NEW YORK _ The shortcomings and ineptitudes of the Giants were on full display Sunday as they lost to the Bills, 28-14, in their home opener at MetLife Stadium. Their offense, defense and special teams all faltered for a second week in a row. And this time, it came in front of the home fans who have seen such folly for the past several seasons and voiced their displeasure with boos early and often.
The Giants insisted that the mistakes they made in the opener against Dallas were correctable, but they did little to correct them. They fell to 0-2 to start the season for the sixth time in seven years. The Bills are 2-0 with both wins at MetLife Stadium (they beat the Jets here in Week 1).
Eli Manning's career record as a starter fell to an even .500 at 116-116.
The Giants opened the scoring with a touchdown on their first drive as Saquon Barkley ran in from the 27. The Giants, shorthanded at wide receiver, ran the ball effectively five straight times on the drive.
The Bills scored the next three touchdowns. Josh Allen ran it in from the 6 on a designed keeper to tie the score, Devin Singletary ran in for a 14-yarder to put Buffalo ahead 14-7, and then the Bills embarked on a 98-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard run by Isaiah McKenzie to go ahead 21-7 with 7:30 left in the first half.
The score remained there until the fourth quarter when Eli Manning hit TJ Jones for a 5-yard touchdown pass. Two plays earlier Manning hit Cody Latimer to convert a fourth-and-2 and get to the Buffalo 6. That brought the Giants within a touchdown, 21-14, with 11:56 left. The Bills answered with a touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard run from Frank Gore to go ahead 28-14 with 5:53 left. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Dexter Lawrence for hitting the long snapper on a Bills' field goal attempt extended that drive and allowed the lead to swell to 14 points rather than 10.
