For one half, the Giants could not run the ball Sunday night against the Bengals at MetLife Stadium.
A week after rookie Tyrone Tracy ran for 129 yards in Seattle, the Giants were stopped cold on the ground in the first half by a Bengals defense that came into the game 29th in the league in run defense, allowing 151.4 yards per game.
The Giants managed only 47 rushing yards and 37 of them were from Daniel Jones.
Eric Gray ran it twice for 7 yards. Tracy, the star of the show in the 29-20 victory over the Seahawks, had three rushing attempts and only 3 yards.
The tide turned in the second half. The Giants did not give up on the run on a third-quarter drive that lasted 16 plays and covered 79 yards.
Tracy got the ball eight times on the drive and picked up 29 yards.
He also caught one pass for 10 yards.
There was nothing fancy about this, but the Giants were finally able to gain positive yards on the ground.
He picked up a first down on fourth-and-2 on a pitchout from Jones and he finished what he started with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
With starting running back Devin Singletary missing his second consecutive game with a strained groin, Tracy has emerged as a viable option.
The Giants could not build off their momentary momentum, though, and lost, 17-7.
Tracy finished with 17 rushing attempts and 50 yards.
“We were being more aggressive in the second half, kind of got in the flow of things,’’ Tracy said. “When you start getting first downs and moving the ball a little bit, that’s when everybody starts getting their groove on things.’’
A foot injury in the second quarter to Ihmir Smith-Marsette meant that Adoree’ Jackson had to move in as the punt returner.
Smith-Marsette was able to return.
WR Darius Slayton in the third quarter was evaluated for a concussion and cleared.
The Giants held the Bengals to 17 points — 11 points below their average in the first five games.
They also limited the Bengals to 13 first downs and sacked Joe Burrow four times.
“We’ve played well,’’ defensive end Brian Burns said. “There is still so much more that you can do and there are some opportunities that we have to take advantage of in order to change the game. Just speaking from a holistic view, we have been playing well.’’
Rookie WR Malik Nabers attended the game and watched from the sidelines.
He missed his second consecutive game in concussion protocol.
The hope is he can return for next Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
The other Giants inactive players were Singletary P Jamie Gillan, CB Tre Hawkins, G Jake Kubas and WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton. Tommy DeVito was the third quarterback.
At halftime, the Giants honored their 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl championship teams as part of their ongoing 100th season celebration.
The first 25,000 fans received a Tom Coughlin bobblehead.
Matt Haack, the newest Giants’ player for Sunday night’s game against the Bengals, was a full-time punter in the NFL for six consecutive years.
He was not drafted out of Arizona State in 2017 and won the starting job for the Dolphins as a rookie.
After serving as the starting punter in Miami for four seasons, he took over with the Bills in 2021 — where his career intersected with head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen, who both worked in Buffalo at the time.
After one year with the Bills, Haack punted in all 17 games for the Colts in 2022.
He was pretty much out of the league in 2023, other than playing in one game for the Browns.
He was not in the NFL this season until he was chosen by the Giants from a punting tryout this past Friday after earlier in the day straining his left (kicking) leg in practice.
Gillan missed his first game of the season and Haack got the call against the Bengals.
It was Haack’s 100th career NFL game. In his first 99 games, Haack punted 432 times, averaging 44.5 yards, with 160 punts inside the 20-yard line.
