EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The operative word in the Giants’ locker room this week: aberration.

Coming off a 48-27 humiliation in New Orleans, where the previously unbeaten Giants were hopelessly overmatched against the Saints, there was a not-so-quiet insistence that it wouldn’t happen again.
Well, it happened again.
Even though we have seen regular-season clunkers before, they have usually been followed by impressive bounce-backs the week after.
Consider: A 35-14 shocker in Cleveland in Week 5 last season, followed by a 29-17 win over the 49ers at home the next week. Or a 41-17 drubbing at home to Minnesota on Nov. 25, 2007, followed by a 21-16 comeback win in Chicago a week later. And a Super Bowl championship not long after that.
But the Giants failed to show that kind of mettle this time. After a 24-17 loss to the Cardinals Sunday night, suddenly they’re reeling from back-to-back losses and raising questions.
At 5-2, they’re only a half game ahead of the 4-2 Cowboys, who come off a convincing win over the Falcons. And with the Eagles favored to get to 4-2 as they face Washington tonight, the race is on.
So much for that 5-0 start.
The defense? Decent early, lousy later on.
The offense? Lousy throughout. Especially Eli Manning, who was a miserable 19-for-37 for 243 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
“I’m very disappointed in this loss,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “Any time you turn the ball over four times, you don’t have much of a chance to win.”
Things certainly looked promising early on. First-year defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan delivered on his promise of blitzing more, and the Giants were mostly successful with that tactic in the first half. They built a 14-10 lead by limiting Kurt Warner to 13-for-24 for 150 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. The pressure, particularly from a defensive line that had vastly underperformed last week against a Saints team intent on keeping Drew Brees upright.
But the defense cracked again in the second half, failing to put on the kind of shutdown effort promised throughout the days leading up to the game.
Warner drove the Cardinals down the field on their first possession in the third quarter, throwing deep over the middle to All World receiver Larry Fitzgerald on passes of 26 and 27 yards. The drive was finished off by Tim Hightower’s 1-yard touchdown run to give Arizona a 17-14 lead.
Later in the quarter, Manning’s tipped pass deep in his own territory gave Arizona possession at the Giants’ 20, and it took only three plays for a touchdown, as Warner hit seldom-used running back Jason Wright on a short pass down the middle that caught the Giants off guard.
The Giants did climb back to 24-17 on a field-goal drive, and the defense finally made a big play on a critical fourth-quarter drive, as Mathias Kiwanuka sacked Warner on third-and-3 to force a punt and give the Giants a chance to tie it. But then, the fumble by Ahmad Bradshaw at midfield with 3:52 to go. And after that, Manning’s third interception to effectively end the game.
Now in the midst of a schedule that no longer features the cream puffs they faced early, the Giants are going to need all the big-play performance they can get. At Philly, home to San Diego and Atlanta, at Denver, home to Dallas and Philly. It’s a beast of a schedule, and the Giants will have to raise their game accordingly.
Are they prepared? Well, they certainly weren’t against the Saints, and their struggles against the Cardinals at home suggest there’s still a ways to go.
But the one thing we’ve learned about Coughlin’s teams over the years is not to count them out too early. Too much talent on the field. Too much resilience in the locker room.
But the margin of error is thin, especially at a time when the schedule is at its most difficult. And if the defense is going to be the catalyst for a championship season, they’ll need to show more than this. Same with the quarterback.