Halftime Recap: Bengals 17, Giants 6

Halftime in Cincinnati and apparently the Giants didn’t get the memo that the game started at 1pm today and not on Monday night. The Bengals came right out and took it to the Giants early and because of that they have a 17-6 lead at the half.

The Bengals went right to the air on the Giants in their  opening drive as quarterback Andy Dalton connected with big play receiver AJ Green for a 56-yard touchdown pass to give them an early 7-0 lead. Green made it known to anyone listening during the week that he noticed holes in the Giants defense and he wasted no time in finding one in their secondary as he burned them for that touchdown. Dalton came right back after a Giants 3 and out on their opening drive and hit Andrew Hawkins on an 11-yard pass for a td touchdown to make it 14-0. The Giants came up with a turnover on special teams when Will Hill recovered a Brandon Tate fumble on a punt return, however the they couldn’t turn it into a touchdown and had to settle for 3 points from Lawrence Tynes. A 28-yard field goal from Mike Nugent tacked on 3 more points for the Bengals and made it 17-3. The Giants finally showed some life on offense late in the 2nd quarter as Eli Manning was able to drive the offense down the field, however the Giants again could not turn it into a touchdown as Tynes tacked on 3 points with a 31-yard field goal to make the score 17-6 at the half.

With everything that’s gone wrong for the Giants in the first half they managed to stay within striking distance.

Wide receiver Domenik Hixon went dowin in the first quarter with an ankle injury, x-rays were negative however his return looks to be questionable.

The running game continues to be a problem area for the Giants with 6 carries for 16 yards combined for Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson, and … Eli Manning.

Hakeem Nicks has been busy in the first half with 7 receptions for 63 yards, however Victor Cruz was held to just 1 catch.

Bengals: Andy Dalton threw for 161 yards and 2 td’s on 15 of 30 , AJ Green  had 6 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Going into the half with points on that last drive for the Giants was important because it was the only drive that showed any positive consistency for Manning and the passing game. They will hope that continues into the second half as they’ll have the ball to start.