Joe Burrow runs for a TD and the Bengals’ defense carries them past the Giants, 17-7
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Joe Burrow made just enough plays and the maligned Bengals defense stepped up and delivered a much-needed victory that gave Cincinnati some hope after a dismal start.
Burrow scored on a career-long 47-yard run on the opening possession, and Chase Brown added a game-clinching 30-yard touchdown run one play after his fumble luckily rolled out of bounds in a 17-7 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday night.
“We really needed it,” Burrow said after the Bengals improved to 2-4. “I don’t want to say we would have been out of it if we lost, but we’d be scratching and clawing for the rest of the year. We still really are but it was good to get a win. Great to see our defense step up like that. They’ve taken some heat the last couple of weeks. They played awesome tonight.”
Evan McPherson made a go-ahead 37-yard field goal in the third quarter after a botched snap and hold contributed to him missing a potential game-winning kick a week earlier.
Rookie Tyrone Tracy ran for a 1-yard touchdown for the Giants (2-4), who are winless are home in three games and have one scored one touchdown. They failed to take advantage of a Bengals defense that came in ranked 31st in the league in scoring.
The Giants punted four times in the first half. In the second, they turned it over on downs twice and Greg Joseph missed two field goal attempts.
The high-scoring Bengals were coming off a heartbreaking 41-38 overtime loss to visiting Baltimore, their second defeat this season in which Burrow and the offense put up more than 30 points. McPherson’s missed kick contributed to the defeat, but the Bengals also could not stop the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.
This time, Cincinnati was led defensively by Trey Hendrickson, who had two sacks, and linebacker Germaine Pratt, who intercepted Daniel Jones near the goal line in the first quarter after former Giant B.J. Hill hit Jones while throwing.
“We just knew we had to come out and play our type of football,” Hill said. “We were better at it. We’re still not perfect, still got a long way to go, but we can build off this win.”
