Let’s revisit yet another disappointing ‘woulda/coulda/shoulda’ loss for the New York Giants, a 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, in our unique ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style.

Kudos to…

Azeez Ojulari – The forgotten edge defender took advantage of the opportunity presented by Kayvon Thibodeaux’s broken wrist to remind everyone of the promise he showed during an 8.0-sack rookie season in 2021.

Ojulari had two sacks and nearly a third, freeing Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow because he thought he had stripped the ball. Ojulari had two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.

Honestly, he had the kind of impact performance we’ve been waiting… and waiting… and waiting some more for Thibodeaux.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn images

Tyrone Tracy — This kid can play. For a second straight game, the rookie running back looked like a fifth-round steal.

Sunday night against the Bengals, Tracy didn’t come close to matching the 18-carry, 129-yard performance he had a week ago against the Seattle Seahawks. However, as the game progressed, it became clear that Tracy was the Giants’ offensive player.

He finished with 17 carries for 50 yards, just 2.9 yards per carry. Ten of those carries came on the Giants’ only scoring drive of the night, a 16-play, 79-yard drive. The rookie ended that drive with a 1-yard run for his first NFL touchdown. Tracy also caught all six passes thrown to him for 57 yards.

Tracy had 71 of his 107 total yards of offense in the second half on 17 touches.

Brian Burns — What impact would Thibodeaux’s absence have on Burns? Well, that didn’t happen. Burns had a dominant performance with a sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and eight overall tackles.

The defense of giants -Other than Joe Burrow’s 47-yard touchdown run, this was an excellent effort by the Giants defense. The Bengals have scored a whopping 33 points in each of their last three games. But other than a crazy play early and a Chase Brown 30-yard touchdown run in the final minute, the Giants kept Cincinnati’s offense in check.

The secondary was good. The pass rush, led by Burns and Ojulari, was good. Cincinnati had the ball for just 25:53, compared to 34:07 for the Giants. The defense wasn’t the problem Sunday night. The offense and the placekicking were the problems.

Wet Willies to…

Greg Joseph – The Giants’ replacement placekicker missed both his field goal attempts and made corner kicks from 47 and 45 yards wide to the left. Sure, he was working with a new holder while Matt Haack was punting – and holding – in place of the injured Jamie Gillan. However, the operation of both stages looked smooth. So I don’t believe the misses were due to the holder.

Daniel Jones – There were plays to be made against Cincinnati’s less-than-stellar defense, but none were made. There was also one ugly, costly red zone interception of a ball Jones tried to throw while being hit by ex-Giant BJ Hill, which can’t happen.

Jones was 22 of 41 for 205 yards with an interception. Having Malik Nabers would certainly have helped. And head coach Brian Daboll fell on his sword by taking the blame for the poor offensive performance. A lot of it had to do with the quarterback, though.

It was one of those nights for Jones. Even if this didn’t make it to Jones’ first reading, it looks bad:

The Giants are now 1-14 in prime time games started by Jones.

Before Sunday, Jones had played four solid games in a row. He couldn’t make it five in a row.

Andrew Thomas – The star left tackle had a tough night. Bengals’ edge defender Trey Hendrickson had two sacks and three quarterback hits, many — if not all — of which came while facing Thomas.

Thomas also was assessed an ineligible downfield penalty, negating a Darius Slayton catch-and-run of 56 yards. Now Thomas has a worrying foot injury.

Dave Gettleman — For trading BJ Hill to the Bengals. Hill exacted revenge on Sunday night with a great match. His hit on Jones set up the game-changing interception. Hill finished with two quarterback hits, two passes defensed and seven tackles. The Giants could certainly use this kind of production next to Dexter Lawrence.