Assessment of the Giants’ 17-7 loss to the Bengals on Sunday:

Offence

Not good enough.

Not even close.

Lots of first downs (24), but only 5 of 15 on third down – and 3 of 5 on fourth down.

One bad touchdown isn’t enough. Daniel Jones (22 of 41, 205 yards) threw a blatant interception.

The passing game wasn’t exactly sharp: the longest completion was just 15 yards. Jones (11-56) was also the leading rusher, which isn’t ideal.

Rookie Tyrone Tracy (17-50) started late.

LT Andrew Thomas was cleanly beat by Trey Hendrickson for a nine-yard sack in the second quarter.

Thomas was later flagged for an illegal man downfield penalty to wipe out a 56-yard completion to Darius Slayton.

Not ideal.

Slayton (6-57) was targeted 11 times. There wasn’t enough production.

Wan’Dale Robinson caught just five of 11 targets. Bad things everywhere.

Grade: F

Defense

This was a winning performance in many ways.

The Bengals came in averaging 28 points and they had 10 until the final minutes.

Joe Burrow (19 of 28, 208 yards) was held well below his season averages. Tee Higgins (7-77) and Ja’Marr Chase (5-72) were good, but not great.

Burrow was dismissed four times and substitute Azeez Ojulari picked him up twice in a strong performance.

Brian Burns came to play. He had a sack on the first series and dropped Zack Moss for a four-yard loss on third down.

Micah McFadden forced two fumbles: Bobby Okereke recovered one, but Jason Pinnock failed to secure the other.

A huge breakdown early allowed Burrow to race 47 yards for a TD and a late breakdown gave Chase Brown a 30-yard TD run. Bengals had just 13 first downs.

Quality: A-

Special teams

Greg Joseph has had better days. He attempted field goals from 47 and 45 and missed both, wide left.

That’s called a bad day at the office.

New punter Matt Haack made his Giants debut without incident.

He dropped a 43-yarder in the second quarter that pinned the Bengals back at their 12-yard line.

He averaged 46.8 yards on his four kicks.

Grade: D

Coaching

Brian Daboll was The Gambler, going for it five times in fourth place.

I have to admit, it seemed like a desperate and ill-advised risk by Daboll, who went for it early in the fourth quarter on 4th-and-2 at his own 37-yard line.

It didn’t cost the Giants anything, but it was still an odd decision.

As a play-caller, Daboll must find a way to generate more big plays and figure out why his team can’t find the end zone when playing at home.

Shane Bowen’s defense kept Burrow on his toes and did enough to win.

Grade: C