Bengals vs. Giants: Score and Twitter Reaction for Monday Night Football

The 8-1 Dallas Cowboys have earned many of the headlines, but the New York Giants let the football world know the NFC East race isn't over with a 21-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night at MetLife Stadium.

New York improved to 6-3 and has a head-to-head win over Dallas and a home game still remaining against the division leader. Cincinnati dropped to 3-5-1, putting its five-season playoff streak in jeopardy.

The Giants defense didn't give up a point in the fourth quarter and held the Bengals to 78 rushing yards on 23 carries. Andy Dalton threw for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception but couldn't make a critical game-winning play down the stretch.

Eli Manning overcame two interceptions with 240 passing yards and three touchdowns, one of which went to Odell Beckham Jr. The star wide receiver finished with a game-high 97 receiving yards, while Rashad Jennings tallied 87 yards on the ground.

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted how successful New York has been in narrow games this year:

Manning put on a clinic during the game's opening drive. He completed all six of his passes for 72 yards, the last of which went to Jerell Adams for a 10-yard touchdown.

Louis Riddick of ESPN pointed out the issues on Cincinnati's side:

The Bengals answered on their first possession when Dalton found A.J. Green for a 13-yard score. Green caught the touchdown pass, but Tyler Eifert had the play of the drive with a 71-yard reception.

Albert Breer of The MMQB compared the early offensive fireworks to Sunday's action at MetLife Stadium:

Despite their rough starts, the two defenses settled down and didn't allow another point until late in the second quarter. The Cincinnati defense kept its momentum rolling and gave its offense favorable field position when Geno Atkins sacked Manning on fourth down near midfield early in the second.

While the Giants kept the Bengals off the scoreboard on the ensuing drive, Kevin Huber pinned them at their own 1-yard line with an impressive punt. Dre Kirkpatrick intercepted a Manning pass five plays later and returned the ball to New York's 7-yard line.

Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media praised the cornerback's instincts:

Cincinnati managed only a field goal with the golden opportunity, however.

New York took the lead on the ensuing possession when Manning hit Beckham for a 10-yard score to cap an eight-play drive. The Giants used Beckham in the slot in an effort to free him against a vulnerable secondary, and the move helped him break an NFL record, per NFL on ESPN:

The NFL shared a replay of Beckham's head-turning spin during his route:

Five plays later, Beckham batted down Dalton's Hail Mary attempt to preserve New York's 14-10 halftime lead.

It took the Bengals all of one second-half play to wrest control of the game. Alex Erickson returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards to the Giants' 13-yard line, and Jeremy Hill scored on a nine-yard run two plays later.

After New York went three-and-out, it appeared as though Cincinnati had pushed its advantage to two scores when Tyler Boyd hauled in a pass in the end zone, but he did not control the ball to the ground. Instead, the Bengals settled for another Mike Nugent field goal and a 20-14 lead.

Ralph Vacchiano of SNY reacted to the confusion surrounding Boyd's would-be touchdown catch:

The two sides traded punts over their next four possessions before Jennings moved the Giants into the red zone with a 24-yard burst. On 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Manning connected with Sterling Shepard for a touchdown pass.

"Ben McAdoo said recently he's always going to be aggressive," Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweeted.

The head coach's decision led to what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

The New York defense came up big, too. Landon Collins picked off Dalton, drawing praise from Duggan:

The turnabout was short-lived, though, as George Iloka intercepted Manning on the next play. The Giants defense then bailed out its signal-caller by forcing a three-and-out.

Cincinnati got the ball back one more time but couldn't protect Dalton in the pocket. While he scrambled for one third-down conversion, Jonathan Casillas and Damon Harrison and then Olivier Vernon sacked him on consecutive plays, and the Bengals punted with just more than three minutes remaining.

NFL on ESPN highlighted New York's dominance at the line of scrimmage:

On 3rd-and-6, Jennings picked up a first down with a nine-yard run, and then he clinched the game with a 25-yard run on 2nd-and-10.

Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score in Chicago wondered why Cincinnati tackled Jennings:

Manning then took two knees to end the game.

What's Next?

The Bengals will host the 4-5 Buffalo Bills in Week 11 before a critical showdown at the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens, who are 5-4. Despite having just one win since Sept. 29, Cincinnati could climb back into the postseason picture with victories against those AFC contenders.

Next up for the Giants is a favorable two-game stretch against the 2-7 Chicago Bears and 0-10 Cleveland Browns. With two wins, they could make up some ground on the Cowboys—who play the Ravens and 5-3-1 Washington over the next 10 days—and establish themselves as contenders to win the division.

Postgame Reaction

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said, "We have to protect the QB better" after the two late sacks, per Geoff Hobson of the team's website.

Lewis also said, "It was a back-and-forth game, and we didn't win the back and forth," per Hobson.

Beckham said he dropped his touchdown pass on that same play in practice and promised he wouldn't during the game, per Duggan.

New York center Weston Richburg said the team talked about being in a four-down situation before its game-winning drive and that he was not surprised they went for it, per Raanan.

"I'm proud of the way this team is fighting and making plays in critical moments of the game," Manning said, per the Giants.

If New York continues to do that, it will be a force in the NFC come playoff time.