NEW YORK _ Daniel Jones struggled, but the rest of the Giants did him no favors.
Suspect play-calling late in the fourth quarter, a lack of consistent production from returning players Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram, and an inability to pick up relentless blitzes led to the Giants falling, 27-21, to the Cardinals at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Jones was sacked eight times, fumbled it three times (twice recovered by the Cardinals) and threw an interception.
Barkley scored a late touchdown and finished with 18 carries for 72 yards in his return from a high ankle sprain and his first action since Sept. 22. Tight end Evan Engram was targeted five times but caught only one pass for 6 yards in his return from a knee sprain.
The Giants (2-5) had the ball with 4:23 left in the game trailing by 3 and went nowhere. After Jones was sacked for a loss of 8 and threw an incomplete pass toward Golden Tate, the Giants ran a draw on third-and-18 from their 30. Barkley gained 3 yards, but rather than punt, Pat Shurmur chose to go for it on fourth-and-15 from the 33. Patrick Peterson came on a blitz from the corner and drilled Jones from behind, forcing a fumble.
That gave the Cardinals (3-3-1) the ball deep in Giants territory with 2:28 left. They took only 19 seconds off the clock before kicking a field goal with 2:09 left to go ahead 27-21. That gave the Giants the ball back, still down by less than a touchdown.
Jones was sacked twice and then was hit while throwing an incomplete pass chucked hopelessly from his own end zone on fourth-and-29 from the 4 with 34 seconds left to end the game.
After falling behind 17-0, the Giants rallied a bit in the second quarter. Jones hit Rhett Ellison for a 28-yard touchdown pass and Michael Thomas blocked a punt in the end zone that was recovered by Eli Penny to give the Giants 14 points in the span of 1:36.
The Giants followed that up with a long six-minute drive, but could not squeeze any points from it. Jones threw a deep pass for Engram that was dropped, then a 37-yard yard run by Barkley was negated by a hold against Will Hernandez on back-to-back plays, giving up about 60 yards of potential gains. The Giants wound up punting with 46 seconds left in the half.
In the third quarter they were moving the ball once again into Cardinals territory but Jones did not see Chandler Jones coming at him from his front side. Chandler Jones dove and knocked the ball from Daniel Jones' hands for a fumble and three plays later the Cardinals went ahead 24-14 on a 22-yard touchdown run by Chase Edmonds with 6:05 left in the third.
Aldrick Rosas missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt, knocking the ball off the right upright, with 1:07 left in the third. The Giants did get into the end zone on their next drive, going 82 yards on eight plays, capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by Barkley to make it 24-21 with 8:13 left in the fourth.
