Giants-Bills final score: Giants blanked by Buffalo, 21-0

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — After months of optimism greeted the beginning of the Ben McAdoo era as head coach, the New York Giants have opened with a pair of miserable performances in their first two preseason games.

After a mistake-filled 27-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins in their preseason opener, the Giants followed that Saturday with an equally sloppy 21-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills at New Era Stadium.

"We worked too hard to put a performance like that on film," said coach Ben McAdoo. "They were more physical than we were, that was obvious."

The Giants played a horrid first half, with Buffalo scoring all 21 of its points in the second quarter. Eli Manning went just 4-of-9 for 44 yards and the Giants got just one first down during his four series in the game. The Giants turned the ball over twice, once on a fumbled handoff by Andre Williams and once on a sack/fumble by Ryan Nassib. Both led to Buffalo touchdowns. Left tackle Ereck Flowers committed two holding penalties and surrendered a sack. Veteran cornerback Leon Hall had a pair of holding penalties.

Buffalo scored 21 second-quarter points. Tyrod Taylor hit LeSean McCoy for a 13-yard touchdown, completing a seven-play, 52-yard drive. Jerome Williams than dove one yard to complete a 10-play, 49-yard drive after Williams fumbled. After Nassib fumbled, E.J. Manuel hit Greg Little for a 19-yard touchdown on the first play.

The second half was pretty much an exercise in futility until Cooper Taylor intercepted a Cardale Jones pass at the 3-yard line. Bobby Rainey then ran 67 yards to put the Giants at the Buffalo 30-yard line, the farthest across midfield the Giants had been all day.

That led to more futility — a 28-yard Tom Obarski field-goal attempt, that he missed wide left.

By the numbers

These are ugly!

The Giants finished only 8-of-25 passing for 86 yards. Manning went 4-of-9, Ryan Nassib just 2-of-12 for 25 yards and Logan Thomas 2-of-4 for 17 yards and two interceptions. They finished with 166 total yards, 67 on Rainey's late-game run, and just seven first downs. The Giants had four turnovers -- two fumbles and two interceptions. They were penalized 10 times for 70 yards.

Moments that mattered

Victor Cruz worked out briefly before the game. He even came out on the field for warm-ups an hour before the game in uniform, even though he was announced as not playing. Maybe he just wanted to remember what being in uniform felt like.

Landon Collins made two huge plays to deny the Bills a first-quarter touchdown. With Buffalo at the Giants’ 3-yard line, Collins and Jonathan Casillas kncoked a scrambling Tyrod Taylor out of bounds at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Collins knocked the ball out of the hands of tight end Jerome Felton, forcing a fumble that Damon Harrison recovered for a touchdback.

Eli Manning played four series and the Giants offense did nothing. Masnning went 4-of-9 for 44 yards and was sacked once. The Giants committed three penalties and gained just 48 yards total in Manning’s 16-plays.

Quotable

"It’s always good to get live game action. Obviously, I would’ve liked to play better with the first-team offense, but it’s good to get back out there, feel the rush and make some plays — but we certainly have room to improve from this one." — Eli Manning

"I'd like to put a little spin on it but there's nothing positive to say right now." — Ben McAdoo at halftime

What’s next?

The Giants will face the New York Jets next Saturday, Aug. 27th, at MetLife Stadium. That will be a Jets home game and will be televised on WCBS 2 NY