Giants Still Dominate Cardinals : NFC: Hampton gains 167 yards as New York wins, 31-21, for eighth consecutive victory over Phoenix.

Even when things are going bad, the New York Giants still can find a way to beat the Phoenix Cardinals.

Jeff Hostetler, starting in place of injured Phil Simms, passed for a touchdown and scrambled for another, and Rodney Hampton rushed for a career-high 167 yards Sunday as the Giants defeated the Cardinals, 31-21.

It was the Giants’ eighth consecutive victory over the Cardinals, the ninth in a row at Giants Stadium.

Hostetler, who has led the Giants (2-3) to six consecutive wins over the Cardinals (1-4), completed nine of 17 passes for 142 yards, carried eight times for 41 yards and made the two big plays. He avoided a blitz and connected with Ed McCaffrey on a 25-yard touchdown pass play midway through the second quarter, and made a 16-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter that gave the Giants a 28-14 lead.

“I was really nervous before the game,” said Hostetler, who lost his starting job to Simms because of injuries suffered in the exhibition season. “It was the most nervous I’ve been since I can remember. I don’t know why. I had a good week at practice.”

Many thought the Cardinals would end their frustrations against the Giants this week. Phoenix was coming into the game after a big come-from-behind win over Washington.

The Giants were deflated following a loss to the then-winless Raiders, a blowup between Handley and the media, an elbow injury to Simms and the announcement that Lawrence Taylor is retiring at the end of the season.

Chris Chandler, who completed 16 of 30 passes for 209 yards, connected with Ernie Jones on a 72-yard scoring pass play on the fourth play of the game, and the Cardinals seemed ready to roll.

However, after one bad series, Hostetler led the Giants on three consecutive touchdown drives.

“My biggest concern coming into the game was all the distractions we had this week,” Handley said. “The result is your answer.”

New York gained 399 yards, including 260 rushing.

“We didn’t tackle anyone today,” Cardinal Coach Joe Bugel said. “The toughest thing was defending against second and one and second and two. We didn’t play well on first down.

“They just overpowered us. They knocked us back off the football.”