The Giants had more than enough chances to bring real traction to the season.
They had a lot of chances to finally win the game in prime time.
It was everything to the Giants, but they just couldn't figure it out.
Once again, they didn't get enough points to win.
In the NFL, one touchdown doesn't decide it, even when the defense was making all kinds of plays and harassing quarterback Joe Burrow for long stretches of Sunday night's game.
In the end, the Giants ran out the clock and lost 17-7 to the Bengals, continuing their ineptitude at MetLife Stadium.
Daniel Jones (1-15) had a brutal interception in the first quarter, and kicker Greg Joseph missed a potential tying 47-yard field goal early in the fourth.
The Giants were ultimately unable to overcome these failures.
Leading 10-7, they had the ball and were driving, but Jones' pass to Darius Slayton on fourth down was broken up by DJ Turner with 3:01 left.
The Giants had a chance to get the ball back, but Burrow hit Andrei Iosivas 29 yards on third-and-12.
The Giants had another chance to get the ball back when Micah McFadden reached out and forced a Chase Brown fumble, but Jason Pinnock was unable to pounce on the spill.
Opportunities given to teams are limited.
Brown ran 30 yards with 1:52 left and scored the game-winning touchdown.
The Bengals (2-4) saved their season with the win.
Once again, the Giants are doing a one-step-forward, one-step-back dance, but ultimately they're not getting anywhere.
This is the third time this season that the team had a chance to win back-to-back games but was unable to do so.
The Giants haven't had a winning streak since winning three in a row in Weeks 11, 12 and 14 last season.
The Giants (2-4) remain entrenched in last place in the NFC East, with no momentum heading into Week 7's much-anticipated game against Saquon Barkley and the Eagles (3-2).
Loses to the Commanders (4-2) and Cowboys (3-3) this weekend have left the division wide open, but for now the Giants are looking to other teams.
The Giants had just 119 yards of offense and no scores in the first half, trailing 7-0 and looking hopeless in terms of their ability to get near the end zone.
The first series of the third quarter ended in a three-and-out, and when they were stationed at their own 21-yard line early in the third quarter and got the ball back after Bobby Okereke forced a fumble, they knew something was going to happen. I was longing for it. McFadden retrieved Zack Moss.
What followed featured an 18-yard pass interference penalty against Turner in the end zone and two fourth-down pickups (both by rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.) against Slayton. It was a tough 16-play drive.
The Giants finally got their first points when Tracy scored from a yard out with 5:48 left in the third quarter.
Burrow beat Ja'Marr Chase for a 33-yard gain and Cordale Flott on a Bengals drive that reached the Giants 1-yard line.
A holding penalty and a sack by Dexter Lawrence meant the Bengals trailed the Giants 10-7 on an Evan McPherson field goal.
The Giants had a chance to tie it, but Joseph missed a 47-yard field goal try to left with 10:27 left.
He missed another 47-yard wide left with 51 seconds left.
The Bengals won the coin toss and took the ball instead of deferring until the second half, unlike most teams these days.
It's clear head coach Zac Taylor wanted to get Burrow on the field first to set the tone early.
It turned out to be a visionary move.
Burrow killed the Giants with his legs, not his arms. He gained a first down on an 11-yard scramble, costing the Giants dearly.
A sack by Brian Barnes put the Bengals in a 3rd-and-18 situation, but Burrow got out of it. Has he ever done it? Burrow saw only green on the right side of the field and took off.
With no one to stop him, he motored 47 yards and dove into the pylon for a touchdown to make it 7-0. Burrow isn't known for his leg strength, but he tied a career-high rushing for one run in the game.
The Giants tried to respond. They got four first downs and Jones started getting into a passing rhythm, until a bad DJ surfaced.
He was pressured by former Giants defensive lineman B.J. Hill and foolishly chucked the ball while backpedaling, hitting Hill in the face.
The ball floated over the middle, but it didn't get close to its intended target, rookie tight end Theo Johnson. Linebacker Jermaine Pratt made an easy interception.
It was the kind of ill-advised play that Jones has kept out of games most of this season, but it came back at the wrong time.
