If desperation hasn’t necessarily set in by Week 6 of the NFL season, then it isn’t far off, either, for the league’s struggling teams.
The Cincinnati Bengals are one of those teams. Entering “Sunday Night Football” on NBC with a 1-4 record, their margin for error to rebound and make the playoffs was slim, to put it mildly.
With a 17-7 win on the road against the New York Giants, the Bengals preserved their outside shot at the postseason. And it wasn’t because of their usually high-performing offense. Instead, the win rested on a defense that has usually been the source of the team’s problems.
After allowing 10 or more points in 75 consecutive games, Cincinnati broke the streak while holding New York to points on just one of its 10 drives. Giants QB Daniel Jones completed barely half of his passes (22-for-41) while throwing an interception.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow was uncomfortable for much of the night, as well, despite entering as one of the league’s most prolific quarterbacks over the previous month. After being sacked 12 times in five games, he was sacked by the Giants four times Sunday alone.
Yet Burrow made perhaps the night’s key throw with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, when he scrambled to his left facing third-and-12 and threw across his body for a 29-yard gain. Two plays later, the Bengals scored the game-sealing touchdown on running back Chase Brown’s 30-yard run.
The Bengals next face the Cleveland Browns on the road in one week. The Giants stay at home — where they are 0-3 this season — and host the Philadelphia Eagles.
Joe Burrow praises Bengals' defense
Final: Bengals 17, Giants 7
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.
Touchdown, Bengals
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.
Giants misfire when it matters
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.
Giants miss field goal
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.
Injury update
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.
Touchdown Bengals ... wiped away
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.
Touchdown, Giants
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.
Giants get aggressive
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.
New York catches a break
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.