The Giants have so much more to thank the home crowd than just this lazy performance

A touchdown.

That's what the Giants' offense has offered fans at MetLife Stadium in three home games this season.

Not surprisingly, the Giants have lost all three of those games, most recently Sunday night's uninspiring 17-7 loss to the Bengals.

The good news is that there was a touchdown 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 came into the game averaging 35 points over its last three games.

One touchdown in three home games.

“Really unacceptable,” said Giants left guard Jon Runyan Jr. “We’re not going to win games by kicking field goals.”

Well, the Giants couldn't even do that on Sunday night, as backup kicker Greg Joseph missed field goal attempts from 47 yards (to potentially tie the game at 10-10 in the fourth quarter) and then another 45 yards late in the game.

“I know this home crowd wants to see us win games and we need to get points at home,” Runyan said. “The (home) crowd was really good. We can feel the energy that comes from them and that supports us, and that means a lot to us. “We have to give them something to be happy about.”

The Giants gave the home fans little to cheer about that night, and they did so on a day when their NFC East rivals struggled – Dallas and Washington lost and Philadelphia narrowly came up short to beat Cleveland.

A win for the Giants on Sunday night would have put them right in the division race at 3-3. Now at 2-4, they absolutely need to beat the Eagles at home next week to stay relevant.

Of course, that requires scoring some touchdowns at home.

“It's hard to win games when you're scoring seven points,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “That is the reality. “It starts with me.”

Daboll did everything he could to get his sputtering offense going.

He raised some eyebrows when, trailing 7-0, he went for 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 fumbles, including a terrible interception by Daniel Jones in the red zone and later a killer Andrew Thomas penalty that knocked off a 56-yard pass from Jones deep to Darius Slayton nullified in Bengal territory.

Daboll had clearly 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 had no points,” said Daboll.

The Giants failed to make this 4-2 from their own 38 minutes, meaning the Bengals essentially already had the ball within field goal range, making the move look like a failed gamble and one that could cost the Giants the game.

A few moments later, however, linebacker Bobby Okereke threw Daboll and the offense a lifeline, forcing a fumble by Zack Moss that was recovered by Micah McFadden.

And because life sometimes goes that way, on the ensuing possession the Giants found themselves faced with a four-and-2 from their own 40 just minutes later.

Daboll was already all-in at this point and had moved the cards to the middle of the table. So he tried again, and this time rookie running back Tyrone Tracy got the first down by taking an option pitch from Jones and gaining 4 yards.

Six plays later it was 4-1 at the Cincinnati 35 and Daboll decided not to settle for a field goal and Tracy scored 5 yards and a first down.

The gamble led to a one-yard touchdown by Tracy that tied the game 7-7 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

That would be everything from the Giants offense.

The one touchdown.

Daboll and Giants players said after the game that the game plan was more aggressive. It worked for a short while, but wasn't nearly enough.

After the Bengals took a 10-7 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Ryan Rehkow, Daboll was at it again on fourth down, this time for the fourth time, on fourth-and-1 from the Cincinnati 46.

This time Jones managed to get the yard with a keeper to keep the drive alive.

But this time the drive stalled after a fourth and fifth strike from the 28th minute, and Daboll had no choice but to go for the points to tie the game.

Then Joseph missed his first of two attempts, hitting a 47-yard attempt wide of the left net.

Later, Joseph missed a 45-yarder with 51 seconds left as the Giants desperately tried to cut the lead to 17-10.

Two missed field goals…and a touchdown.

“It sucks,” Runyan said. “We felt like we were building something over the last couple of weeks and especially last week (a 29-20 win in Seattle). And to come here and not play at the level when we’re at home on Sunday Night Football… that’s really disappointing.”

The Giants owe more to their home fans. Much more.