5 key takeaways from Giants-Bengals Week 6 SNF clash

The New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals played on Sunday Night Football. After three different slates of games (with an NFL International Game in London), the Bengals and Giants played out a low-scorer. Both teams struggled to get anything going consistently on offense, and Cincinnati walked away with a much-needed 17-7 win.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

5 takeaways from Cincinnati Bengals' victory over New York Giants on SNF Week 6

#1 - Daniel Jones' future is in jeopardy

The Giants quarterback's contract extension from 2023 limits the franchise's options and was a controversial move at the time, with many seeing it as a blunder. However, once the 2024 season is finished, they'll have more financial flexibility to move or release the under-fire QB without a huge dead cap penalty.

While NY missed Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary for a second-straight week, they couldn't pull out a similar escape win to Week 5 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Jones had a bad day against Cincinnati. He went 22 from 41 passing attempts for 205 yards and an interception, and with the Giants at 2-4 and bottom of the NFC East, questions are against being asked.

#2 - Giants could struggle due to an injured Andrew Thomas

The left tackle is by far the best pass protector in New York's offensive line, but after picking up a foot injury, he was dominated by Trey Hendrickson for much of the game.

When Thomas isn't playing well, the unit suffers. He's one of the unit's shining stars and while Jones was sacked twice, there were plenty of pressures that led to a poor day on offense.

Thomas is going for an MRI on his foot, and there is no real information on that at this stage. If he has to miss multiple games, New York could find itself in a very tough position.

#3 - The Giants' pass rush has been excellent

On the plus side for the Giants, it was another day where their pass rush worked well - this time without Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari, two of their three biggest stars.

On a day when NY was missing multiple key pieces, Brian Burns had an excellent game with two sacks and eight tackles, and he will be one to watch in the coming weeks.

#4 - Cincinnati needs to keep Tee Higgins

Scheme-wise, New York decided to double Ja'Marr Chase when they were playing man-to-man, which left Higgins working 1-v-1 against Deonte Banks. It was a huge mismatch and Higgins had seven catches on seven targets for 77 yards.

Higgins is too good, and although he'll be expensive and the franchise has other contracts to worry about (ft. Ja'Marr Chase), the Bengals need to find a way to keep him.

#5 - It's going to be a fight for either of these teams to make the playoffs

At 2-4, both these teams are up against it early on. While there is obviously a long way to go and the Bengals took the win in Week 6, there are worrying signs. Cincinnati is two games back in the AFC North and the Baltimore Ravens are looking very strong in first.

The Bengals are currently set to battle it out for a wild card spot, and the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers seem the more likely team for Cincinnati to challenge in the North. While they are only one game (and some tie-breakers) back from being a wild card team at this early stage, the margin for error is already slim.

Before they face Baltimore, the coming games against the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders are crucially important for Cincinnati. The Bengals have to run the North if they are to claim the division, and need maybe four wins from those six games to have a shot at a wild card spot.

Next Gen Stats give them a 31% chance of making the postseason, which shows that while it can be done, it will be tough.

Meanwhile, the Giants are looking to get some key pieces back for a tough stretch of games. NY faces the Eagles, Steelers and Washington Commanders next, all of which are above .500.

It's still early days, but the Giants' offense has lacked the point-scoring ability to give fans confidence that they can string together wins. This is reflected in their 5% chance of making the postseason, via Next Gen Stats. Both teams will look to improve to 3-4 for a sunnier outlook in a crucial Week 7.