The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 17-7 at MetLife Stadium Football on Sunday evenings.

They are now 2-4 this season and host the Philadelphia Eagles and Saquon Barkley this Sunday.

Here are some things we learned from the deflationary loss.

Giants can't beat Bad Daniel

Daniel Jones put together a string of consistent performances early in the game, only to come back down to earth in Cincinnati against one of the NFL's weakest defenses.

Jones' line (22 of 41, 205 yards, no touchdowns and one interception for a QB rating of 57.5) wasn't what the Giants were hoping for, but it's the one interception that stands out. It capped an eight-play, 48-yard drive that had put them 14th on the Bengals.

Without his top wideout, rookie Malik Nabers, Jones looked lethal as he was limited to short passes on the night and did not complete any beyond 15 yards.

Secondary gets the job done – again

The Bengals arrived Sunday night with their full offensive armament. Both stud wideouts, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, were healthy and energetic.

But the Giants' young secondary was up to the task. None of the players reached the end zone and – for the sixth game this season – the Giants did not give up over 100 yards receiving to a single wide receiver.

Chase caught five passes for 72 yards and a length of 33. Higgins had seven catches, 77 yards and a length of 24.

Against one of the NFL's top tandems, they gave in but couldn't get it done.

Missed opportunities prevented a possible victory

The Giants were in this game and probably should have won it. Kicker Greg Joseph missed two field goals and the defense allowed Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who had never rushed for more than 23 yards in his career, to go 47 yards untouched for the opening score.

Another frustrating moment occurred late in the first quarter when Jones hit Darius Slayton for a 56-yard gain that landed the Giants on the Cincinnati 35 as the half came to an end. Instead, the play was called back because left tackle Andrew Thomas was called for an illegal action downfield. In the end, the Giants put the ball away.

Daboll tries to spark the offensive

With the Giants' offense faltering, head coach Brian Daboll decided to ignite the offense with multiple fourth downs. Five times he decided to roll the dice, and three times the Giants made it.

One of the instances was on its own 38-yard line on the Giants' first possession of the third quarter. The fourth and second attempts failed when Jones tried to force a pass to Wan'Dale Robinson, but it was batted away.

“Yes, we had no points. I felt good about the stuff we had,” Daboll said of the decision after the game. “We were a little quicker and our defense did a great job after that of holding them, getting the ball back and then going down and scoring. But it's hard to win football games when you score seven points. That's the reality of it.”

Tracy has another good performance

Devin Singletary (groin) was ruled out again Sunday night, meaning rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. would take the lead again.

Tracy responded with another impressive outing, totaling 107 yards (50 rushing, 57 receiving) and the Giants' only touchdown.

“He played well,” Jones said after the game. “He played well in Seattle last week, came in and ran hard. Made some plays in the passing game, thought he had a good night.”

Tracy himself wasn't so concerned about his performance as the team's.

“We just had a lot of mishaps on offense. Our defense played great. They gave us the ball. We have to take advantage of our chances,” he said. “When we have a short field or when the defense has a three-and-out or whatever it is, we have to play complementary football. And today we didn't do that in the first half. We came out in the second half.” “We changed it up a little bit, but ultimately we have to take care of the little details and just go back to our basics.”

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: What we learned from the Giants' 17-7 loss to the Bengals