Giants 19 Bengals 17

The Bengals special teams shined and the defense played well enough to win. The Bengals offense, not so much.

For the first 57 minutes it felt like a preseason game number four. It was tough to watch.

But trailing 19-10 with 2:33 left in the game, Brandon Allen hit Tee Higgins for a 1-yard TD to close to the deficit to 19-17. Then with :57 remaining a 29-yard Alex Erickson punt return put the Bengals at midfield looking for a game-winning field goal attempt. But on 1st down QB Brandon Allen was smacked, fumbled and we were officially put out of our misery.

The Bengals fall to 2-8-1 on the season, 4-22-1 under Zac Taylor and 1-13-1 in one score games. Through 27 games Taylor 4-22-1, David Shula 6-21.

Time of possession: NYG 37:26/Bengals 22:34. Plays: NYG 80. Bengals 46 (3.4 yards per).

The Bengals have lost games this season when they allowed 20, 19 and 16 points.

Broadcast note: Dan Hoard was unable to do the broadcast due to contract tracing for Covid-19. Bengals preseason TV voice Mike Watts filled in.

Offense

It was a brutal day. They totaled just 66 yards in the first half and 155 for the game, to go along with three turnovers. Special teams produced 208 yards.

They had 103 yards going to the 4th. They entered the red-zone for the first time, their only time, with 3:00 left in the game.

The Joe Burrow led offense had 247 first half yards last week. The Burrowless offense has 172 yards in six quarters since (17+155).......2.7 per play.

Just off the practice squad, Allen was asked to sling it 29 times: 17 of 29, 136, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 Fumble, 2 sacks, QB rating 67.6. At times, multiple NYG defenders were fighting over potential interceptions that were dropped. Passing on 1st down: 8 of 11, 45 yards, TD. Passing on other downs: 9 of 18, 91 yards, INT, sack/fumble.

The run game was again non-existent/not much of a thought 15 rushes/40 yards (2.7). Gio: 8-32 yards, including one rush for 15 yards and 7 runs for 17 yards. No carries for Semaje Perine after 22 for 99 (4.5) in his previous three games. Trayveon Williams 1 carry/-2 yards, 1 catch/13 yards. They had five designed runs on 18 first down plays (2, 4, 1, -2, 1).

They averaged 3.1 yards on 19 first down plays: 5 plays with gains of 9, 4, 4, 13, 14..........and 13 plays of 2, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, -2, 1, 0, 0, 1 (TD), 0 (sack/fumble).

AJ Green 0 catches (3 targets) for 3rd time in last 7 games. Tee Higgins 5 catches/5 targets, TD, 44 yards. His 18-yard catch was longest of the day.

Drew Sample fumbled with 4:12 left in the game, trailing 16-10.

OL: Started with Williams LT, Spain LG, Hopkins C, Redmond RG, Hart RT. Remond left with a concussion. Spain moved to RG, Michael Johnson LG. Hakeem Adeniji did not take a snap. Two big pass plays in the second half were wiped out on holding penalties on Williams and Spain.

Defense

Held the NYG to 19 points, including four field goals. 7 passes defended, 6 tackles for loss. No sacks on 38 drop backs. 42 rushes/142 yards (3.4)

NYG backup QB Colts McCoy took over for an injured Daniel Jones in the 3rd quarter.

Vonn Bell got beat on a 53-yard pass to TE Evan Engram. But later, Bell came up with a strip and fumble recovery that led to a Bullock FG and he had a team-high 10 total tackles. Josh Bynes racked up 7 tackles, 1 QB Hit, 1 TFL. Germaine Pratt was also pretty active. Mackensie Alexander had a nice day.

Engram also got B. Wilson for another big play (44 yards): 6 catches for 129 receiving yards.

Defenders (Bynes/Gaither) got their hands on numerous passes but could not record picks.

Special Teams

208 yards: 44 yards on punt returns, 164 yards on kickoff returns.

Brandon Wilson set a franchise record with a 103-yard kickoff return for TD after the Giants scored a TD on the game's opening drive. It was as straight-a-line KR TD as you will ever see.

Shawn Williams successfully executed another fake punt, this time on 4th and 6. The Bengals are 15 of 19 on 4th down this year.

Kevin Huber had a 57-yarder and three punts downed inside the 20-yard line, including one downed at the six-yard line.

Alex Erickson had a big 29-yard yard punt return to start the final drive of the game.

Next up:

The Bengals open as an 11.5 point underdog at Miami.

The Bengals beat the Dolphins October 7, 2018 at PBS to move to 4-1 on the season. The Bengals have gone 6-31-1 since that day.

Bad news:

There are still five games remaining, including a MNF matchup vs Pittsburgh.

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