CINCINNATI -- The defending AFC North champions had a bye week to regain their confidence, fix their problems and go after another title thats tantalizing close.Instead, the Bengals opened the second half of their season with all of the same issues and now one less chance to save their season.Its begun to slip away.The Bengals 21-20 loss to the Giants on Monday night left them with a 3-5-1 record thats their worst in six years -- before Andy Dalton and A.J. Green came aboard -- and a sense that theyre making no progress in the areas where they keep coming up short.In its past five games, Cincinnati is 1-3-1 with a victory over winless Cleveland and a tie with Washington.The frustration for me is very high right now, said cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, who intercepted Eli Manning. For us not to win this game that we needed, its heartbreaking.And puzzling, too.The Bengals are one of the healthiest teams in the NFL, so injuries cant explain their dramatic drop-off from a year ago when they tied the franchise record with 12 wins. Theyre running the same plays that worked a year ago, with most of the same players.When they have a chance to take control of a game the way they did last season, they simply cant do it.The Bengals went up 20-14 on New York midway through the third quarter and had chances to pull away.They got the ball five more times and managed a total of only 47 yards and three first downs, one of them by penalty. Dalton was 3 of 11 for 29 yards with an interception and two sacks on those final five possessions.Its like we just needed that one play to get us going, and we never got it, said Dalton, who was 16 of 29 overall for 204 yards with a touchdown , an interception and three sacks.The defense has been one of the biggest problems all season, and it had a game-ending letdown.The Giants got the ball back at their 41-yard line with 3:01 left, plenty of time for Cincinnati to get another shot at a winning field goal if the defense could hold. The Bengals knew the Giants would run the ball, so they stacked the line. New York ran five consecutive times for 38 yards and two first downs, draining the clock.The loss represented a missed chance to close in on first place. Baltimore leads with a 5-4 mark, followed by Pittsburgh at 4-5 and then the Bengals, who are a game and a half out with two teams to overtake.They still have both games left with Baltimore as well as a home game against the Steelers, but the loss to New York leaves them with no margin for error in the last seven weeks.The Bengals host Buffalo on Sunday, then go to Baltimore for what could be the pivotal game of their season.Yes, were running out of time, Kirkpatrick said. At the end of the day, with some of the teams losing, that puts us in a decent situation. But we have to get our wins.Game notes DE Margus Hunt was inactive for the first time this season, an indication the coaching staff isnt pleased with his play. Hunt got a bigger role in the line rotation this season after Wallace Gilberry left for Detroit as a free agent. The Bengals re-signed Gilberry during their bye week, and he moved into Hunts role. ... Gilberry suffered an abdominal injury after four games with Detroit and was released with a settlement. He was on the field for 30 of the defenses 75 plays against the Giants and had one tackle.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Clearance Adidas NHL Jerseys . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Discount Adidas NHL Jerseys . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. http://www.nhljerseys.us/ . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Adidas NHL Jerseys Outlet . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Wholesale Adidas NHL Jerseys . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. The Indiana Pacers will host the Boston Celtics on Saturday night in an Eastern Conference showdown.Both teams will be playing their second game in as many nights. The Pacers (4-5) continue to be a tale of two teams. Theyve yet to win on the road in five attempts but havent lost at home (4-0). It will be the first of three matchups this season with the Celtics.Both teams made changes to their starting lineups on Friday. The Pacers inserted C.J. Miles into the lineup and moved Monta Ellis to the second unit. For Boston, Brad Stevens moved Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart into the lineup with Brown and Zeller coming off the bench.The Pacers have played two consecutive overtime games this week, both against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers picked up their first victory of the season Friday night at the expense of Indiana.One player who wont be bothered by the back-to-back games is Myles Turner. He was limited to 20 minutes on Friday night because foul trouble. He eventually fouled out and finished with just five points on the night.I was never able to establish any sort of rhythm, Turner told The Indianapolis Star. Once I got out there, it was like I was right back out. I let the team down.Coach Nate McMillan knows his team let one get away. The things that you need to do to win a ballgame, we didnt do, he said.The Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday as they trounced the Knicks 115-87, eveniing their record at 4-4 on the season.dddddddddddd Thats the way we should play, Brad Stevens said after the win. I thought our whole team played better, but we still have work to do.Boston was able to get to the line 43 times, more than doubling their season high to this point.Isaiah Thomas led the way with 29 points, and figures to be a tough matchup for Indiana. Thomas didnt shoot well in four games last season against the Pacers (39 percent), but with George Hill playing on another team, Indiana has struggled with guard penetration so far this season.Slow starts have plagued the Celtics in the early going this season, but they put up 31 points in the first quarter this time around.If we didnt come out like that, we were probably going to lose again, Thomas said.The Pacers and Celtics have both shot well from behind the arc this season. They each came into Friday nights games tied for third in the NBA, shooting 37.8 percent from deep.Both of these teams were predicted by many to be in the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. 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