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Giants (6-3) vs Bengals (3-5)
Last Sunday the Giants were hoping
to cheer up the home fans coming off the heels of hurricane Sandy.
Like the superstorm, the Steelers blew into town and left their
damage behind. The Giants offense and special teams unit played
poorly, blowing a ten point lead and they lost the game to Pittsburgh
24-20.
Last week two second-half interceptions had Cincinnati up in the
fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos. The Bengals couldn't
stop Peyton Manning from redeeming his earlier mistakes. In the
end the score was 31-23 in favor of the Broncos.
Cincinnati Bengals.
They're up. They're down. After
the first quarter of the season, the Bengals were 3-1 and now
they are 3-5. In the past few years the Bengals have won the division
title (2009) and been a wild card (2011). In between that they
had 4-12 records (2008, 2010). This looks to be one of those down
seasons judging them at the halfway mark. The Bengals were very
aggressive in the offseason free agency market hoping to strengthen
the team and provide their fans with back to back playoff seasons
for the first time in 30 years. That's going to be tough with
Baltimore leading the AFC North with a 6-2 record which includes
three division wins and with one of them against Cincinnati.
Bengals Offense.
Quarterback Andy Dalton took
five sacks and was under heavy pressure from the Broncos defense
last week. He completed 26 of the 42 passes he threw for 299 yards,
one touchdown and one interception. Dalton's having a problem
in that area and already is just short (11) of the same number
of interceptions he threw all of last season (13) when they went
to the playoffs as a 9-7 team.
Dalton has been sacked 22 times this season, but less than half
are attributed to his offensive linemen being beaten. Maybe Dalton
is trying to do too much.
Receiver A.J. Green says there are holes in the Giants defense.
If so he would be the one to find them considering he's tied for
first in the NFL with eight receiving touchdowns and Dalton and
Green are on pace to set single-season team records in passing
and receiving. Tight end Jermaine Gresham is having another good
year and Dalton hit him 6 times for a season high 108 receiving
yards. The running game has dropped off from last season and is
ranked at 26th in the league. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis
has not topped 100 yards this year.
Bengals Defense.
They are very aggressive up
front and despite their win-loss record this defense has 23 sacks
on the season. Pro Bowler Geno Atkins leads the team with 7 of
those. While they have been stingy against passing touchdowns,
allowing just 12 on the season and mostly average on passing yards
per game (240.4), they do let quarterbacks complete passes on
them with a high 68.3 completion rate.
Terence Newman had a nice game last week with two interceptions,
but even with that this defense has had snared only five on the
year. They have given up 9 rushing touchdowns and if you do get
to their redzone, you'll find they are ranked 30th of the 32 teams,
giving up 16 touchdowns on 24 opportunities.
Giants Offense.
It looks like Eli Manning is
going through some rough times, but surprisingly his passing game
has been consistent throughout the season based on the level of
competition he's faced. Last week against Pittsburgh, with the
best passing defense in the NFL, he did his worst, throwing for
only 125 yards and no touchdowns. Against Tampa Bay with the worst
passing defense, he had 510 yards and 3 touchdowns. The other
games to date fall closely in line. It still has too much of a
fall off as better teams are coming up, but if Eli is really in
a slump you'll know for sure by the end of this coming game against
the Bengals.
Last week the running game picked up only 68 yards on 22 carries
for an average of 3.1 yards per carry. Making third downs has
become a problem - only one in five in the last two weeks - and
touchdowns in the red zone have become scarce. That's an area
where the Giants rank 24th in the league. Andre Brown is tied
for third in the NFL with 6 rushing touchdowns on just 53 rushing
attempts. Maybe he needs to get the ball more.
Giants Defense.
They didn't like to hear Tom
Coughlin calling them 'soft' or Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green
saying he sees 'a lot of holes in their defense', but they gave
up 158 rushing yards to the Steelers and have allowed 38 pass
plays of 20 or more yards. That ties for second-most in the league
and seven of those have gone for 40-plus yards tying them for
third in the NFL. On the bright side, the pass rush with Jason
Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck has picked up. Sacks
are 17 over the last four games and the Giants are tied for the
league-lead with 17 interceptions.
Overall
How often do you see a team play their absolute worst game on
offense, give up tons of yards on the ground and fall apart on
special teams and then lose by only 4 points? That should tell
you something about these Giants and you have to be a believer
with them going up against Cincinnati this week.
NFC East
After the Giants play their game, the Cowboys (3-5) play in Philadelphia
(3-5) in the Sunday afternoon game at 4:25pm. The Washington Redskins
(3-6) are on a bye week. The Giants and Eagles are favored to
win their games.
From thirty
two to sixteen to six to three to two to one.
Atlanta in the NFC is the
only undefeated team with a 8-0 record. They travel to play the
Saints (3-5) and are favored to win.
Check out.
The Team
Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps
out our site.
Giants DVDs
and Posters.
TeamGiants on Twitter.Notes.
Giants Keith Rivers was the
No. 9 pick overall by the Bengals in 2008 out of USC.
Giants have converted on only 5 of
25 third downs in the last two weeks, the lowest since 2004.
Giants have allowed four 100-yard
rushers this season.
Giants have never won playing at
Cincinnati (0-5).
Bengals A.J. Green has caught a touchdown
in seven straight games.
Bengals Andy Dalton has thrown an
interception in every game this season.
He's the first quarterback in Bengals history to throw an interception
in eight straight games.
Bengals in 45 seasons have had a
losing streak of four games or more in 25.
That includes 16 of the past 22 years.
Next Games
Nov 25 - Green Bay at Giants.
Giants Tickets
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or Sell
Dec 3 - Giants at Redskins.
Giants Tickets
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or Sell
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