The Cincinnati Bengals entered their week ten matchup with the New York Giants reeling after four consecutive losses, separated by their week 8 bye week. Following their 3-1 start to the season, the Bengals had lost all momentum and fallen heavily in the AFC standings.Despite being heavy underdogs, the Bengals came out and grabbed the momentum of the football game early, scoring on their first possession of the game. Playing against a defense that Cincinnati receiver AJ Green remarked " a lot of holes," earlier in the week, Green culminated Cincinnati's first possession with a fifty-six yard touchdown reception, beating a badly blown coverage on the play. The score marked Green's eighth straight contest with a touchdown reception, which tied him with former Bengal TJ Houshmandzadeh for second all-time in Bengals history.The ensuing Giants possession was unspectacular, with the Giants going three-and-out and being forced to punt the ball right back to Cincinnati. New York Giant punter Sean Weatherford looked to have gotten a spectacular punt away, which would have forced Cincinnati to start their possession inside their own twenty yard-line. However, a penalty on Giants cornerback Justin Tryon for intentionally leaving the field of play, rendered the punt moot, and forced the Giants to re-attempt the play. On the ensuing punt, Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones returned the ball sixty-eight yards to the Giants eleven yard line. The Bengals did not hesitate to take advantage of the large swing in field positioning, as second year quarterback Andy Dalton connected with receiver Andrew Hawkins for an eleven-yard touchdown strike on third-and-ten. The three play drive took only eighteen second off of the clock, and gave the Bengals a 14-0 advantage. The Giants would see a measure of momentum swing in their favor as following their ensuing possession, which resulted in a three-and-out from New York, Cincinnati receiver Brandon Tate would fumble Sean Weatherford's punt, giving the Giants possession of the football inside Cincinnati territory for the first time on the afternoon. The Giants would somewhat take advantage of the mistake, as they would turn the fumble into a twenty-three yard field goal by placekicker Lawrence Tynes. After both teams traded punts, the Bengals would proceed to expand their lead further, putting together a fifteen play drive that took over seven minutes off of the clock and resulted in a twenty-eight yard field goal by Mike Nugent. The conversion put Cincinnati up by a score of 17-3 with time dwindling in the first half. The ensuing Giants possession would take all but eleven second of the 4:17 that remained in the opening half and would see Lawrence Tynes trotted out to convert on a thirty-one yard field goal at its finish. The points got the Giants back to within eleven points at the half, with the score 17-6 in favour of Cincinnati.The first five possessions coming out of the half, two of which ended in New York Giant turnovers, would not result in any points being scored by either team. However, following an Eli Manning interception, Cincinnati would be able to take advantage of the short field and pick up their third touchdown on the afternoon. The Bengals second three-play touchdown drive of the game was capped off by Andy Dalton hitting tight end Jermaine Gresham for a ten-yard receiving touchdown, making the score 24-6 in favour of Cincinnati.New York's next possession would result in Eli Manning firing a second straight interception. The result for Cincinnati would be the same, with Dalton culminating yet another three-play touchdown drive by hitting first-year receiver Mohamed Sanu for a ten-yard strike. The touchdown was Sanu's first receiving touchdown in the National Football League, though he had already thrown for a touchdown in Cincinnati's week 3 encounter with the Washington Redskins. The touchdown, also representing a career-high fourth on the afternoon for Andy Dalton, gave the Bengals their final points of the afternoon, and a 31-6 advantage.The rest of the game was largely uneventful, with both teams accepting the fate of the game as having already been determined. The Giants were able to put up their lone touchdown of the game following a thirteen play, ninety-eight yard possession that was capped by running back Ahmad Bradshaw punching the ball in from two yards away. The lone Giants touchdown of the afternoon would also be the last points put up, making the final score 31-13 Cincinnati. With the victory, the Bengals snapped their previous four game losing streak and improved their record to 4-5 on the season. They also improved to 6-0 all time against the Giants at home.
Question: How many points were scored in the first half?
Answer: 23