The Chicago Bears (2-1) will battle the New York Giants (2-1) on Sunday, where they’ll be looking to build off an ugly win in Week 3.
Following Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans (0-2-1), the Bears have concerns with their passing offense and the run defense will face a huge test this week against Saquon Barkley and the Giants run game.
Will Chicago improve to 3-1 with a win over the Giants? Our Bears Wire staff shares their game picks for Sunday’s matchup.
Alyssa Barbieri (2-1): Bears 17, Giants 16
The Bears and Giants are nearly identical teams. Both are (surprisingly) sitting at 2-1; both have top-five run games; both have struggled in the passing game; both have struggled to stop the run; both have first-year head coaches; both are allowing less than 20 points per game. I could go on and on. With that said, this game is going to be a close one.
The hope is Justin Fields and the passing game is able to take a step forward, but this could be another run-heavy game for Chicago’s offense. The Giants are allowing 138.3 rushing yards per game, and it would make sense for the second-ranked Bears rushing offense to exploit that. Chicago’s defense will face a tall task in containing Saquon Barkley and the Giants’ fourth-ranked run game.
This game will ultimately come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes and who wins the battle at the line of scrimmage. The Bears need to get back to that smart, disciplined football (in all phases) to come away with their straight win.
These two teams will face off for the fifth straight year, where Chicago has won three of the last four meetings. Although, the home team has come away victorious in each of those. With that said, I’m putting my faith in the run game and defense and going with the Bears to break the cycle and make it four straight against the Giants.
Brendan Sugrue (1-2): Bears 22, Giants 20
If I could just post the meme of the two Spider-Mans pointing at each other for this prediction, I would. Or perhaps the gif of Bill Murray from Groundhog Day, saying that it’s Groundhog Day once again. The point is that the Chicago Bears and New York Giants are nearly identical when it comes to their strengths and weaknesses. Plus, this week’s game feels like the matchup the Bears had last week against the Houston Texans.
Both teams have rookie head coaches featuring lackluster passing attacks with quarterbacks who are more effective making plays with their legs. It doesn’t help things that their wide receivers don’t necessarily scare anyone either. The offenses are built around the ground game and defensively, they bend but don’t break.
These are two overperforming and evenly matched teams. The difference, however, is the Bears defense has shown an early knack for creating turnovers. The Bears have three interceptions and four forced fumbles on the year, whereas the Giants have three forced fumbles, but are still looking for their first pick. If the Bears can generate enough pressure on Daniel Jones to force him into a mistake or two, it will put them in favorable positions to score points.
The Bears were able to defeat the Texans with virtually no passing attack whatsoever. The Giants can be susceptible to the run so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bears lean on the ground game once again. If Justin Fields can take incremental steps towards progressing after last week’s game and take care of the ball in the process, Chicago should be fine. But we have to see it to believe it. Still, the Bears are more opportunistic and will get a narrow win to improve to 3-1.
Ryan Fedrau (2-1): Giants 27, Bears 17
Despite the Bears winning and the Giants losing this past week, I still think New York is a better football team than Chicago. Daniel Jones has looked far better under Brian Daboll than in years prior, and the Bears’ passing game has been awful. The Giants are going to dare Justin Fields to beat them, and I don’t think Chicago wins many football games that way, just yet.
I’m picking the Giants by 10, but it will be closer than what the score shows. The Giants will get a score late to seal the game.
Jarrett Bailey (2-1): Giants 23, Bears 20
Both teams are 2-1, to the shock of literally everyone. Both the Giants wins have come in tight contests, and their offensive line continues to be the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. Defensively, Wink Martindale has given new life to a unit that was already solid. The Bears pulled off a last second win over the Texans, but their inefficiencies in the passing game are catching up to them. To me, this comes down to coaching, and I trust Brian Daboll more than Matt Eberflus.
