Cards Run Into a Giant Wall, 34-3

Phil Simms threw touchdown passes to Lionel Manuel and Mark Bavaro, and rookie George Adams ran for 113 yards and a touchdown, helping the New York Giants maintain their divisional title hopes with a 34-3 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday.

New York’s third-ranked NFL defense, spearheaded by George Martin’s 56-yard touchdown romp with an intercepted pass, restricted St. Louis to 224 total yards. In all, the Giants had three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and eight quarterback sacks for losses totaling 57 yards.

Elvis Patterson and Herb Welch also picked off passes and Martin also recovered a fumble.

Simms teamed up with Manuel on a 31-yard pass play that gave New York a 10-3 halftime lead. First-half fumbles by Simms, when sacked by St. Louis linebacker Niko Noga, and by Joe Morris kept it close.

Novo Bojovic’s 40-yard field goal provided the Cards with an early lead. But the Giants’ Eric Schubert made it 3-3 after 5:29 of the second quarter.

Phil McConkey’s 15-yard punt return preceded by four plays the Simms-to-Manuel touchdown.

In the second half, Martin’s recovery of a fumble caused by Lawrence Taylor’s sack of Neil Lomax opened the Giants’ floodgates. Taylor’s sack also forced Lomax to leave the game with a bruised right arm.

Schubert kicked a 34-yard field goal in helping New York capitalize on the recovery. Simms next found Bavaro, a rookie, on a 12-yard scoring play, and then Adams raced 37 yards to score on a fake reverse before Martin scored with 7:49 remaining.

The Giants, coming off a Monday night loss to Washington, improved to 8-4 and remained tied with Dallas for first place in the NFC East. The Cardinals, who have lost seven of their last eight games, dropped to 4-8.

Simms completed 16 of 26 passes for 178 yards. Rookie George Adams ran for 113 yards and one touchdown in 25 carries.

Besides his interception and fumble recovery, defensive end Martin had three sacks.

Before leaving the game, Lomax completed 10 of 22 for 117 yards and was intercepted once. Backup Scott Brunner, a former Giant starter who replaced Lomax with 9:25 remaining in third quarter, completed 13 of 23 passes for 118 yards and 2 interceptions.

St. Louis wide receiver Roy Green returned to the lineup after missing the last three games and caught two passes for 17 yards.