One touchdown.
That’s what the Giants offense has given the fans at MetLife Stadium in three home games this season.
Not surprisingly, the Giants have lost all three of those games, the latest being Sunday night’s uninspiring 17-7 loss to the Bengals.
The good news is that one touchdown came in Sunday night’s game.
The bad news is that it wasn’t nearly enough — not even on a night when the defense played well against an explosive Cincinnati offense that entered the game averaging 35 points in its previous three games.
One touchdown in three home games.
“Really unacceptable,’’ Giants left guard Jon Runyan Jr. said. “We’re not going to win any games kicking field goals.’’
Well, the Giants couldn’t even do that Sunday night, with replacement kicker Greg Joseph missing field goal tries from 47 yards (to potentially tie the game at 10-10 in the fourth quarter) and then 45 yards late in the game.
“I know this home crowd wants to watch us winning games and we’ve got to score points at home,’’ Runyan said. “The [home] crowd’s been really good. We can feel the energy from them supporting us and it means a lot. We’ve got to give them something to cheer for.’’
The Giants gave the home fans little to cheer for on this night, and they did it on a day when their NFC East rivals scuffled — Dallas and Washington lost and Philadelphia scraped by to beat Cleveland.
A Giants’ win Sunday night would have had them in the thick of the division race at 3-3. Now, at 2-4, they desperately need to beat the Eagles next week at home to stay relevant.
That, of course, will require scoring some touchdowns at home.
“It’s hard to win games when you score seven points,’’ Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “That’s the reality of it. That starts with me.’’
Daboll did everything he could to jump-start his sputtering offense.
He raised some eyebrows when, trailing 7-0, he opted to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 38-yard line on the Giants’ first offensive series of the second half.
The Giants were out in the first half — largely because of their own gaffes, including a terrible interception thrown by Daniel Jones in the red zone and, later, a killer Andrew Thomas penalty that negated a 56-yard Jones pass play to Darius Slayton deep in Bengals territory.
Daboll clearly had seen enough of the stops and starts and decided it was time to shake things up. He wanted more. He needed more. He needed points.
“We didn’t have any points,’’ Daboll said.
The Giants failed on that fourth-and-2 from their own 38, giving the Bengals the ball essentially already in field goal range, making the move look like a risk that failed and might cost the Giants the game.
Moments later, though, linebacker Bobby Okereke threw Daboll and the offense a lifeline, forcing a Zack Moss fumble that was recovered by Micah McFadden.
And, because life sometimes comes around like this, on the Giants’ ensuing possession, they were faced with a fourth-and-2 from their own 40 just a few minutes later.
Daboll was already all-in at this point, cards pushed to the middle of the table. So, he went for it again, and this time rookie running back Tyrone Tracy got the first down, taking an option pitch from Jones and gaining 4 yards.
Six plays later, it was fourth-and-1 from the Cincinnati 35 and Daboll opted not to settle for a field goal and Tracy got 5 yards and a first down.
The gambling led to a one-yard Tracy touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter.
That would be all from the Giants offense.
The one touchdown.
Daboll and Giants players after the game said the game plan was to be more aggressive. It worked for a short spell, but wasn’t close to enough.
After the Bengals took a 10-7 lead on a Evan McPherson 37-yard field goal, Daboll was at it again on fourth down, this time going for it a fourth time, on fourth-and-1 from the Cincinnati 46.
This time, Jones, on a keeper, got the yard to keep the drive alive.
But this time the drive stalled on a fourth-and-5 from the 28, with Daboll having no choice but to go for the points to tie the game.
That’s when Joseph missed his first of the two attempts, hooking a 47-yard attempt wide left.
Joseph would later miss a 45-yarder with 51 seconds remaining with the Giants desperately trying to cut the lead to 17-10.
