For the New York Giants, every week seems like a referendum on the entire season, the roster, the coaching staff, the general manager and even the owners. Fans were despondent after two defeats at the start of the season. One surprising victory in Cleveland later, there was hope…which was extinguished four days later when the Giants lost to Dallas without scoring a single touchdown. All seemed lost when the Giants had to travel to Seattle without their top rookie receiver and face a team that had beaten them handily each of the last two years. They then gave their best performance of the season and won, against all odds.

Tonight they returned home to face the following:

• a bad team with no defense and a 1-4 record that they need to beat? Or
• a dangerous team with a top 5 quarterback and top 5 wide receiver waiting to get their season on track?

So what did we learn from their 17-7 loss to a Cincinnati Bengals team that looked like neither?

Bad MetLife Daniel Jones showed up again

When I watched on TV, I didn’t hear any boos until halftime. And give Jones credit for being a tough sonofagun, rushing 11 times for 56 yards and taking a lot of punishment in the process. But Jones was terrible in the passing game. With Cincinnati leading 7-0, he drove the Giants deep into Bengals territory. Then, pushed into the middle by ex-Giant BJ Hill, Jones tried to pass first in the red zone as he backpedaled instead of taking the sack, his arm was tipped and the ball was intercepted. He did something similar a few weeks ago in Cleveland, but that time Malik Nabers saved him by breaking up the would-be interception.

It’s something we’ve seen all too often from Jones, but it wasn’t the only problem. Jones was inaccurate on too many of his passes, not just on a few deep shots that he knocked down, but also on shorter throws in the tight window. On a key fourth down pass, he was a little late on a timing route, allowing Cincinnati’s Mike Hilton to break the deficit. Several times he appeared to force passes on his first read while someone else was open.

All this against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

It wasn’t all Jones’ fault though…

The offensive line had one of its worst games of the season

Jones probably faced the most pressure he has seen since the game against Cleveland. Formally, he was only pressured 12 times and sacked twice, which isn’t terrible, but it would have been more if he wasn’t adept at scrambling. Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo was often able to create traffic in the backfield, sometimes blitzing and sometimes using just his front four. That was partly because tackle BJ Hill wreaked havoc inside against center John Michael Schmitz, while edge defender Trey Hendrickson got the better of Andrew Thomas. Thomas has had an uneven season against some of the league’s best pass rushers; Tonight he apparently injured his left foot.

The defense played shallow, daring Jones to throw over the top to beat them (which he couldn’t do when he tried, except for a 56-yard pass play to Darius Slayton, which was called back because Thomas had drifted too far past the line of scrimmage . As a result, Jones often couldn’t find anyone to throw to, even when he did have time.

Reports of the death of the defense have been greatly exaggerated

When Shane Bowen Wink replaced Martindale as defensive coordinator, there was fear among many of us about how effective he could be with what sounded like a less aggressive approach. Things didn’t look good in Game 1 when Sam Darnold completed his first twelve passes, or in Game 2 when Washington managed not to punt once and beat the Giants on seven drives that ended in field goals.

Since then, however, the defense has played mostly admirable. It has held Cleveland, Dallas and Seattle to 15, 20 and 20 points over the past three weeks. Sunday night it especially frustrated Joe Burrow and held the Bengals to 10 points until the last minute of the game.

Tonight the Giants managed to put quite a bit of pressure on Azeez Ojulari’s Burrow, who looked like his rookie, on one side and Brian Burns on the other, sacking him four times (once by Dexter Lawrence). For much of the game, Cincinnati’s elite wide receivers JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins were largely contained by good coverage, with Chase often bracketed by two defenders. Cincinnati had scored 26, 38, 24 and 41 points in the previous four games.

Tyrone Tracy becomes THE MAN

When the Giants selected Tracy in the fifth round of the draft, he was seen as a work in progress: a converted wide receiver who had just one year of experience at running back. Last week in Seattle, with Devin Singletary sidelined with an injury and Eric Gray going to the doghouse for a fumble on the goal line, Tracy got his chance and showed up.

Tonight, with the lead back, Tracy again racked up over 100 yards of offense (50 rushing and 57 receiving). He got some tough yards behind a line that didn’t open any major gaps, he made defenders miss countless times, and when he didn’t, his contact balance allowed him to make key first downs. He looks to be one of the big values ​​of the 2024 draft.