| Giants
(2-7) Chicago Bears (5-3)
In
a high scoring game last week in Cincinnati, the Bears had less than a minute
left to add some more points in order to come up with a win. They did just that,
leaving the Bengals on the wrong side of a 47-42 score.
In their game with
San Francisco, the Giants were losing 17-7 at the half. They trailed by at least
10 points for the rest of the game, and took a 34-24 loss.
Chicago Bears
The last time the Bears were in the playoffs
was 2020, where an 8-8 record got them into a Wild Card game with the New Orleans
Saints which they lost. They are in the NFC North Division competing with some
tough teams, the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings. Those
teams all finished up last last year with 11 or more wins. The Bears started off
at 4-2 before losing 10 straight games. Winning the final game of the season gave
them a 5-12 record.
The Bears have a new head coach. Ben Johnson was the offensive
coordinator for the Lions from 2022 through 2024, All the numbers jumped to where
he had them ranked 2nd with their offense, and the Lions scored the most points
in the NFL. The Bears started off the season slow with two straight losses to
division teams, but have won the last 5 of the 6 games they've played. Chicago
Bears Offense
The Bears have the sixth highest scoring
offense in the league. They know they have to put points up, as their three losses
were their lowest scoring ones in the eight games they've played. Quarterback
Caleb Williams was the number one overall pick in the 2024 draft. In his first
year, Williams threw 20 touchdowns and had 6 interceptions. He also set an NFL
rookie record of throwing 353 straight passes without an interception. Williams
also was the most sacked quarterback in the league.
In the offseason the Bears
improved their offensive line, bringing in left guard Joe Thuney, center Drew
Dalman, and right guard Jonah Jackson. Wide receiver Rome Odunze was a rookie
last year, and has become Williams top target. Odunze is averaging 15.3 yards
a catch and leads the team with 5 touchdowns.
DJ Moore was the leading receiver
last year. He and Olamide Zaccheaus are next in line in receiving yards and passes
thrown. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland had his best game last week. He caught
6 of 7 passes for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game winner. D'Andre
Swift was the lead rusher last year, and is picking up more yards per carry with
the Bears improved line. He has 4 rushing touchdowns and caught another from Williams,
who has 2 rushing touchdowns. Swift missed the last game, and is listed as questionable
for this one. Rookie Kyle Monangai picked up the heavy load last week, with 26
carries, rushing for 176 yards. Chicago
Bears Defense
Head
coach Ben Johnson will need more time to impact the defensive unit in any manner
the way he has been able to do with his offense. He's brought in Dennis Allen,
a former head coach of the Saints to be his defensive coordinator. So far the
results from last year to now have been slightly better in rushing defense, 25th,
but passing defense has dropped from a 16th ranking to 25th as well. Their worst
area is points allowed, and that hit is from 13th to 29th. In their losses, they've
given up 27, 52 and 30 points, and even winning last week, it was 42 points. They'll
have to keep their eyes on Jaxson Dart passing and running with the ball.
Dart's connection to Wan'Dale Robinson has been growing, and he's been there for
third down catches. This Bears defense is very opportunistic. They lead the NFL
in takeaways and interceptions. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Kevin Byard
III have 4 interceptions, and cornerback Nahshon Wright has 3. They need to work
on their pass rush and sack numbers. They had 40 last year, and after 8 games
have come up with just 17. Defensive end Montez Sweat leads the team with 4, and
defensive tackle Gervon Dexter has 3.5. Giants
Offense
What more can Jaxson Dart do to
win a game? Last week in a loss to San Francisco, he completed a career high 72.7
percent of his passes for 191 yards, with 2 touchdowns and no turnovers. There
were at least two drops, and one touchdown pass that should have been caught.
Dart was also the top rusher in the game, with 8 carries for 56 yards and 1 touchdown.
Devin Singletary was next, with his 8 carries for 43 yards. Tyrone Tracy ran the
ball 5 times for 18 yards, and he did have 3 catches for 19 yards. Singletary
caught 2 passes for 8 yards.
With Cam Skattebo out, the offense doesn't seem
to have much of a rushing attack, and they can't have Dart continue to take hits
running with the ball. As for the receivers, Theo Johnson had one promising 15-yard
touchdown in the Giants opening drive last week, but he finished up the day catching
just 3 of 6 for 27 yards. Johnson also had a third down drop, followed by a Graham
Gano kick that was wide left. It should be noted that Johnson leads the team,
catching 5 of the Giants total 13 touchdowns. They rely on him, but his drops
are killers.
Wan'Dale Robinson was Dart's top target, and he pulled in 9 of
11 for 46 yards, but he had one costly third down drop. Darius Slayton caught
5 of 7 for 62 yards, but couldn't hold onto a sure touchdown pass he caught when
the defender shoved at it. Gunner Olszewski was targeted only once, and caught
Dart's other touchdown pass. This offense has an improved offensive line, but
fails to take advantage of opportunities when they are there. Giants
Defense
A defense wouldn't mind going up
against a quarterback that was sacked 68 times, but that was last years news.
Caleb Williams improved his skills to where he doesn't hold the ball too long,
and his offensive line is giving him good support. Williams has taken only 14
sacks in eight games. Before the Giants can even think about Brian Burns increasing
his sack numbers to something higher than 11, they'll have to focus on stopping
the run. San Francisco ran all over them last week, with 39 carries for 159 yards
and 2 touchdowns.
The Bears rank second in the NFL with their rushing average
of 144.4 yards per game. Last week in Cincinnati, they came up with 283 rushing
yards. That was without top rushing back D'Andre Swift available for the game,
and they scored 47 points. They might not need Swift the way rookie Kyle Monangai
played in his place. The Giants are ranked 28th in points allowed and have given
up 33 or more points in their last three games.
None of this sounds good,
except that the Bears were up against a defense that is worse than the Giants.
The Bengals are dead last in giving up points and rushing yards, and next to last
in passing yards. The Giants have a talented defense, and they'll have to remember
how they played four of the first five games, where they weren't responsible for
the Giants losing games. Overall
The Chicago Bears are third in their division, but they and the two teams ahead
of them, all sit with 5 wins. They've already lost a division game with the Vikings,
and they are up next for them after they play the Giants. It might be a mistake
for them to overlook this game, if they focus too much on their next matchup. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (2-7)
at Bears (5-3)
Sunday at 4:25pm Lions (5-3) at Commanders (3-6)
Monday at
8:15pm Eagles (6-2) at Packers (5-2-1)
No NFC East teams are favored to win
in these games.
Check out.
Giants
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Next Games
Nov
16 Packers at Giants
Nov 23 Giants at Lions
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