UM, ANYONE THERE? A.J. Green walks into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead on the opening drive — after the Giants deferred when they won the coin flip. (
)
CINCINNATI — Tom Coughlin had surveyed all the stats and then the weather, deciding that if the Giants won the opening toss, they would defer and elect to kick off to the Bengals to start the game. His decision seemed logical, but it would have devastating results, providing the impetus for one of the worst performances by a football team under his watch.
“I really wanted the ball in the second half,” Coughlin said after the Bengals crushed the Giants 31-13 yesterday at Paul Brown Stadium. “There’s quite a differential between the number of points we had scored in the second half (128) and the number of points they had scored in the second half (84). I also wanted the wind.”
By the time the second half began — with the Giants going three-and-out — the game was essentially over. The Bengals held a 17-6 lead and more confidence and momentum than a team that had lost four straight games could have ever imagined.
This debacle started with the opening drive, when the Bengals needed just five plays to cover 79 yards for a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on a 56-yard pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to wide receiver A.J. Green, who inexplicably was turned loose by a Giants secondary that looked in preseason form. Cornerback Corey Webster, the nearest Giant, called it a “busted coverage.” Safety Stevie Brown went toward the line of scrimmage as Green ran past Webster.
“You can’t do that,” Webster said. “When you’re playing a good team with a good receiver you don’t want to give them anything. We want them to earn it.”
Defensive end Justin Tuck called the play “a big tone-setter,” while linebacker Chase Blackburn added, “It got them off to a good start, which is where we didn’t want them to be.”
It was just the beginning of a putrid performance by the NFC East leaders, who head into their bye week 6-4 with two straight losses. There was plenty of blame to go around. The defense gave up the early big play and three other TD passes by Dalton. The Giants offense committed four turnovers, including two terrible interceptions by Eli Manning, and the punt coverage team allowed a 68-yard return by Adam Jones.
The Giants were stunned by their ineptitude. Tuck said he was “shocked,” while safety Antrel Rolle said the Giants “didn’t come out to play ball for whatever reason.”
The Bengals’ four-game losing streak, the looming bye week, a comfortable 2 1/2-game lead in the NFC East, may have given the Giants a false sense of security.
“For whatever reason our head wasn’t in it, as a team. You can’t put a performance like that on film,” Rolle said. “We’re not playing disciplined. We’re not being disciplined in our approach.”
Losing to the Bengals (4-5) will leave “a bad taste in your mouth,” Rolle said. Webster referred to it as “stink” that will linger throughout the bye week.
The Giants never seem to do things the easy way. A year ago they were 6-2 and dropped to 7-7, but went on to win the Super Bowl. A repeat of that mid-season swoon would seem unfathomable. As the Giants boarded their flight home last night, Tuck tweeted “Keep your head up True @Giants fans. We will right this ship.”
Perhaps. But there was nothing about their performance yesterday that made you think the final six games of the season are gimmies.
They have two weeks to prepare for the Packers at MetLife Stadium. That’s two weeks of smelling stink.
“We still believe in each other,” Tuck said. “We believe in this team and this coaching staff. We’ve got a history of going into lulls and coming back out of them. That’s what we’re leaning on right now. Hopefully, we’ll come out of that lull very quickly.”
You figured the Giants could rely on more than hope by now.
george.willis@nypost.com