‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Winners and losers from Giants-Bengals

Who deserves praise, and who deserves criticism, after Sunday’s loss?

Let’s review yet another disappointing “woulda/coulda/shoulda” loss by the New York Giants, thus one a 17-7 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, in our unique ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style.

Kudos to …

Azeez Ojulari — The forgotten edge defender took advantage of the opportunity afforded him by Kayvon Thibodeaux’s fractured wrist to remind everyone of the promise he showed during an 8.0-sack 2021 rookie season.

Ojulari had two sacks and nearly had 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 impact performance we have waited … and waited … and waited some more for Thibodeaux to have.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Tyrone Tracy — This kid can play. For a second straight game, the rookie running back looked like a fifth-round steal.

Sunday night against the Bengals, Tracy did not come close to matching the 18-carry, 129-yard performance he had a week ago against the Seattle Seahawks. As the game progressed, though, it was clear Tracy was the Giants’ go-to offensive player.

He finished with 17 carries for 50 yards, just 2.9 yards per carry. Ten of those carries came on the Giants’ lone 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 total yards of offense in the second half on 17 touches.

Brian Burns — How would Thibodeaux’s absence impact Burns? Well, it didn’t. Burns had a dominant performance with a sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and eight overall tackles.

Giants’ defense — Aside from the 47-yard Joe Burrow touchdown run, this was an outstanding effort by the Giants’ defense. The Bengals had scored no fewer than 33 points in each of their last three games. Yet, aside from one crazy play early and one 30-yard Chase Brown touchdown run in the final minute, the Giants held the Cincinnati offense down.

The secondary was good. The pass rush, led by Burns and Ojulari was good. Cincinnati had the ball for just 25:53 compared to 34:07 for the Giants. The defense wasn’t the problem Sunday night. The offense and the placekicking were the problems.

Wet Willies to …

Greg Joseph — The Giants’ substitute placekicker missed both of his field-goal attempts, hooking kicks from 47 and 45 yards wide left. Sure, he was working with a new holder as Matt Haack was punting — and holding — in place of the injured Jamie Gillan. The operation on both kicks looked smooth, though. So, I’m not buying that the misses were because of the holder.

Daniel Jones — There were plays to be made against the less-than-stellar Cincinnati defense that didn’t get made. There was also one ugly, costly red zone interception on a ball Jones tried to throw away while getting hit by ex-Giant B.J. Hill that can’t happen.

Jones was 22 of 41 for 205 yards with an interception. Having Malik Nabers would have helped, sure. And head coach Brian Daboll fell on his sword by taking the blame for the poor offensive showing. A lot of it, though, had to do with the quarterback.

It was this kind of night for Jones. Even if this pass went to Jones’ first read, it’s a bad look:

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

Before Sunday, Jones had played four consecutive solid games. He couldn’t make it five in a row.

Andrew Thomas — The star left tackle had a tough night. Bengals’ edge defender Trey Hendrickson had two sacks and three quarterback hits, much — if not all — of that while lined up against Thomas.

Thomas also had an ineligible man downfield penalty that wiped out a 56-yard Darius Slayton catch-and-run. Now, Thomas has a worrisome foot injury.

Dave Gettleman — For trading B.J. Hill to the Bengals. Hill exacted revenge with a terrific game Sunday night. His hit on Jones caused the game-altering interception. Hill finished with two quarterback hits, two passes defensed, and seven tackles. The Giants sure could use that kind of production next to Dexter Lawrence.