Giants-Bengals final score: Giants win, 25-22

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants’ 25-22 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night was secondary to concern caused by the knee injury suffered by Kayvon Thibodeaux, the team’s No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Did Thibodeaux avoid major injury

Perhaps overshadowing everything else about Sunday’s game, No. 5 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux left Sunday’s game in the second quarter with a right knee injury. Thibodeaux walked off the field, but was ruled out. Early reports were that Thibodeaux may have escaped serious injury. [FULL STORY]

The Giants also lost placekicker Graham Gano (concussion), wide receiver/kickoff returner C.J. Board (rib) and inside linebacker Darrian Beavers (knee).

Starting offense

Daniel Jones started at quarterback, which might have been surprising after coach Brian Daboll seemed a little hesitant on Friday about playing the QB with a banged-up offensive line.

Jones had an impressive night. He went 14 of 16 for 116 yards with one interception, a ball that bounced off the hands of rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger and should have been caught.

In Jones’ final drive, he led the Giants on an 11-play, 84-yard touchdown drive, completing 8 of 9 passes for 78 yards. Undrafted free agent rookie Jashaun Corbin covered the last 6 yards with a pair of runs, including a 2-yard touchdown run.

Antonio Williams, who started, and Corbin, split first-team running back reps as Saquon Barkley got the night off.

The first-team offensive line was Andrew Thomas (LT), Devery Hamilton (LG), Max Garcia (C), Mark Glowinski (RG), Evan Neal (RT).

Kenny Golladay, Wan’Dale Robinson, Collin Johnson and David Sills split first-team wide receivers reps. Sills had three catches for 46 yards on the touchdown drive.

Starting defense

The starting defense gave up only 3 points, after a nine-play, 17-yard drive after the Giants failed on a fourth-down conversion attempt.

Noteworthy for the Giants was that inside linebacker Blake Martinez, who has not had a heavy workload this summer as he works his way back from a torn ACL, played a handful of snaps early on.

Leonard Williams did not play. Nick Williams and Jalyn Holmes got starting reps when the Giants were in a three-man front.

Davis Webb, Alex Bachman are unstoppable

The No. 3 quarterback and the backup wide receiver who has largely been a practice squad player the past two seasons, starred in the second half.

A Webb to Bachman 22-yard scoring pass tied the game at 16-16 with 8:57 to play. Webb ran the ball in for a two-point conversion and an 18-16 lead.

Bachman finished with 11 catches in 14 targets for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including the 15-yard game winner with :35 left.

Webb, who played the entire second half, went 22 of 27 for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

Stat stuff

• Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor went 7 of 11 for 37 yards. His longest completion was 8 yards.
• Wide receiver numbers: David Sills had five catches in seven targets for 56 yards, while working primarily with Jones. Collin Johnson had three catches for 41 yards.
• Running backs: With Barkley not playing and Gary Brightwell and Matt Breida injured, Antonio Williams and Jashaun Corbin split most of the load. Williams had five carries for 26 yards rushing and seven catches in seven targets for 46 yards. Corbin had nine carries for 27 yards, four catches in four targets for 15 yards and a kickoff return for 20 yards.

Noteworthy

• The injury-ravaged Giants fielded a makeshift offensive line in the second half. The alignment was as follows:

Roy Mbaeteka (LT), Josh Rivas (LG), Will Holden (C), Chris Owens (RG), Eric Smith (RT).

Mbaeteka was playing the second football game of his life. Rivas was cut last Sunday and re-signed Friday. Holden is a tackle by trade who played some guard in the first half, then played center in Sunday’s second half. He has not worked at center at all during training camp. Owens is a rookie who was signed Friday. Smith was signed Aug. 8.

• With Graham Gano out with a concussion, punter Jamie Gillan took his responsibilities. Gillan hit three of four kickoffs for touchbacks, made a 31-yard field goal and a pair of extra points with Julian Love holding. Gillan handled those duties in addition to punting in college at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

What’s next?

The Giants finish their preseason next Sunday, Aug. 28, with an ‘away’ game against the New York Jets at 1 p.m. Before that, the Giants will host the Jets for a joint practice at Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Thursday, Aug. 28.