The New York Giants prevailed against the Chicago Bears, 20-12, in their third home game in East Rutherford.
This game was ugly as the Giants dealt with injury after injury. They were able to battle through these issues and come out on top. The excitement surrounding this team should continue as the Giants are now 3-1 and third in the NFC East.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this win.
Offense: C
The Giants’ passing offense was once again anemic on Sunday. The team threw for only 82 yards in the air against Chicago and completed nine attempts on 16 attempts. While there are some valid excuses, with the awful weather and Daniel Jones’ injury, a lack of a potent air attack has become a weekly phenomenon.
The pass catchers do not help with their drops and the offensive line not holding up for longer passes eliminates a lot of options on the route tree. When Jones was unhealthy, the Giants were unable to throw the ball as Tyrod Taylor completed one of three passes for 11 yards and one interception. Luckily for Big Blue, Jones was able to re-enter the game but the problems passing the ball need to be addressed immediately.
Fortunately, the Giants were dominant running the ball. Saquon Barkley had his fourth straight game this season with over 70 rushing yards and his third 100-plus yard scrimmage game. The fifth-year running back put up 162 scrimmage yards (146 rushing) as he proved to be a problem for the Bears all day long.
Other Giants’ rushers proved to be effective as the former Duke quarterback added 68 yards and two touchdowns of his own on the ground. Even Taylor was able to add 30 rushing yards. This totaled 262 rushing yards from New York, their most this season.
Without the breakout in the run game, the Giants would have received a failing offensive game. However, strong play from Barkley and Jones (a staple in the Giants’ wins this season) put them on top and allowed them to score a modest 20 points. If they want to compete, this will surely need to increase next week in London versus Green Bay.
Defense: B
Big Blue’s defense did not allow a single touchdown Sunday afternoon.
While the Bears offense is nothing to write home about, they had scored a touchdown in every outing this season. Holding the Bears to 323 yards and 12 points is something that deserves recognition. However, the negatives need to be addressed first.
The Giants’ defense has still not found a way to generate its first interception (even though they forced two offensive fumbles). Many expected it would come in Week 4 against Justin Fields, who has thrown four this season but instead, the Giants allowed Fields to throw for 174 yards, his highest total this season.
The majority of this production came on a 56-yard completion to Darnell Mooney, who also had not produced at all in 2022. This trend of players having their best games against the Giants’ defense needs to stop.
Nevertheless, New York put forward their best “bend don’t break” showing yet as they held the Bears to four field goal attempts and allowed zero touchdowns on three red zone trips.
The Giants’ run defense also improved as they held an electric Bears rushing attack to a modest 149 yards. And finally, the pass rush was able to finally get home as they recorded six sacks (one of which was a strip sack).
Special Teams: D
The special teams unit once again underwhelmed.
For starters, Graham Gano had a rare missed field goal that would have secured the win for the Giants. The veteran kicker did make his previous two field goals and extra points but this miss was disappointing from the star kicker.
As for the rest of the unit, Richie James Jr. had one returned punt for five yards and his other return resulted in an instant fumble which was traded in for three instant points for the Bears. Big Blue did not do any better in the kick return game as Gary Brightwell only averaged 16.5 yards per return.
The punt team itself was not much better as Jamie Gillan recorded touchbacks on two of five attempts and had no punts inside the 20. The only saving grace for the special teams unit was that they recovered a fumble from the Bears on punt coverage which made a Bears comeback nearly impossible.
Coaching: B+
Brian Daboll & Co. recorded their third career wins as a staff together. This alone nets a positive grade. While there were many things that this team could have improved on (including more aggressive play-calling), their ability to battle through the barrage of injuries and come out on top was amazing.
Five starters other than Jones (Aaron Robinson, Evan Neal, Jihad Ward, Julian Love, and Mark Glowinski) left the game with injuries. The next-man-up strategy was employed and the Giants won the game.
As for the coordinators, nothing special came from Mike Kafka. His run schemes were solid but the passing game needs some serious work. On the other side of the ball, Wink Martindale looked like a genius generating pressure with a serious lack of talent and experience.
The back seven also did a solid job of containing Fields’ scrambling abilities and locking down the Bears’ pass catchers. This is an encouraging sign from Martindale’s defense after an underwhelming outing against the Cowboys.
