Bengals defeat Giants 17-7

Joe Burrow praises Bengals defense

Cincinnati improves to 2-4, while the Giants fall to the same record. 

Each team had 11 drives, and the Giants’ 309 yards was only five more than the Bengals. The difference, in part, was that the Giants failed to convert on their only trip to the red zone — the Bengals were 1-for-2 — and couldn’t produce any explosion plays. Cincinnati struggled doing that, as well, but its 47-yard touchdown run by Joe Burrow to open the game, and a 30-yard touchdown run by Chase Brown that bookended the matchup, were enough.

Chase Brown just made up for his near-fumble. Brown ran in 30 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bengals in the lead, 17-7, with 1:52 to play.

Brown now has 53 yards on 10 carries, and Cincinnati is up to 123 yards on 18 carries for the game.

D.J. Turner’s diving breakup of a Daniel Jones pass intended for Darius Slayton on fourth down ensures a crucial stop for Cincinnati. The Giants had driven 10 plays down to the Bengals’ 36-yard line and were within range of a long field goal. Instead, Brian Daboll elected for yet another fourth-down opportunity. This time, with only 3:01 left in the game, it backfired.

Cincinnati’s slim 10-7 lead is preserved when Greg Joseph misses a 47-yard kick, wide left, with 10:27 to play in the fourth quarter.

The miss spoiled one of the rare opportunities for points all game, aided by coach Brian Daboll’s willingness to take risks. The Giants had converted on fourth down six times in five games entering this game. Yet in the last half-hour alone, they’ve converted three times. The last extended their drive leading to the field goal — but after 11 plays and 42 yards, the possession ends with zero points.

The Giants say receiver Darius Slayton was cleared to return to play after being evaluated for a concussion.

Slayton has three catches for 23 yards.

Left guard Cordell Volson was penalized for holding, wiping away a one-yard touchdown run. The penalty cost the Bengals four points, because on the very next play, Burrow was sacked by Dexter Lawrence.

In the span of just three plays, the Bengals went from scoring what everyone believed was a touchdown to kicking a field goal from the 19-yard line.

It’s good, pushing Cincinnati back into the lead, 10-7, with 41 seconds left in the third quarter.

Given the ball on the 1-yard line after a pass-interference penalty in the end zone, the Giants score for the first time with 5:48 left in the third quarter, tying the game at 7-7.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for the one-yard touchdown, his first career TD. The Giants have life. Cincinnati’s turn to answer. The Bengals have averaged 14.6 points per second half this season, the league’s third-highest average.

They’ve extended this third-quarter drive with a pair of fourth-down conversions, both runs. Though not yet in the red zone, this possession — at already six minutes long — is already the longest of the game for the Giants.

Cincinnati’s first drive of the second half ends with Zack Moss fumbling and the Giants’ Micah McFadden recovering. It’s a significant save for New York, because the Bengals were finally moving the ball.

For a game that has featured eight punts, and zero points since the opening drive, the context surrounding the game makes the action strangely compelling. Consider the Giants’ position in the NFC East, where only Washington has looked like a credible playoff threat so far. If any of Philadelphia, Dallas or New York can get their act together, they’ll have opportunity.

And for the 1-4 Bengals, they can’t realistically afford many more losses until their playoff hopes officially end. If their turnaround was ever to start, it would have to do so tonight in a winnable game.

At the half, Bengals QB Joe Burrow has completed nine of his 15 passes for 87 yards. while Giants QB Daniel Jones is 8-for-16 for 81 yards and an interception. The most explosive play of the night belonged to Burrow’s 47-yard rush for a touchdown.

New York has run 27 plays for only 119 yards, while the Bengals have gained 149 yards on 29 plays.

Even without injured edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, who will miss at least four games following surgery for a wrist injury, the Giants have made Joe Burrow’s life miserable since the opening drive. Cincinnati’s last drive before halftime ended with the third sack of the night of Burrow, a quarter of his season total.

There is no receiver that Joe Burrow targets more than Ja’Marr Chase, and the duo has become one of the league’s best. Chase produces the spectacular so often it was stunning, then, to see Burrow’s potential first-down throw dropped by Chase on a crossing route.

For the game, Burrow is 8-of-14 passing for 80 yards. He’s scored the game’s only touchdown on the ground and has 57 yards on two carries.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Giants’ four drives have resulted in three punts and an interception. Their latest traveled 28 yards, needing seven plays to do so. It was New York’s longest possession by time, taking 4:42.

