New York Giants 21, Cincinnati Bengals 20

Here are the highest-graded players and top takeaways from the Giants' win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Quarterback grade: Eli Manning, 71.4

Manning struggles under pressure but leads Giants to game-winning TD

Eli Manning was not in his top form in a game the Giants desperately needed, but was able to move the offense just enough to come away with a victory. Manning struggled to find targets other than start receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and Giants receivers dropped four passes on the night which certainly didn’t make Manning look any better. Manning was also very bad when pressured on Monday night, going five of 13 with no touchdowns and an interception, which gave him a 14.6 QB rating when pressured.

Top offensive grades:

WR Odell Beckham Jr., 82.7

LT Ereck Flowers, 77.2

HB Rashad Jennings, 72.5

QB Eli Manning, 71.4

C Weston Richburg, 70.7

Odell Beckham shines as Manning’s most reliable target

Odell Beckham was the Manning’s only reliable target for most of the game. Manning tried to spread the ball around to all of his receivers, but did not get much help in return. Beckham, on the other hand, was steady catching 10 balls on 11 targets for 97 yards and a touchdown. Beckham’s touchdown came on a well-run hitch-and-go route that completely tricked Adam Jones and ended with Beckham doing his best impersonation of Michael Jackson in the back of the end zone.

Top defensive grades:

DE Olivier Vernon, 83.6

DE Jason Pierre-Paul, 83.2

CB Eli Apple, 79.8

DT Damon Harrison, 79.8

S Landon Collins, 79.1

Giants secondary contains A.J. Green

The starting cornerbacks pair of Eli Apple and Janoris Jenkins were able to contain the Bengals passing game. Neither CB allowed more than 3.5 yards per target and the longest catch either CB allowed was 14 yards. Both cornerbacks were able to clamp down the Bengals WRs, giving very little room on targets and not allowing the Bengals offense to move the ball.

Quarterback grade: Andy Dalton, 77.0

Above-average game from Dalton, but offense stalls late

Dalton had 13 incompletions on the night, but he was accurate on 72 percent of his passes due to two drops and four other passes that were either batted at the line of scrimmage, thrown away or he was hit while throwing. The best pass from Dalton came on the first drive where he was able to hit Tyler Efiert on the seam out of their trick formation with two offensive linemen spilt out wide. For most of the game Dalton was clean on 66.7 percent of his passes and accurate on 71.4 percent of them. However, he was not able to give the Bengals offense the spark needed to move them up the field enough to beat the Giants.

Top offensive grades:

G Kevin Zeitler, 78.3

QB Andy Dalton, 77.0

LT Andrew Whitworth, 74.5

C Russell Bodine, 73.1

WR A.J. Green, 69.5

Passing game lacking playmakers outside of Green, Eifert

The Bengals passing game doesn’t just land on the responsibility of Andy Dalton. The lack of threat at wide receiver outside of A.J. Green has hurt the Bengals more than they realized when they let both Mohammed Sanu and Marvin Jones leave in free agency. Against the Giants, Bengals pass-catchers only had two receptions over 20 yards and one of those was a 71-yarder on the first drive. Without the receiving threats they had last season, it's become hard for the Bengals to get much offensive momentum.

Top defensive grades:

LB Vontaze Burfict, 99.1

LB Vincent Rey, 87.3

DT Geno Atkins, 85.6

CB Dre Kirkpatrick, 80.3

S George Iloka, 77.3

Burfict and Atkins shine in Bengals loss

Vontaze Burfict and Geno Atkins showed off their world-class talents on a national stage Monday night. Burfict was all over the field in all facets of defense. He had one hit and two hurries while also playing exceptionally well in coverage, allowing mostly short receptions and coming up to make the tackles. He ended with above-average grades in run defense, coverage and pass rushing, and finished with a 99.1 overall grade which was the best in the game. Atkins was phenomenal rushing the passer on Monday night — his pass rush grade of 85.5 led the way in the game. He totaled seven pressures coming by way of one sack, two hits and four hurries.

PFF Game-Ball Winner: Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.

PFF’s player grading process includes multiple reviews, which may change the grade initially published in order to increase its accuracy. Learn more about how we grade and access grades for every player through each week of the NFL season by subscribing to Player Grades.