utr EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ _ In the aftermath of the Bengals’ old-fashioned slugfest, a 17-7 victory over the Giants that came courtesy of a stubborn defensive effort at Met Life Stadium, defensive end Sam Hubbard hailed it as the “B.J. Hill revenge game”

But Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow simply called it “a game we really needed.”

“It was great to see the defense improve like that. They played great,” said Burrow, who said he played below his standards but played better than his numbers, going 19 of 28 for 208 yards.

After firing a shot on a third-down incompletion late in the game and the Bengals building a 10-7 lead, Burrow went to the medical tent to be evaluated for a concussion, symbolic of how difficult it was to leave Jersey with their first ever road win over the Giants.

“News to me. I felt fine, I was just blown away,” Burrow said.

But on the next third, needing twelve yards as the two-minute drill beckoned, Burrow rolled to his left to avoid the incessant New York rush that dogged him all night. He threw a mean whip across his body for 29 yards and the completion off the sideline to wide receiver Andrei Iosivas.

That set up Chase Brown’s 30-yard touchdown burst up the middle to cap it off with 1:52 left.

It was the height of determination. To that point, Brown and running back Zack Moss had run for a combined 36 yards; less than Burrow’s 47-yard scramble for a touchdown less than four minutes into the game.

“It was a great adjustment. Frank is an experienced coach and he saw something during the game,” said center Ted Karras of offensive line coach and run game coordinator Frank Pollack.

Pollack made the adjustment before that series. It was a zone concept where Chase actually hit one of the backside inside holes, and it was a home run. Head coach Zac Taylor said it was a play they played often during training camp and the season, but it wasn’t in Sunday’s game plan.

Karras handled two-time Giants Pro Bowl tackle Dexter Lawrence well enough that “I was left untouched,” Brown said

With the Bengals clinging to that 10-7 lead with 3:01 remaining, cornerback DJ Turner saved the day on fourth-and-2 from his 36 when he batted away quarterback Daniel Jones’ pass over the middle en route to wide receiver Darius Slayton. It wasn’t long after Turner was called for interfering with Slayton in the end zone. One play later, the Giants scored their only touchdown to tie the game at seven with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

“I forgot. I don’t remember. I forgot right after it happened,” Turner said. “It has to be the next game.”

The next play turned out to be the biggest play: the fourth and two. It was the fifth time the Giants went for it on fourth down and for the second time they failed.

“A drag route,” Turner said. “It was man to man and I knew I had to stay with him.”

It didn’t take long for Chase Brown to get redemption. Try one play. He fumbled after launching a seven-yard run to the Giants 30, but the ball slipped through some enemy hands before going out of bounds.

Brown admitted he held the next one a little tighter.

“Sure, I’ve thought about it a little bit,” Brown said on a very strange evening, when he was overtaken by Burrow, 55 to 53 yards out. “I thought, ‘React, react, react. Be calm.’

First, BJ Hill was named game captain for the return to his team where he spent his first three seasons. He then went out and dominated them with seven tackles and two hits on old friend Daniel Jones.

And how big were his two deflections? One flew in the air to best friend Germaine Pratt at the Giants 5 for a pick. The other came on third down and set up a missed field goal.

“I blocked it with my face;” Hill said; “Two guys on me, I was just trying to get my hand in between them.

“A little bit emotional at first. I’ve had three great years. It’s been four years since I’ve been back. A special place here in my heart. They gave me a chance. They drafted me. And to come here to To win means a lot to me.”

About Burrow’s 47-yard run, his version of the New York City Marathon, the longest touchdown ever by a Bengals quarterback. Taylor said Burrow had two pass plays on third-and-18, but when he saw the coverage he wasted no time.

“We’ll do that on third down,” said Burrow, who didn’t see anyone on the right side.

When asked if he felt the safety before he stretched out on the mast, he said, “There was no way he could get me.”

His longest run since when? He had to laugh. He went back to third or fourth grade with coach Sam Smathers in Athens, Ohio.

“Seventy, eighty yards,” Burrow said. “They couldn’t stop the quarterback’s sniper.”