“Kudos & Wet Willies”: Giants-Bengals winners and losers

Let's review another disappointing Would/Could/Shoulda loss by the New York Giants, a 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, in our unique Kudos & Wet Willies style.

A big compliment to…

Azeez Ojulari – The forgotten edge defender took advantage of the opportunity presented by Kayvon Thibodeaux's broken wrist to remind everyone of the promise he showed during an 8.0-sack rookie season in 2021.

Ojulari had two sacks and almost a third, releasing Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow because he thought he had stripped the ball. Ojulari had two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.

Honestly, he had the kind of impressive performance that we've been waiting for…and waiting…and waiting some more for Thibodeaux.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Tyrone Tracy – This kid can play. For the second straight year, the rookie running back looked like a steal in the fifth round.

On Sunday night against the Bengals, Tracy couldn't come close to matching the 18-carry, 129-yard performance he had a week ago against the Seattle Seahawks. As the game progressed, however, it became clear that Tracy was the Giants' offensive player.

He finished with 17 carries for 50 yards, just 2.9 yards per carry. Ten of those carries came on the Giants' only scoring drive of the night, a 16-play, 79-yard drive. The rookie finished that drive with a 1-yard run for his first NFL touchdown. Tracy also caught all six passes thrown to him for 57 yards.

Tracy had 71 of his 107 yards of total offense on 17 touches in the second half.

Brian Burns – How would Thibodeaux’s absence impact Burns? Well, that wasn't the case. Burns had a dominant performance with a sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and eight total tackles.

The Giants defense – Aside from Joe Burrow's 47-yard touchdown run, this was an outstanding performance by the Giants' defense. The Bengals had scored no fewer than 33 points in each of their last three games. But aside from a crazy play early on and a 30-yard touchdown run by Chase Brown in the final minute, the Giants kept Cincinnati's offense under control.

Secondary school was good. The pass rush, led by Burns and Ojulari, was good. Cincinnati only had the ball 25:53, compared to 34:07 for the Giants. Defense wasn't the problem Sunday night. The offense and placekicking were the problems.

Wet willies too…

Greg Joseph – The Giants' backup placekicker missed both of his field goal attempts, hitting kicks from 47 and 45 yards wide left. Sure, he was working with a new defending champion while Matt Haack punted – and saved – in place of the injured Jamie Gillan. However, operating both kicks looked smooth. So I don't assume that the failures are due to the holder.

Daniel Jones – There were plays against the less than stellar Cincinnati defense that went unexecuted. There was also an ugly and costly interception in the red zone on a ball that Jones was trying to throw away while being hit by former Giant BJ Hill, which can't happen.

Jones was 22 of 41 for 205 yards with one interception. Having Malik Nabers would certainly have helped. And head coach Brian Daboll fell on the sword by taking the blame for the poor offensive performance. However, a lot of it had to do with the quarterback.

It was such a night for Jones. Even though that pass went to Jones' first read, things look bad:

The Giants are now 1-14 in primetime games started by Jones.

Before Sunday, Jones had played four solid games in a row. He didn't make it for the fifth time in a row.

Andrew Thomas – The star left tackle had a rough night. Bengals edge defender Trey Hendrickson recorded two sacks and three quarterback hits, a majority – if not all – of them in the game against Thomas.

Thomas also had an ineligible man downfield penalty that negated a 56-yard catch-and-run by Darius Slayton. Now Thomas has a worrying foot injury.

Dave Gettleman – For trading BJ Hill to the Bengals. Hill returned the favor with a terrific game on Sunday evening. His hit against Jones resulted in the game-winning interception. Hill finished the game with two quarterback hits, two passes defended and seven tackles. The Giants could certainly use that kind of production alongside Dexter Lawrence.