Starting slowly isn’t surprising for the New York Giants, who have only made the playoffs once since 2016. The Cincinnati Bengals, however, are a different story.
They reached the Super Bowl in the 2021 season, had a strong 12-4 record the next year, and lost in the AFC title game. Last season, they missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record, so their current 1-4 standing this year is quite shocking.
Both the Bengals and Giants (2-3) will try to turn things around on Sunday night during a prime-time game at MetLife Stadium.
“We’re five games into the season,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “I know what the noise is. We’re 1-4, and so we’re accountable for all of that. It’s not good enough.”
The last time the Bengals had a worse record after five games was in 2019, which was Taylor’s first year.
They lost their first 11 games that season and ended with a 2-14 record, earning them the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, where they chose quarterback Joe Burrow. This pick changed the franchise for the better.
“We have too much talent on this team to be in the position we’ve found ourselves in right now,” Taylor said. “But all we can do focusing forward is, how do we beat the New York Giants?”
The Giants, who finished 6-11 last season, have improved since a rough start against undefeated Minnesota (5-0). They are coming off a win in Seattle and could easily be 3-2 if they hadn’t lost a game against the Commanders (4-1) in Week 2.
New York also wants to secure their first home win in three games.
“We want to win every game and play well every game,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “It doesn’t change when it is or where it is.”