Where has the vaunted Bengals offense that entered so highly rated gone? After their opening-drive touchdown, they have punted on three consecutive drives.

The Giants have run 15 offensive plays, and 13 of them have been either a Daniel Jones throw (6 for 11) or run (two, for 24 yards). Tyrone Tracy Jr. has run the ball twice, for three yards.

Rushing off the edge on third down, with Cincinnati at midfield, Giants end Brian Burns dropped Bengals running back Zack Moss for a loss of four yards to end the drive. Outside of Burrow’s 47-yard scramble for a touchdown, Cincinnati is averaging 3.3 yards per rush.

Daniel Jones is coming off his best game this season, and has three games with two touchdowns and zero interceptions – most in the league. But he ends New York’s second drive with a terrible decision to throw while backing up, under pressure. His pass was lofted harmlessly and intercepted by Germaine Pratt.

As we pointed out earlier in the blog, this matchup is a fascinating meeting of contrasts. The Giants, with their league-high 22 sacks, and the Bengals, who have allowed a league-low pressures on Joe Burrow.

It’s early, not even halfway through the first quarter, but advantage New York. The Giants have sacked Burrow once and gotten to him with pressure.

Pinned against their own end zone, the Bengals punted after three unsuccessful plays. Frankly, they were lucky not to have given up two points on a safety. Joe Burrow somehow evaded a sack when the Giants’ defender shoved him with two hands rather than take him down.

New York got a quick first down on its opening drive but couldn’t get a second, punting to end its first possession. Play selection so far: Four passes, zero runs.

Joe Burrow isn’t much of a runner. He came into Sunday with only 14 rushes in five games. But on his team’s opening drive he spotted every defender on the left side of the field and took off running to the right.

The end result, a 47-yard touchdown run that puts the Bengals in the lead, 7-0.

The Bengals receive the opening kickoff and will start on their own 31-yard line.

Joe Burrow’s strong production over his past four games has happened even though the Bengals rarely use what has been a quarterback’s best friend for generations — play-action passing.

The Bengals have gained only 122 yards on play-action passes this season, third fewest in the NFL behind only the Jets and Panthers. Cincinnati has found some success passing out of run-pass options, but mostly they’ve asked Burrow to win it for them with his arm. On the season, 80% of his passes have been on target. Seven teams have been more accurate — and one of them is the Giants (82.4%).

The challenge facing the Giants’ defense should feel familiar.

One week after Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf, the NFL’s third-leading receiver in yards, was held to just four catches and 55 yards by the Giants, they now must stop another of the league’s top wideouts to have any chance at winning.

Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase enters with 29 catches (10th in the NFL) for 493 yards (second), an average of 17.0 per reception (tied for eighth). Chase has been targeted 36 times, and only one other Bengal has been targeted more than 21. There is no secret who the Bengals want to throw to. Can New York do anything about it?

Quarterback Joe Burrow lived up to his reputation as a slow starter in Week 1, throwing for only 164 yards without a score. But in four games since, Burrow has been exceptional, averaging 301 yards and a completion percentage of 72% while throwing 12 total touchdowns against only two interceptions.

The question is whether Cincinnati’s defense is up to the task after allowing an average of 34 points per game during its last three games. Its weakness is the run game, where opponents are averaging 151.4 yards per game, the fourth-most yards allowed on average this season.

For the Giants, prime time has equaled a problem. Since 2019, the team is 2-16 in prime-time games. And dating to 2017, it is just 1-10 when playing in prime time at home. They’ll try to buck that streak tonight under the Sunday night spotlight.

Seven teams entered this week allowing fewer than 20 points per game, and New York could join that group with a dominant performance Sunday, having allowed 20.8 per game in its 2-3 start. Its defense hinges on its ability to get pressure: New York’s 22 sacks lead the NFL.

The Bengals have protected quarterback Joe Burrow reasonably well, allowing 11 sacks, which is tied for the 12th-fewest this season. Sacks are nearly the only time opponents have gotten to Burrow, who has faced a league-low 23 pressures, which combines hurries, hits and sacks.

The Bengals’ four losses have come by a combined 15 points.

Two of the Giants’ three losses have come by a total of eight points. They are coming off a win in Seattle last week, however, that was sealed by a late blocked kick, proving an ability to execute late.