The New York Giants could’ve made a statement on Sunday night if they beat the Cincinnati Bengals on primetime TV. The NFC East is wide open. Dallas is dead last in rushing. The Eagles are being coached by a guy who lied on his resume. And Washington just lost to the Ravens.
The Giants could’ve rocketed up the standings with victory over a team that many believe are potential Super Bowl contenders.
And like an idiot, I thought the Giants were going to do it. Silly me. Being a football fan is pain.
The Bengals won 17-7 because of course they did. Believe it or not, Joe Burrow played better than Daniel Jones.
Whatever, let’s talk about this shitty game.
MVP of the Game: Azeez Ojulari
With Kayvon Thibodeaux placed on the IR moments before the kickoff, Brian Burns needed a new pass rusher on his other side and Azeez Ojulari stepped right in like he was there all along.
Azeez recorded 6 pressures, 2 sacks, 4 hurries and forced a fumble.
AZEEZ SACK 😤
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/JEcoLh0aNH
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 14, 2024
Azeez Ojulari is objectively better than Kayvon Thibodeaux. His jersey was on top of every tackle. This was the Ojulari game.
Play of the Game: Joe Burrow takes off
The Giants defense put the clamps on the Bengals all night but Joe Burrow had a huge 47-yard run in the 1st quarter that gave Cincinnati enough breathing room to beat a team allergic to the endzone.
JOE BURROW OH MY pic.twitter.com/SMldP70GEB
— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2024
Cool. Every Giants defender was on one side of the field, leaving a Moses-sized opening for Joe Burrow to sprint half the length of the field to the endzone. New York made one defensive mistake and it was over. I hate football.
Loser of the Game: Greg Joseph
If Greg Joseph just hits a single field goal, the Giants maybe win this football game.
The Giants field goal attempt is NO GOOD. pic.twitter.com/RPFvKYfits
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 14, 2024
Of course.
The Giants may be undefeated if their kicker and punter were healthy. Graham Gano popped his hammy on the first play of the 2024 season and it’s all been downhill from there.
Get your shit together, Greg.
What I Learned: Daniel Jones isn’t good enough
I was getting dangerously close to convincing myself Daniel Jones could be a starting quarterback in this league. He went to Seattle and beat the Seahawks. He’s been decent-ish, all season.
Daniel Jones closing his eyes and throwing a bouquet at his bridesmaids pic.twitter.com/oH7YyMSC76
— Dreadlef Schrempf (@TheLesterLee) October 14, 2024
It’s maddening to watch this Giants defense lead the league in sacks, sending quarterbacks to the shadow realm all game long only for Daniel Jones to jog onto the field and throw bullet passes at receiver’s cleats and miss wide-open receivers.
Super cool that the Giants were able to convert all those 4th downs but I’d love to watch an offense that didn’t need to use all four downs every possession.
Maybe all of this goes differently if Malik Nabers wasn’t the most concussed man in the NFL. Fine, Daniel Jones gets one more week to prove himself. I wish I could quit you.
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