Giants (3-7) Cincinnati (2-7-1)
Last Sunday the final score was Washington 20 - Cincinnati 9. Not only did the Bengals lose that game, they also lost their starting quarterback.
The Giants were on a bye week, coming off one of the best games of the season. It was a 27-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are in a division that includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, and Cleveland Browns. At 2-7-1, they trail all those teams in the AFC North, including the undefeated 10-0 Steelers who lead the division. It was pretty much the same story for Cincinnati last season when they finished with a 2-14 record. That gave the Bengals the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and they selected quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow replaced Andy Dalton who was drafted by the Bengals in 2011. Dalton helped the Bengals reach the postseason in each of his first five seasons, and finished his tenure with them with a 70-61-2 record. Dalton signed on to be the backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, and became the starter there when Dak Prescott suffered a serious injury that required surgery on his right ankle.

Bengals Offense
Despite having second year quarterback Ryan Finley on hand, they trusted their rookie to be the starting quarterback. Joe Burrow didn't wait to show what he was capable of. He was ranked fourth in NFL history for the most passing yards in a player's first 10 games with 2,688, when disaster struck in last week's game. Burrow was sacked and suffered a torn ACL and knee injury in the third quarter.
Coming off last season, the Bengals offensive line ranked next to last with their pass blocking. In the offseason, they didn't make many changes, and Burrow had been sacked 32 times when he was injured. Burrow was hit more than any rookie in his first ten games.
Finley, who was the backup to Andy Dalton last year and Burrow this year, will not be starting against the Giants this week. That job looks to be going to Brandon Allen, who started three games for the Broncos last season. Allen has been on the Bengals practice squad since the start of the season.
Wide receivers Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green, and rookie Tee Higgins will have to adjust to the quarterback changes. The ground game, while they struggled last week, is averaging over a 100 yards per game this season, which is an improvement over last year.

Bengals Defense
They ranked at the bottom or near the bottom in pass defense, rushing defense and points allowed in 2018. There was only slight improvement in 2019. Defensive end Carl Lawson leads the team with 4.5 sacks, but
they do not have a strong pass rush. In the last two years they finished near the bottom of the league with 34 and 31 sacks, and are even below that rate now with just 13. Defensive end Sam Hubbard had 6 and then 8.5 sacks in his first two seasons, but only 1 so far this year. Tackle Geno Atkins in his tenth season has averaged over 8 sacks a year over his career, but has been struggling with a shoulder injury.
The secondary has some strong players. Safety Jessie Bates III makes opposing quarterbacks think twice as more than half the passes thrown his way end up as incompletions, and he has 3 interceptions on the year. Safety Von Belle had five fumble recoveries, and a career high 89 tackles with the Saints last year, and has been very productive for Cincinnati. He leads the team with 74 tackles and has played every defensive snaps this year.

Giants Offense
Daniel Jones hasn't turned the ball over in the last two games, and the Giants ended up with two wins. This team has shown improvement, but it can't afford to make mistakes. Jones made a big one in the Tampa Bay game. Another player whose mistakes show up in the win-loss column is Evan Engram, who dropped a perfectly thrown third down pass in the first game with Philadelphia.
The offensive line has made constant improvement in pass protection and run blocking. Still, over the bye week, the Giants made a sudden change, replacing their offensive line coach Marc Colombo with Dave DeGuglielmo. He worked with head coach Joe Judge in New England in 2014-15.
Will that affect things? After a long stretch the Giants have established a decent ground game, and that's given them a more balanced attack. That's been helped along with Jones mobility as he leads the team with 384 rushing yards. The running backs are doing their part as well. Wayne Gallman has rushed for 199 yards and 5 touchdowns over the past four games, and over the last five games, the Giants have run for 100 or more yards in each one.

Giants Defense
The pass rush has come up with 31 sacks, which has them tied for fifth in the league. Leonard Williams leads the team with six sacks. The Giants will be up against a weak offensive line. The Bengals have allowed a total of 36 sacks this season, the second most behind the Eagles. Four of them came against backup quarterback Ryan Finley last week when he stepped in after Joe Burrow was injured. Finley completed 3-of-10 passes for 30 yards and 1 interception, which didn't inspire the Bengals to start him this week against the Giants.
That doesn't mean you can sleep on the Bengals receivers. Their second round draft pick Tee Higgins is a deep threat and has 4 touchdowns. Slot receiver Tyler Boyd has reliable hands, and has 3 touchdowns
With the quarterback situation as it is for the Bengals, you would expect them to run the ball more, but that may not work against the Giants. In the last five games they have given up just one 100-yard rushing game. That's when things broke down and they allowed a 56 yard run by Boston Scott in the last Eagles game. The top running backs for Cincinnati are Joe Mixon, who is on injured reserve, and Gio Bernard, who is on the injury report with a concussion. Things look to favor the Giants, but then again, you can't afford to give up 56 yard runs to any team.

Overall
The Giants are on a roll with two consecutive division wins over the Washington Football Team, and they added another when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles going into their bye week. As they rested, they saw their division rivals go at it, and currently, the Washington Football Team leads the division with a 4-7 record.
The Giants have overall improved from week to week, and are favored to win a game for the first time all season. The Cincinnati Bengals took a major setback last week, including the fact that they don't have a quarterback they could truly rely on for this game. This is all on the Giants to win or lose.

NFC East Games
Thursday at 4:30pm Washington (3-7) at Cowboys (3-7). --- Final Washington 41 - Cowboys 16
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (3-7) at Bengals (2-7-1).
Monday at 8:15 Seahawks (7-3) at Eagles (3-6-1).
The Cowboys and Giants are the NFC East teams favored to win in these games. Check out.
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Notes.

Wayne Gallman has scored a touchdown in four consecutive games.

Giants former defensive backs coach Lou Anarumo is the defensive coordinator for Cincinnati.

Kicker Graham Gano was activated from the COVID-19/reserve list.

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