Sunday Night Football: The Bengals win the defensive battle, defeating the Giants 17-7

Sunday night's game between the Bengals and Giants turned into a defensive battle at MetLife Field.

But in the end, Cincinnati prevailed with a 10-point win, defeating New York 17-7.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow started the game with a 47-yard rushing touchdown, pulled the ball down on third-and-18 and found nothing but open turf in front of him.

But after that it was a tough tobogganing game for both teams. Neither Cincinnati nor New York scored for the remainder of the first half, and the Giants' only possession in opposing territory ended with an interception by Daniel Jones.

The Giants tied the score at 7-7 midway through the third quarter on Tyrone Tracy's 1-yard touchdown run – the first score of the rookie's career. New York converted two fourth downs on this possession as head coach Brian Daboll was aggressive in this situation all night long. The team placed 3rd out of 5 in this category.

While the Bengals took a 10-7 lead late in the third quarter, the club had a chance to make it 14-7. A call on hold brought a rushing touchdown from Chase Brown off the board. Then Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence sacked Burrow for an 8-yard loss, leading Cincinnati to settle for Evan McPherson's 37-yard field goal.

It looked like the Giants would tie the game on their ensuing drive, but Greg Joseph missed the 47-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Then New York had another chance to get into Cincinnati territory, capitalizing on fourth-and-2 in the 36th minute with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter. But Jones' pass over the middle to Slayton was blocked by DJ Turner and fell incomplete.

Burrow helped seal the win with an unscheduled 29-yard pass to receiver Andrei Iosivas that moved the chains on third-and-12 with 2:12 left.

Brown then almost gave it back to the Giants by fumbling on the next play, but the ball landed safely out of bounds, ensuring Cincinnati retained possession.

In a bit of poor situational awareness that may have helped some fantasy teams, Brown then went 30 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Had Brown given up, the game would have effectively been over as the Bengals might have run out of time.

Instead, the Giants got another possession that ended with a missed 45-yard field goal by Joseph.

Burrow completed 19 of 28 passes for 208 yards. He also led the team with 55 yards rushing. Brown finished the game with 53 yards on 10 carries. Tee Higgins caught all seven of his targets for 77 yards, while Ja'Marr Chase caught five passes for 72 yards.

Despite missing Kayvon Thibodeaux, New York's defense played well: Brian Burns recorded a sack, two tackles for loss and eight total tackles. Outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari recorded 2.0 sacks and two TFLs, while Dexter Lawrence also recorded one sack and one TFL.

Jones was 22 of 41 passing for 205 yards with one pick. He also led the club with 56 yards rushing. Tracy had 50 yards rushing on 17 carries and six catches for 57 yards. With Malik Nabers sidelined with a concussion, Darius Slayton caught six passes for 57 yards.

At 2-4, the Bengals will be in Cleveland next week to play the 1-5 Browns.

The 2-4 Giants will host the 3-2 Eagles in Week 7.