McAdoo's Gutsy 4th Down Call Propels Giants to Victory
The New York Giants defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 21-20 thanks to a gutsy 4th down call. Trailing 20-14 early in the 4th quarter with the Giants at the Bengals' three yard line, head coach Ben McAdoo decided to roll the dice and go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a chip shot field goal. The gamble paid off as quarterback Eli Manning found wide receiver Sterling Shepard in the endzone for the go ahead touchdown. Manning had an up/down game. Eli threw for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns despite throwing 2 interceptions. Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. caught 10 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Beckham's touchdown, a 10 yard pass from Eli, came with 1:17 left in the first half that gave the Giants the lead 14-10 at halftime. The Giants also got a touchdown on the opening drive when Eli found wide receiver Jerell Adams for a 10 yard pass. The Bengals immediately tied the game at 7 when Bengals' quarterback found star wide receiver AJ Green for a 13 yard pass. The Bengals took a brief lead with 4:19 left in the first half at 10-7 when Mike Nugent kicked a 25 yard field goal. Jeremy Hill's 9 yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the 2nd half put the Bengals back up 17-14. Nugent connected on a 38 yard field goal to give the Bengals the 20-14 lead before falling to the Giants 21-20. The Bengals had one chance to potentially regain the lead until Landon Collins picked off Dalton at the Giants' 38 yard line. The Bengals had one last chance, but Dalton was sacked twice, one of them by Olivier Vernon. Rashaad Jennings and the Giants eventually ran out the clock for the Big Blue victory. With the win, the Giants improved to 6-3 as they maintain the top wildcard spot in the NFC while they trail the Dallas Cowboys by 2 games for the NFC East division lead. As for the Bengals, they fell to 3-5-1 with their only chance of postseason hopes hanging in the balance on winning the AFC North. The Bengals trail the AFC North leading Baltimore Ravens by 1 1/2 games while they also trail the 2nd place Pittsburgh Steelers by a half game. The Bengals will return home to face the 4-5 Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Giants will remain home as they host the last place Chicago Bears (2-7) on Sunday.
