The Giants were the more aggressive team, and their defense showed up big late in each half Monday.
Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes, and the Giants rallied to beat the Bengals, 21-20. The winning points came when Giants coach Ben McAdoo went for it on fourth and goal, trailing by six from the 3-yard line in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Manning hit Sterling Shepard for a touchdown, and the defense took it from there.
The Giants’ aggression was rewarded. The Bengals punted from inside Giants’ territory in the second quarter and, with one timeout left, didn’t really try to score when they got the ball following a Giants touchdown with 1:17 left in the first half.
In the fourth quarter, the Bengals punted on fourth and inches from their own 21 with a little over nine minutes left. They only got one more possession.
The Giants’ pass rush and running back Rashad Jennings served as the closers as the Giants won their fourth-straight game. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton only completed four passes in the second half. The Giants got 23 first downs to the Bengals’ 12, and the Bengals racked up 60 yards on nine penalties.
The Bengals were 2-of-11 trying to convert third downs.
Manning threw for 240 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Jerell Adams and Odell Beckham Jr. caught first-half touchdown passes; Beckham finished with 10 catches for 97 yards.
Dalton finished 16-of-29 for 204 yards. He was intercepted by Landon Collins in the fourth quarter, killing the Bengals’ last real scoring opportunity. The Bengals only ran for 78 yards on 23 carries.
The Bengals had grabbed the lead, 20-14, early in the third quarter after trailing 14-10 at halftime. Settling for a field goal on their second series of the third quarter ended up coming back to bite the Bengals.
The Giants improve to 6-3. The Bengals slip to 3-5-1 but remain alive in the AFC North race.