Giants Are Shut Out by the Cardinals as Eli Manning Sputters

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Eli Manning’s first trip to University of Phoenix Stadium was one of the highlights of his career.

His latest was a dud.

Manning committed three turnovers and the sputtering Giants were shut out for the first time since 2014, losing, 23-0, to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“We didn’t convert on third down or score any points, so I didn’t play well enough,” said Manning, who won the Super Bowl M.V.P. award here in 2008, after the Giants’ dramatic 17-14 upset of New England. On Sunday, Manning was intercepted twice by Antoine Bethea and had a fumble returned for a touchdown.

The Giants (2-13) went through a shake-up three weeks ago, firing General Manager Jerry Reese and their second-year coach, Ben McAdoo. Little, outside of one good offensive half against the Eagles on Dec. 17, has changed for the team under the interim coach, Steve Spagnuolo.

Manning was effective with his short passing game in a 34-29 loss to Philadelphia, completing 37 of 57 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

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But against the Cardinals (7-8), he labored to get the offense moving against Arizona, which recorded it first shutout in 25 years. Manning threw one interception from midfield while trying to get the ball deep to tight end Evan Engram in the first quarter. He was picked off again in the second quarter on a poorly thrown ball into double coverage.

The closer came in the fourth quarter, when Manning fumbled on a sack and Arizona’s Robert Nkemdiche rumbled 22 yards for a touchdown to put the Cardinals up by 23-0.

“No one wants to lose and lose as many as we have,” said Manning, who was 27 of 45 for 263 yards with a passer rating of 57.9. “It has been tough all year. Nothing has come easy. We lost some heart-breakers, and we lost some like this where we never could get much going.”

The Giants reached Arizona’s 15-yard line early in the second quarter, only to see Aldrick Rosas miss a 33-yard field goal wide left. And after Ross Cockrell intercepted Drew Stanton at the Cardinals’ 27 in the fourth quarter, the Giants moved backward. They committed three penalties — two that were accepted — and Manning was dragged down on a short gain on fourth-and-25, turning the ball over on downs.

The Giants were 1 of 14 on third downs, and 1 of 4 on fourth-down attempts. They committed 10 penalties for 101 yards and ran for 43 yards on 20 carries.

“In this league you can’t win games if you beat yourself,” Spagnuolo said. “That is what I thought happened today. Penalties certainly killed us in all three phases. All three phases had penalties that resulted in bad situations for us, field position etc., etc. It begins and ends there.”

Arizona had not shut out an opponent since a 17-0 win over the Giants on Dec. 12, 1992.