Bengals defeat Giants to save season

It’s time to start stacking wins!

It wasn’t pretty, but the Cincinnati Bengals did just enough to pull out a win over the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. Cincinnati is now 2-4 and has a favorable stretch of games on deck.

First quarter

The biggest play of the quarter came on the first drive when Joe Burrow called his own number and ran the ball 47 yards, and dove to the pylon for the touchdown. The defense all flowed to the left on the play, but Burrow still picked up way more yards than you’d expect (sneaky fast).

The Bengals defense also came up with a huge play. The Giants were in scoring position on an eight-play drive that made it all the way to the Cincinnati 14-yard line. This is where BJ Hill got a bit of revenge on the team that traded him before the 2021 season. He hit Daniel Jones as he threw, causing the ball to go up in the air, coming down in Germaine Pratt’s hands.

The score after one was 7-0 in favor of Cincinnati.

Second quarter

The second quarter was filled with offensive miscues derailing big plays and drives. The Giants had a 56-yard touchdown called back for an illegal man downfield penalty. The Bengals had a decent drive going from deep in their own territory that ended on a Ja’Marr Chase drop, of all things. Burrow was also called for an intentional grounding penalty that set them back 14 yards to open a drive.

There was also incredible defense all around. New York managed three sacks on Burrow in the first half (not including the grounding). They were also able to disrupt the offense in general. Cincinnati’s defense also contained Jones and his myriad of receivers without Malik Nabers, and they kept most big plays in front of them. With a fully healthy defensive line, they were able to rush Jones in key situations to keep them scoreless as well.

Third quarter

The tale of the third quarter was a 14-point swing. New York went for it on a fourth down at their own 38-yard line, and Mike Hilton came up big with a pass breakup. The Bengals offense got to the 26-yard line before Zack Moss fumbled the ball, returning it back to Jones and the G Men.

That started a 16-play drive, during which the Giants converted a 4th-and-2 at their own 40 and then a 4th-and-1 before DJ Turner was called for defensive pass interference in the end zone, which set up an easy touchdown.

The Bengals answered back with a touchdown drive capped off with a 1-yard run by Chase Brown. field goal after a touchdown was called back with a holding penalty and Burrow got sacked. At least Cincinnati took the lead back, but momentum swung considerably.

Fourth quarter

The first huge play of the quarter came at the end of an 11-play drive by the Giants to get to the Bengals 28. They opted to try and tie the game, facing a 4th-and-5, but they missed the 47-yard field goal wide left.

After another Bengals punt, Cincinnati’s defense was able to get a stop on a fourth-down play at their own 36-yard line with Turner making up for a defensive pass interference earlier with textbook coverage and pass breakup.

It then only took the offense five plays to get the nail finally hammered in the coffin with a 30-yard touchdown by running back Chase Brown. The drive was kept alive on a 3rd-and-12 attempt where Burrow scrambled and hit Andrei Iosivas for a 29-yard completion.

Final thoughts

In a season of “must-win” games, at 1-4, the Bengals may have already been too far gone to catch up. Still, winning — even in such an ugly way — keeps hope alive even after the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers both improved to 4-2 on the season. A loss would have really felt like the team could turn the lights off, and call the season over.

A win keeps those lights on.