The New York Giants come into their Week 10 battle on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals with a lot of concern hanging over them. Such concern is certainly rational after having their offense and defense exposed over the last two weeks. But the reality is that the Giants are coming into this off of a ONE-game losing streak ,with that loss coming to one of the league’s top teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It’s comforting that the Giants head into this game against a 3-5 Bengals team that has not defeated a team with a winning record since they beat the San Diego Chargers in Week 16 of the 2010 NFL season. But if any team with a winning record is capable of dropping a game to the Bengals, it’s the New York Football Giants in the second-half of the season.
The Giants have failed to record a winning record in the final eight games of the NFL season in seven of nine seasons under head coach Tom Coughlin. Their epic second-half collapses are a well-documented headache for their fans and thus, why every loss — such as last week’s to the Steelers — gives reason to panic in New York.
Fortunately, the Bengals have been mediocre this season, featuring mostly average units on both sides of the football. Outside of A.J. Green and Andrew Hawkins at the receiver positions, the Bengals offer minimal threats to the Giants, though, so did Steelers’ third-string running back Isaac Redman on paper. Then he rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown.
The Bengals’ Green did make a foolish mistake earlier in the week during an appearance on New York radio station WFAN in which he said the Giants’ defense “has a lot of holes.”
At first glance, the statement seems harmless and, quite frankly, honest. But if there’s anything history tells us, it is to avoid providing the Giants with any kind of bulletin board inspiration. Apparently, Green did not get the memo.
“I’ll talk with my pads come Sunday. That’s how I approach the game. That’s how we always approach the game,” Giants’ safety Antrel Rolle told ESPN New York. “If he sees me, he better duck. That’s it.”
Green’s comments specifically indicated that the Giants’ defensive backfield was the weakest unit, praising their fearsome defensive line. Of course, it is possible that Green wanted to rile up the Giants’ defense.
His eight receiving touchdowns are among the league leaders with a number of big plays under his belt. It’s likely that he is confident he can have a great game against New York’s sub-par secondary unit. However, Green would be wise to recognize that, while he’s been making some big waves, it’s the Giants who have been posting wins in the standings. They sit rather comfortably atop the NFC East division.
“Have we given up plays? Yeah, we’ve given up plays. So I can definitely see why he says that,” Rolle said. “At the same time, we’re winning games. We’re doing whatever it takes to win games around here.”
Like turnovers. The Giants are second in the NFL with 26 takeaways, including a league-leading 17 interceptions (tied with the Chicago Bears). The Bengals, meanwhile, are 25th in the NFL with a dismal minus-5 turnover ratio. Second-year quarterback Andy Dalton has thrown 11 interceptions… good enough for the fourth-worst among NFL passers.
It is probable — as has been the case for much of the season — that the Giants will have to depend on turnovers to overcome the big-play potential of the Bengals’ offense. Fortunately for New York, those numbers are a good indication of the likelihood they will be able to force some. It will be on quarterback Eli Manning and the offense to capitalize on those takeaways and turn them into points.
Against a Bengals’ defense that allows 27.2 points per game, the road to the seventh win of the season should be easy for Big Blue. History has a funny way of rearing its ugly head however. The Giants are hopeful that their perennially bad second-half finishes do not return as they fight to defend their Super Bowl title.
Louis Musto is a contributor for the Sports Journey Broadcast Network covering the NFL and NBA. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.