EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Brian Daboll fielded 22 questions at his postgame news conference, but it was the final words of his opening statement that provided the most succinct explanation for the Giants' unpleasant Sunday night experience.
"It's hard to win games when you score seven points," Daboll said. "That's the reality of it."
The Giants became exhibit A for that actuality in MetLife Stadium, where they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals, 17-7, and managed just one touchdown against a team that was 31st in points allowed, 26th in total defense and 30th against the run.
Greg Joseph was wide left on two fourth-quarter field goal attempts, from 47 and 45 yards. But the Giants couldn't capitalize on sizeable advantages in first downs (24-13) and time of possession (34:07-25:53). They reached the red zone twice; Daniel Jones threw an interception in the first quarter and rookie Tyrone Tracy scored their lone touchdown in the third.
The Giants' exasperation was intensified by the strong performance turned in by the defense, which notably kept standout wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase out of the end zone on 12 catches.
"It's extremely frustrating because our defense played their butts off and as an offensive player, you want to score to reward their efforts," wide receiver Darius Slayton said. "We have to do a better job of finishing drives and finishing in the end zone."
"I thought we had some opportunities throughout the game," Daboll said. "Whether it be run, whether it be pass. We turned the ball over down there on that drive, which was a good drive, to come away with no points. I think we were 5-of-15 (on third-down), somewhere around there. Now we were aggressive on fourth down (making 3-of-5) because I thought we needed to be against this offense. We just couldn't generate any explosive plays. We had the penalty (negating a 56-yard completion). Then other than that, we didn't hit many explosive plays. That's in a nutshell, before watching it."
Jones completed 22 of 41 passes for 205 yards and led the team with 56 rushing yards. But those numbers are hollow without accompanying points.
"It's very disappointing," Jones said. "Just couldn't sustain drives, execute, get into a rhythm and frustrating. I feel like we've taken steps and progressed as an offense. Obviously, we didn't do that today, so we'll get a look at what we need to do better and clean it up."
The Giants host NFC East rival Philadelphia next week.
Cincinnati took the lead on the game's eighth offensive play. And the Bengals did so when they seemed to be in an adverse situation after Brian Burns sacked quarterback Joe Burrow for an 8-yard loss to set up a third-and-18.
But on the next snap, the defense lost sight of Burrow, who fled the pocket and sprinted down the right sideline for a 47-yard touchdown, the longest rushing score a) by a quarterback in Cincinnati franchise history, and b) by a quarterback against the Giants since Nov. 1, 1942, when Pittsburgh's Bill Dudley reached the end zone on a 66-yarder.
"I'm pretty sure he knew we were in man (to man defense)," Burns said. "He knew that all the DBs would be chasing their guy, and he saw an opening and he took it. Heads up play by him."
Later in the quarter, the Giants moved from their own 33 to the Cincinnati 14-yard line, where they had a first down. But Jones was heavily pressured by defensive lineman B.J. Hill, a former Giant, who hit the quarterback as he released the ball. It fluttered high in the air and was intercepted by linebacker Germaine Pratt at the 3-yard line. Jones said after the game he "absolutely" would like to have that play back.
"Trying to get the ball to the back of the end zone, got hit," Jones said. "Got to throw it earlier or get the ball down."
"Not what we want to do," Daboll said. "So that was a tough one. I'm sure he'd like to have that back. I'd like to have certainly the play call back when you get a result like that."
The Giants had the only serious scoring chance by either team the rest of the half, but it was negated by a penalty. Late in the second quarter, Jones and Slayton connected on a 56-yard catch-and-run that would have given the Giants a first down at the Bengals' 35. But left tackle Andrew Thomas was flagged for being an ineligible receiver downfield. The Giants did get to repeat first down – but from their own 5-yard line.
"He was downfield," Daboll conceded. "It was an RPO. Run-pass option, read the defense, usually get out of your hands quick. I thought he did. Andrew was blocking the run, and it looked to me like it was the right call. That was two penalties for nine yards (for the Giants), but that was a 60-yard gain that totally changed field position."
"Similar play happened versus Seattle last week," Thomas said. "They didn't call it, so sometimes it's just 50-50. Sometimes they call it, sometimes they don't."
In the third quarter, Daboll unleashed a speedier offense and kept the offense on the field on fourth down five times. The Giants converted two fourth downs on their only touchdown drive, which took 16 plays and 9:12 and covered 79 yards and ended with Tyrone Tracy's one-yard scoring run. That tied the score at 7-7 with 5:48 remaining in the period.
"I felt good about the stuff that we had," Daboll said. "We were going a little bit up tempo, and our defense did a great job after that of holding them, getting the ball back and then going down and scoring."
But the Giants never put another point on the board. On the ensuing drive, Evan McPherson's 37-yard field goal gave the lead back to the Bengals at 10-7. In the fourth quarter, Joseph missed his first field goal try.
On Cincinnati's next possession, Burrow completed a 29-yard pass to Andrei Iosivas on third-and-12. On the next play, the defense had a chance to get a huge takeaway when Micah McFadden forced the ball out of running back Chase Brown's hands. Safety Jason Pinnock had a chance to recover the fumble, but the ball slid out of bounds before he could control it.
"If we want to be the elite defense and live up to who we say we are, we have to make those plays," Burns said. "When that ball came out, that's a ball we have to get, as simple as that. We had the opportunity; it was on the ground."
One play later, Brown scored on a 30-yard run up the middle, all but ending the Giants' hopes. Their final play was Joseph's second missed field goal.
"It's hard to win football games when you score seven points," Daboll repeated later in his news conference. "That's reality of it."
