E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls until the past few. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

THE OFFENSE PLAYED WELL ENOUGH TO WIN - BUT DIDN'T

By Dave Klein
There are all kinds of ways to lose a game, and last night the Giants apparently found all of them.

They out-played the Cincinnati Bengals in most categories yet somehow came out on the wrong end of a 17-7 score, reducing their record to 2-4 for the season.

There were all sorts of mysterious events, including head coach Brian Daboll's sudden attraction to fourth down plays, learning that while they may work occasionally, continuing to visit that trap will ultimately lead to chaos. He tried four last night - the first three were successful, the fourth led to the end of the game.

Then there was placekicker Greg Joseph, who was signed to replace the injured Graham Gano. It sure looked like a good move, since he was riding a streak of eight field goals in a row until last night, when he missed the only two he tried, from 45 and 47 yards away.

Daboll, who is becoming an expert at answering questions without revealing an answer, shared this general feeling during the post-game press conference.

"It was a tough loss," he observed. "I thought our defense played very good football. [They] missed the quarterback run early [a 47-yard scramble for the points by QB Joe Burrow] but they played winning football [after that], to hold those receivers to what we held them to in the pass game.

"I think Burrow had about 50 yards rushing. But hats off to the way our defense played. Missed two opportunities in the kicking game. But we didn't score enough points offensively. That starts with me. It's hard to win games when you score seven points. That's the reality of it."

Absolutely correct, coach.

But it was a strange defeat, since by most measures the Giants played well enough to win.

"It starts with execution. So seven points won't get it done," Daboll said, and when asked how he might explain the offense doing so well the week before in Seattle compared to last night's failure, he responded this way. "Every week I tell you it's a week to week league. Every week is different. We didn't execute as well as we executed last week.

"Overall, I'm saying everybody. And that starts with me. There were some good things that we did but obviously not good enough. But we'll go back and look at it.

"Again, the ultimate deal is scoring points," he said. "Whether it's run, pass, whatever it may be. When you're inconsistent with the things that we're inconsistent with right now, the result is seven points. That all starts with me."

The Giants' touchdown was the first to offer to the home crowd in three games, and that's simply not enough. But the offense wasn't that bad, only when it had to produce points. In fact, the first down chart showed 24 for Daboll's guys, 13 for the visitors. And the Giants had 309 yards of total offense to 304 for Cincinnati. You shouldn't lose a game by 10 points with those kind of numbers.

"Every week, I tell you this," Daboll added, "it's a week to week league. Every week's different. We didn't execute as well as we executed last week. Overall, I'm saying everybody. And that starts with me.

"There were some good things that we did and obviously some not good enough. But we'll go back and look at it. Again, the ultimate deal is scoring points. Whether it's run, pass, whatever it may be. When you're inconsistent with the things that we're inconsistent with right now, the result is seven points. That all starts with me."

Well, it also starts with QB Daniel Jones and his first-quarter interception - clearly a case of the wrong throw at the wrong time. The offense was on the Cincinnati 14 and, under some pressured, he was trying to throw the ball He was trying to throw the ball out the back of the end zone but came up short, which led to LB Germaine Pratt picking it off and returning it to the Bengals' 27.

"I think we've just got to execute better," he said. "We've got to execute throughout the game, take advantage of the opportunities we have and convert them. It starts from the beginning of the game, helps you get into a rhythm and sustain it. Like I said, we'll look at the film and see where we could have improved that."

Reserve RB Chase Brown drilled the final nail in the game for the Bengals when he broke through the middle of the defense and scored on a 30-yard dagger to the heart.

And that was all for the night's entertainment, fans. "I can't look at it like the offense ruined a great game by the defense," said DT Dexter Lawrence. "We're a team, we win and we lose as a team, and I am sure this will all improve."

Giant fans would love to agree, or at least have some of what he's drinking.

EXTRA POINTS - Lawrence leads the team with 7.5 sacks and is also tied for the league lead. ... A statistical oddity - both teams were led by their quarterbacks in rushing yardage. ... Jones had 56 yards in 11 carries, Cincinnati's Joe Burrow had 55 in just four carries - but his first one was the 47-yard touchdown on the game's first play.

Among those on the Game Inactive list were WR Malik Nabers, RB Devin Singletary, OLB Kavon Thibodeaux and P Matt Haack (signed last week after the regular punter, Jamie Gillen, was placed on Injured Reserve.)

Next week, at 1 p.m. Sunday at MetLife Stadium, the Giants will host the Philadelphia Eagles and Saquon Barkley. ... The Eagles barely survived an encounter with Cleveland yesterday but still remain the favorites to win the NFC East title. The other teams in that grouping, of course, are the Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders.

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