The New York Giants are redefining the saying, “There is no place like home.”
Home is becoming the last place the Giants (2-4) want to be right now. They have played three games at MetLife Stadium and lost all of them, with the latest being a 17-7 defeat to the struggling Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Not only have the Giants lost, but they haven’t given their fans much to cheer for, especially with the offense. They have scored just 28 points in losses to Minnesota, Dallas, and the Bengals, with only one touchdown coming from rookie Tyrone Tracy on a 1-yard run in the third quarter after a pass interference call in the end zone.
“It’s probably a number of things. I’ll go back and watch the tape,” said coach and offensive play-caller Brian Daboll. “I thought we had some opportunities throughout the game. Whether it be run, whether it be pass.”
The offense made some costly mistakes. Quarterback Daniel Jones took the Giants to the Bengals’ 14-yard line with about four minutes left in the first quarter while they were down 7-0.
On first and 10, he attempted a throw to tight end Theo Johnson but was hit by former Giants defensive lineman B.J. Hill as he threw. The ball floated in the air and was intercepted by Germaine Pratt near the goal line.
Later in the second quarter, Jones connected with Darius Slayton on a quick crossing route that went for 56 yards. However, this run-pass option, which started at the Giants’ 9-yard line, was called back because left tackle Andrew Thomas was ruled to be illegally downfield.
That’s how the night went for New York, which was 5 of 15 on third down and 3 of 5 on fourth down. The Giants slightly outgained the Bengals with 309 yards compared to their 304.
“It’s very disappointing — just couldn’t sustain drives, execute, get into a rhythm, and frustrating,” said Jones, who completed 22 of 41 passes for 205 yards.
“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.”
It’s clear that the Giants have missed rookie star Malik Nabers, who was leading the league with 35 catches before getting a concussion against Dallas on September 26. He has missed the last two games, although New York won at Seattle last weekend.
Nabers, who has three touchdown catches, has been improving, and the hope is he can return next Sunday against the Eagles, which will also be at MetLife Stadium.
“He definitely brings out a certain energy, he brings out a certain aura when he is on the field,” said outside linebacker Brian Burns. “He’s an explosive player and we would love to have him (back out on the field), but we’ve seen guys step up last week and guys step up this week, so it’s always next-man-up.”
The longest plays for the Giants in the game were four passes for 15 yards, which aren’t considered big plays.
“It makes it tough when you have to do that in this league,” said Jones, who led the Giants with 56 yards rushing on 11 carries. “I think credit to their defense, their scheme and their plan is to prevent some of those plays, but we’ve got to execute and find a way to generate some of them.”
A positive for the Giants is that the defense has played well at home in the last two games. It held Dallas to 20 points in a 20-15 loss last month and limited the Bengals to 17 points after they had scored at least 33 in each of their last three games.
Special teams also did not help on Sunday. Kicker Greg Joseph missed field goals from 47 and 45 yards in the fourth quarter, the first one when New York was down 10-7.
