Giants win over Cincinnati 19-17

"You can never relax if you're a Giants fan, even if they're favored to win in a game as they were today. The Giants got off to a fast start with a nice long drive to take a 7-0 lead. However great that felt, it was all gone in a flash when the Giants kickoff was returned all the way back for a Bengals touchdown to tie the score. Nothing much happened after that until the second quarter when the Giants went for it on a 4th-and-1 play at the Cincinnati 34 yard line.
Daniel Jones got the yard for a first down, even that enjoyment was taken away real soon. Jones 18-yard pass to Evan Engram became a turnover when he fumbled the ball over to the Bengals and it was taken back to their 45-yard line. To rub it in, they scored a field goal on their drive to take the lead, but Graham Gano did the same for the Giants just before the half ended, so the score was tied 10-10.
Except for that fumble, the Giants offense was looking pretty good, and after their defense got the Bengals three-and-out, they picked up right where they left off. Jones got them to the redzone, but was injured on the next play. Colt McCoy came in for him and the drive ended with Gano kicking another field go to put the Giants up 13-10.
I was glad to see Jones back on the field after the Giants forced another three-and-out, but after two plays you could see that Jones was hurting, and McCoy took his place. He got off a nice 13-yard pass to Golden Tate for a first down, but they had to punt soon after. The Bengals would have been three-and-out once again, but on a 4th-and-6 from their own 20-yard line, their punt unit pulled a trick play and ran the ball back 7 yards for a first down.
It turned out that they would have been better off punting because three plays later, their quarterback Brandon Allen was intercepted, and the Giants had the ball at the Cincinnati 40-yard line. Gano soon increased the Giants lead to 16-10 with a 39 yard field goal. The Giants defense was doing a great job, and two series later, they recovered a fumble and Gano kicked another field goal to make it more than a one score game.
It turned out they needed that, because some costly defensive penalties combined with long pass plays by Allen, led to a Bengals touchdown and a 19-17 score. You just knew as a Giants fan that even though there were only two and a half minutes left, the Giants weren't going to be able to run the clock. Sure enough, after their punt was returned 29 yards, the Bengals had the ball at the 50-yard line.
They had a good chance to close out this game with a winning field goal. Thankfully, the Giants sacked Allen on the Bengals first play, and Leonard Williams came up with a fumble recovery. The Giants have now won three straight games! The only bad news is that Jones was hurt, and you have to hope it's not serious. We sure can use him on the field next week when the Giants travel to Seattle."

"In this game coming off a bye after winning two games straight, you wanted to see if the Giants and Daniel Jones could keep things going. Win or lose, you wanted him to show he wasn't going to revert back to being a turnover machine. Jones hadn't been for two straight games, the best he's done in his short career, and both were wins. In the two before that, close one and two point losses, Jones turned the ball over twice in each game.
Jones stayed clean in this game, but his opportunity to actually win or lose was cut short when he had to exit the game just past midway into the third quarter. Jones was hurt on a running play where he gained seven yards and was tackled. He hung in for two plays before being replaced by Colt McCoy. McCoy didn't inspire confidence when his first pass to Wayne Gallman lost nine yards, but the Giants still ended up with a field goal on that drive to take a 13-10 lead.
Jones injury on the previous possession was serious, and on the first play of the next one, he took himself out. McCoy, with the help of the defense providing two turnovers and great field position, guided the Giants to two field goals. The defense was able to keep Cincinnati at bay the whole second half except for one drive, where two penalties led to the Bengals scoring a touchdown.
Cincinnati's last drive ended with Jabaal Sheard causing a sack-fumble, and with Leonard Williams recovering the ball. The defense played well overall in this In this 19-17 win for the Giants, and remember that seven of the Bengals points came off special teams giving up a kick return touchdown,
It should also be noted that Brandon Allen was the quarterback for the Bengals today. He was just promoted from the practice squad to start in place of Joe Burrow, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in their last game. With Jones leaving this game, things weren't easy by any means, but the Giants managed to win their third straight game. It won't be any easier next week playing against the Seattle Seahawks, especially if Jones is out for that game."

Giants held Cincinnati to just 40 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Giants have scored a touchdown on their first offensive possession in their last two games.

Wayne Gallman has scored a touchdown in five consecutive games.

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