East Rutherford, NJ – The New York Giants defense played worthy of a prime-time slot, holding the outstanding Cincinnati Bengals offense to just 17 points, their second-lowest total of the season.

The Giants' offense? That was a whole different story, as New York just couldn't get anything going all night for a variety of reasons, from multiple uncontrollable third-down situations to a terrible red zone turnover by quarterback Daniel Jones to dropped passes and Failure connections.

After the game, head coach Brian Daboll tried to find answers to the Giants' latest blunder.

“I thought our defense played very good football. Missed the quarterback run early in a rush lane. But they played winning football to get those receivers to the level we forced them to do in the passing game,” he said.

“I think (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe) Burrow had about 50 yards rushing. But hats off to the way the defense played. Missed two chances in the kicker game. And then didn’t score enough points offensively. That starts with me. It's hard to win games when you score seven points. That’s the reality.”

The reality is that Jones, who is currently 1-15 in primetime games, hasn't thrown a touchdown pass at MetLife Stadium in 21 months. The reality is that the Giants score a touchdown in 12 quarters of play on their home field.

And the reality is that the Giants' offense is still too inconsistent, sometimes it looks like it's turned things around, and other times – like Sunday – it looks like it's a mess .

“I thought we had some chances as the game went on,” Daboll said, still trying to find answers as to why the offense he now runs was struggling.

“We turned the ball over down there on that drive, which was a good drive, and came away with no points. I think we were 5 out of 15 (in third place), somewhere around that.

“Now we were aggressive in the fourth because I thought we had to play against that defense. We just couldn't generate any explosive plays. We had the penalty. Otherwise we didn't make many explosive plays. That’s in a nutshell before I look at it.”

When Daboll was asked about Jones' game-winning interception on a play in which he missed a wide-open Tyrone Tracy in the flat, he didn't mince his words about the momentum-killing faux pas.

“Daniel (Jones) got pressured and tried to throw it out of the back of the end zone,” he said. “Not what we want to do. So that was a difficult question. I'm sure he would love to have that back. I would definitely be happy about another recall if such a result is achieved.”

The bottom line for Daboll was that while there was some good in the offensive performance, the execution was lacking.

“It starts with execution. So seven points is not enough,” he said.

“Again, the ultimate deal is to earn points. Run, pass, whatever it may be. If you disagree with the things we currently disagree with, the score is seven points. It all starts with me.”