The Chicago Bears are looking to keep their winning ways going by taking on a New York Giants squad trying to find their way.
In some ways, this Giants squad is reminiscent of recent Bears teams. They’ve been stuck in the mud with a coach that it seems like the fanbase is turning on, but they have a young quarterback playing well to be excited about. But in any case, the wins aren’t coming.
And like the Bears of this year, the Giants are plagued by injuries. Two of their most exciting offensive weapons
are out for the year in Malik Nabors and Cam Skattebo.
While on paper, it might seem like another game against a bad opponent for the Bears to take care of. But I think last week was a wake-up call, showing Chicago the defense is so bad that no opponent is ever out of it.
The Giants can stay in this game, so it could be another one for the Bears to have to win with a lot of points.
New York Giants
SB Nation site: Big Blue View
Record: 2-7, last in the NFC East
Last week: 34-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers
Game day, time, TV: Sunday, noon CT, FOX
Spread: The Chicago Bears are 3.5-point favorites
Bears all-time record against: 31-22-2 including 5-3 postseason
Historical meetings: Week 9, 2004. The Bears traveled to Giants Stadium at 2-5 to face the 5-2 G-Men.
Tiki Barber scored two first quarter touchdowns to give the Giants a 14-0 lead. But Chicago would answer back in the second quarter with the help of three Giants’ turnovers. Chicago first hit a 35-yard pass from Craig Krenzel to Bernard Berrian. Following an Ike Hilliard fumble, Anthony Thomas rushed for a touchdown. On the ensuing Giants possession, Nathan Vasher intercepted Kurt Warner and returned it 41 yards, setting up a Bears field goal.
On the first play of the next series, Warner threw another pick, this time to Jerry Azumah. The Bears then hit a 21-yard field goal to take a 20-14 halftime lead.
After many punts, Anthony Thomas broke for a 41-yard score and a successful 2-point attempt put them up 28-14.
The Giants finally scored again in the fourth on a Jeremy Shockey TD. But despite recovering the onside kick, they couldn’t score again and the Bears held on for a 28-21 win.
Last meeting: In week 4 of the 2022 season, the Bears went to MetLife Stadium.
The Bears couldn’t get any offense going as Justin Fields completed 50 percent of his passes (11 of 22 for 174 yards) and was sacked six times.
They couldn’t find the endzone as they settled for four Michael Badgley field goals.
Meanwhile, the Giants moved the ball on the ground, with Saquon Barkley rushing for 146 yards, but Daniel Jones found the endzone twice while rushing for 68 yards himself.
On the day, the Giants racked up 262 rushing yards. The Giants won 20-12.
Injury report: The Giants had eight players DNP in practice on Wednesday and six more limited.
Limited participation
- CB Cordale Flott (concussion)
- LB Neville Hewitt (foot)
- TE Theo Johnson (shoulder)
- DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches (elbow)
- CB Andru Phillips (calf)
Did not participate
- CB Paulson Adebo (knee)
- WR Beaux Collins (neck)
- OLB Victor Dimukeje (shoulder)
- OL Jermaine Eluemunor (pec)
- K Graham Gano (neck)
- DL Chauncey Golston (neck)
- LB Darius Muasau (ankle)
- C John Michael Schmitz (shin)
Offense: The Giants offense comes in ranking 22nd in points and 18th in yards.
Their passing offense ranks 19th and their rushing offense 14th.
Jaxson Dart (62.3 pct cmp./1,175 yds./10 TD/3 INT) is running the show and has brought some life to a season with low expectations, even if the wins haven’t come.
Wan’Dale Robinson (46 rec./520 yds./2 TD), Darius Slayton (19/254/0) and Theo Johnson (26/239/5) are the three weapons in the passing game since Malik Nabors went down.
On the ground, without Cam Skattebo, the Giants have turned back to Tyrone Tracy (50 att./177 yds./1 TD) and Devin Singletary (36/127/0). Dart (51/251/5) is a dangerous ball carrier, too.
Defense: The Giants rank 28th in points allowed and 29th in yards allowed.
Their passing defense ranks 24th and their rushing defense ranks 31st.
Brain Burns (11 sk/15 QB hits/2 FF/5 PD) leads the league in sacks and is the best defender on the Giants. Kayvon Thibodeaux (2.5 sk/9 QB hits/5 TFL/2 PD) and rookie Abdul Carter (0.5 sk/8 QB hits/1 TFL/1 FR) don’t have the production but are good in their own rights.
Andru Phillips (2 INT/9 PD/5 TFL), Cordale Flott (1 INT/2 TFL/7 PD), and Bobby Okereke (82 tkls/2 PD/1 sk/1 TFL) are also making plays.
Key matchups: Another battle of the trenches, the Bears are going to want to establish the run against that 31st ranked rushing defense. The OL in pass protection has to step up against Burns, Thibodeaux and Carter. Move the pocket if necessary or just let be another healthy dose of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
On defense, don’t let Dart scramble around too much or he’ll beat you. If he’s able to buy time, the more likely he is to make plays. Without Skattebo and Nabors, the offense lacks a lot of flash but Dart has a certain amount of creation in him that can cause problems.
Key stats
- The Giants are 0-5 on the road this season
- New York ranks 30th in red zone defense and 31st in fourth down defense
- The Giants have allowed 33 or more points in three straight games and four times this season
- Opponents average 5.5 yards per rush against New York, while Chicago is allowing 5.1
- The Giants are allowing 31.6 points per game on the road, compared to 22.7 points per game at home
