Bengals at Giants: What to watch for

The Bengals are preparing for a prime-time road test when they face the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football at MetLife Stadium. The game begins at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock. You should pay attention to this:

The Bengals’ offense continues to improve

Cincinnati’s offense was at a high level through the first five weeks, averaging 28.0 points per game, the fourth-highest scoring average in the NFL. The Bengals have amassed a total of 140 points through the first five games of a season, their highest since 2018 and the fourth-most in team history.

The Bengals have scored 30-plus points in three straight games since Week 3, tying the longest active streak with the Washington Commanders. If Cincinnati can reach that number again on Sunday night, it would be the first time the team has scored more than 30 points in four consecutive games since Weeks 13-16 of the 1997 season.

A boost to the Bengals’ offensive output was their ability to get shots on goal as early as halftime. Cincinnati scored a league-high 27 points on its first offensive possession of the second half and held a streak of four straight games with a touchdown drive after halftime.

Burrow Follow-up Career Day

Joe Burrow caught a career-best five touchdown passes against Baltimore last Sunday, and by completing 30 of 39 passes (76.6 percent) for 392 yards, he became the tenth quarterback ever to post a stat line above 390 Passing yards and 5 scored+touchdown throws with a 75+ completion percentage. He also moved into fifth place on the Bengals’ all-time passing yards list, surpassing Jeff Blake (15,134).

Through five games, Burrow leads the NFL in touchdown passes (12) and passer rating (113.6; at least 50 attempts), while ranking second in completions (125), second in completion percentage (72, 3) and is sixth in passing yards (1370). His 12 shots on goal are tied with Boomer Esiason (1988), Carson Palmer (2007) and Andy Dalton (2008) for the most in Bengals history through the first five games.