yard TD catch over Patrick Peterson at the end of the first half.

But with 10:10 left in the fourth, after Manning had thrown the damn ball to Victor Cruz on a third-and-6, the Giants began to unravel. The pass was tipped by corner Patrick Peterson, but Cruz still had a shot at it. He couldnt hold on.

Ive got to just follow it all the way to my hands, he said. Ive just got to, no matter how far out of the reach it is. Im able to make that catch. Ive made that catch before.

Not this time. And then Arizonas Ted Ginn Jr. fielded Steve Weatherfords punt at his own 29, and ricocheted off Zack Bowmans attempted tackle. As defenders tried to converge, Ginn found a hole, then shot up the middle, erasing the Giants edge with a 71-yard TD return. After a failed two-point conversion, the Giants trailed, 19-14.

Things only got worse when Quintin Demps returned the ensuing kickoff and was met by linebacker Kenny Demens at the 22. The ball squirted loose and was recovered by the Cards, setting up a Chandler Catanzaro field goal that stretched things to 22-14.

Robert Sabo/New York Daily News Eli Manning looks sharp Sunday, completing 13 of his first 15 passes.

I just didnt secure the ball fighting for extra yards, Demps said of his fumble. We talk about it all the time. Its nobodys fault but mine.

The Giants next back-breaking gaffe was all Rashad Jennings fault. How else do you explain a running back catching the ball on second-and-10 from the Cards 17, stumbling without being touched and coughing up the ball? Jennings said hed slipped because his cleat didnt catch the turf, but no matter; the turnover killed an 11-play drive that had put the Giants in position to tie the game.

To see the ball come out on something like that, noncontact, I dont know how to explain that, Coughlin said.

We were moving the ball, added Jennings. We were going to score . . . Its uncharacteristic of me.

Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News New York Giants linebacker Jon Beason (52) and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (21) deliver the big hit on Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

It was all frustrating for the Giants because of the progress Coughlin had seen early on. With 7:50 left in the second quarter, Manning and the Giants had embarked on a 13-play, 90-yard TD drive that ended with that beautiful TD catch by Randle. Tight end Larry Donnell had a second straight dynamic game, catching seven passes for 81 yards. And the defense finally showed up, sacking backup quarterback Drew Stanton, the last-minute replacement for veteran Carson Palmer (shoulder) four times.

But the 30-second fourth-quarter nightmare made all that irrelevent, said defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.

Anything anybody wants to say about it . . . the criticism is warranted and deserved, he said. Its about making those big plays when it counts. And we didnt do that.

And it all has the Giants right where they were last week, trying to pick up the pieces after a second straight loss.

Kathy Willens/AP Rueben Randle makes a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter.

What else do you do? You work your ass off, Coughlin said. Bear down. You run around like a crazy man.

Theyre men. Were all men. We had an opportunity and we let it slip. Theres no one to blame but ourselves.

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Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giant-mistakes-doom-big-blue-loss-cardinals-article-1.1939353