Arizona 21, NY Giants 7

TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Justin Lucas returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown with four seconds left in the first half to swing momentum Sunday and the Arizona Cardinals went on to down the New York Giants, 21-7.

Holding a 7-0 lead after Bill Gramatica missed a 42-yard field goal, the Giants took over on their own 24 with 14 seconds left in the first half.

But instead of running out the clock, the Giants (2-2) tried an ill-advised pass play that turned into disaster.

Kerry Collins attempted to hit running back Tiki Barber with a short toss in the right flat. Lucas, a strong safety, stepped in front of the Giants' running back, raced down the left sideline and leaped into the end zone to tie the game.

"I will never in my life take a chance to be aggressive again," New York Coach Jim Fassel said. "You don't throw the ball flat, you throw it down the field and you get out of there. I didn't make the call, I gave the green light."

"Before the series ended and we took the field, we talked about taking a knee," Collins said. "Even when I was out on the field, we had the first down to just take a knee. The coaches changed and tried to get some field position, and maybe try to hit one on the sidelines and get a quick field goal before the half. I have to be smarter than that."

"I think there was 20, 30 seconds on the clock," Lucas said. "They came out in a shotgun formation, trips to our right, I lined up to the left. What they like to do is have Tiki (Barber) run to the strong side. He actually ran to the weak side, which was a flat route, which is my responsibility, and Kerry (Collins) was looking at him the whole way. So I jumped the route, got a hand on it (football) and luckily scored.

Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said the interception was the obvious key.

"That was huge," he said. "We went out there defensively with the mindset and (defensive coordinator) Larry (Marmie) with the call, and we told the guys on the field, `Let's go out and get a turnover. Don't play for the end of the half. Try to make something happen.'"

The Cardinals (2-2) used Lucas' big play as a springboard, getting a touchdown run and touchdown reception by running back Marcel Shipp in the fourth quarter.

New York's blunders continued in the second half as Barber lost a fumble and Collins had a 76-yard touchdown pass to speedster Ron Dixon nullified by a holding penalty on Mike Rosenthal.

After Barber's fumble on the first possession of the third quarter, the Giants' miscues continued.

On fourth and 15 from his own 21, punter Matt Allen caught a snap off to his side and decided to run, but he came up five yards short of the first down.

But the Cardinals could not convert when Shipp fumbled on third and three and backup linebacker Kevin Lewis recovered at the 31.

On the final play of the third quarter, the Giants looked as if they would take the lead when Collins found Dixon over the middle for a 76-yard touchdown. But Rosenthal was called for holding end Fred Wakefield.

The mistakes shifted to the defensive side of the ball on the Cards' ensuing possession when end Michael Strahan was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty after Jake Plummer threw an incompletion on third and 10.

"We just didn't play smart today and if you don't play smart then you don't win the game," Strahan said. "So, if he threw the flag I must've been late. If you look at it we had a lot of chances to make plays and didn't."

New York committed 10 penalties for 110 yards.

Plummer found Bryan Gilmore for 14 yards to the New York 35 and Shipp busted off a 25-yard run on the next play.

On third and goal from the seven, Plummer rolled to his left and found Shipp for a touchdown, giving Arizona a 14-7 lead with 10:26 remaining.

Getting majority of the playing time with Thoma Jones nursing an ankle injurt, Shipp carried 17 times for 92 yards and had five receptions for 39 yards.

Plummer helped put away the game late in the fourth quarter with a 12-play, 78-yard drive. Plummer found Frank Sanders for 16 yards on third and seven and tight end Freddie Jones for 23 yards on third and six to the New York 32.

Plummer went 23 of 32 for 168 yards. Afterwards, he credited his club's defense.

"The win was for the defense," Plummer said. "They were awesome. They've played so good. We almost tried to shoot ourselves in the foot -- the fumbled snap -- we just kept hanging in there and made plays when we needed to."