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As modest as it is, home is not where the Giants should be
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As modest as it is, home is not where the Giants should be

EAST RUTHERFOPD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants are giving new meaning to the phrase: “There’s no place like home.”

Home is becoming the last place the Giants (2-4) want to be these days. They’ve played three games at MetLife Stadium and lost all of them, the last of which came Sunday night in a 17-7 loss to the struggling Cincinnati Bengals.

Not only did the Giants lose, they didn’t give their fans much to cheer about, especially the offense. It has scored 28 points in losses to Minnesota, Dallas and the Bengals and added one touchdown, which came on a 1-yard run by rookie Tyrone Tracy 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,” coach and offensive lineman Brian Daboll said. “I thought we had chances all game long. Whether it is carried out, whether it is over.

The mistakes on offense were enormous.

Quarterback Daniel Jones drove New York to the Bengals 14 with about four minutes left in the first quarter while the Giants trailed 7–0. On first and 10, he looked for tight end Theo Johnson on a throwback across the field and was hit by former Giants defensive lineman B.J. Hill while throwing. The ball fluttered through the air and Germaine Pratt intercepted near the goal line.

Late in the second quarter, Jones connected with Darius Slayton on a quick crossing pattern and ran for 56 yards. The run-pass option that started at the Giants 9 was negated when left tackle Andrew Thomas was ruled illegal 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 defeated the Bengals 309 yards to 304.

“It’s very disappointing — I just couldn’t sustain the drives, execute them, get into a rhythm and frustrating,” said Jones, who was 22 of 41 for 205 yards. “I feel like we’ve made strides and progress as an offense. Obviously we didn’t do that today, so we’re going to see what we can do better and clean up.”

What is clear is that the Giants have missed rookie sensation Malik Nabers, who led the league with 35 catches when he suffered a concussion against Dallas on September 26. He has missed the last two games, although New York won in Seattle last weekend.

Nabers, who has three touchdowns to his name, is making progress and the hope is he can return next Sunday against the Eagles, who are unfortunately also at MetLife Stadium.

“He definitely brings a certain energy, he brings a certain look when he’s on the field,” outside linebacker Brian Burns said. “He’s an explosive player and we’d love to have him back on the pitch, but we saw guys step up last week and guys this week too, so it’s always the next man up.”

The Giants’ longest play of the game was four passes for 15 yards, which are not considered explosive plays.

“It makes it tough when you have to do that in this league,” said Jones, who led the Giants with 56 yards and 11 carries. “I think it’s a credit to their defense, their plan and their plan to prevent some of these plays, but we have to execute them and find a way to generate some of them.”

The positive for the Giants was that the defense has played well at home in the last two games. It limited Dallas to 20 points in a 20-15 loss last month and the Bengals to 17 after scoring at least 33 points in each of their last three games.

Special teams didn’t help on Sunday either. Kicker Greg Joseph missed field goals from 47 and 45 yards in the fourth quarter, the first with New York trailing 10–7.

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AP N.F.L.: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl