Doldrum Giants Top Cardinals

Dull, boring, uninspired.

Not for the New York Giants, who had faced daily bashing in their hometown while dropping four straight games.

“You read articles about how bad we are,” Mike Sherrard said Thursday night after his 12-yard touchdown catch from Dave Brown lifted New York to a 10-6 win over the Arizona Cardinals. “It feels great to win, and it builds confidence. We’ve lost every close game, so the victory feels great.”

Coach Dan Reeves, under a management microscope for two weeks since he said he would leave the Giants when his contract expired unless the front office changed, sounded less like a man on the way out.

“It’s very important to win a ballgame like this,” Reeves said. “You want to go into the off-season feeling better.”

Both teams are 4-9, guaranteed losing seasons. And, for much of the way Thursday night, this was a plodding game befitting two teams going nowhere.

The Cardinals, however, made it thrilling at the end, driving from their own 10-yard line to the New York 8 in the final 1:50 before Dave Krieg misfired on four straight passes.

Vencie Glenn of the Giants figured in the two plays that turned back Arizona drives in the fourth quarter, intercepting Cardinals rookie Stoney Case in front of the goal line and running to the Giants 5 with 6:39 to play.

He helped break up Krieg’s final pass, aimed at Wendall Gaines in the end zone with 14 seconds remaining.

But, like almost everything else the Cardinals did, the pass was off the mark, a bit too high for the 280-pound tight end to pull down.

“All we needed was someone to make a play, and no one did,” coach Buddy Ryan said.

The Giants did not lead until Brown capped an 83-yard drive with his 12-yard throw to Sherrard 6:48 into the third quarter. It was the only score of the second half.

Giants 10, Cardinals 6

N.Y. Giants 0 3 7 0 - 10

Arizona 0 6 0 0 - 6

Second quarter

Ari-FG Davis 44, 1:28.

Ari-FG Davis 28, 11:55.

NY-FG Daluiso 51, 14:45. Third quarter

NY-Sherrard 12 pass from Brown (Daluiso kick), 6:48.

A-44,246.

NYG Ari First downs 14 17 Rushes-yards 25-66 24-92 Passing 133 250 Punt Returns 1-0 2-(-3) Kickoff Returns 3-55 3-59 Interceptions Ret. 2-18 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 17-27-0 23-39-2 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-11 2-4 Punts 5-43 2-39 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1 Penalties-Yards 3-20 8-53 Time of Possession 27:14 32:46

Individual statistics

RUSHING-New York, Hampton 18-43, Wheatley 4-12, Pierce 1-6, Elias 1-5, Brown 1-0.

Arizona, Hearst 21-85, Case 1-4, Feagles 1-4, Kreig 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-New York, Brown 17-27-0-144.

Arizona, Krieg 22-37-1-235, Case 1-2-1-19.

RECEIVING-New York, Calloway 7-71, Sherrard 3-28, Wheatley 2-14, Way 1-11, Pierce 1-10, Marshall 1-7, Lewis 1-2, Hampton 1-1.

Arizona, Sanders 6-84, Centers 6-51, Moore 5-68, Hearst 4-32, Edwards 1-14, Dowdell 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Daluiso 46, 47.

OFFICIALS-Referee Jerry Markbreit, Ump Chad Brown, HL Terry Gierke, LJ Dale Orem, BJ Tom Sifferman, SJ Ron Liebsack, FJ Don Hakes.