Giants win again.
Giants go 3-0 for the first time since 1994.
Kerry Collins passes for 249 yards and 1 TD.
Ron Dixon caught his first NFL touchdown.
Tiki Barber has another great game, 86 yards on 17 carries, and 1 TD.
Giants held the Bears to just 48 yards rushing.

The Giants do it again Gamegirl.
"Sure they did, but not as easy as I thought they would. I mean, after watching that first opening drive, I thought they were going to score something like 40 or so points. Instead, even though it felt like they were controlling things, we were somehow all tied up 7 -7 at the half. It wasn't easy to watch, and I felt uneasy the whole game. It was like one of those bad 'slasher' movies. You were always expecting the Bears to come back and kill you. Even near the very end of the game, when Michael Strahan recovered that fumble, you thought it was over, but it wasn't."

One problem was that the Giants stopped themselves a lot this game.
"I know. I kept waiting for them to put some distance on that scoreboard, but it never happened. The kicking game suddenly went all to hell and they couldn't even get any field goals to cap off their drives. They also had trouble punting to the sidelines. Whatever went wrong with the kicking game, they'd better fix it before we face Washington next week."

Will you be watching Washington on Monday night football?
"Sure, they're playing against Dallas. I haven't had a chance to see either team play this year, and my Giants still have to face both of them. It's a great opportunity for all the Giants fans to see what's coming up. Unfortunately, I might not be able to actually attend the Redskins - Giants game next week, but I'm going to catch as much of it as I can on TV."

What did you enjoy most about this game.
"That's easy, Ron Dixon's touchdown catch, Tiki's touchdown run, that the Giants defense held Chicago to just 7 points, and the end! I really enjoyed that the Giants got out of this Chicago home opener, nail-biter, on the road game with a win!"

The Giants go 3-0, making it look hard Mikefan.
"You got that right. As Gamegirl said Chicago had every chance to jump right back in that game, just as they did at the half when they tied it. It kind of makes you wonder if the coaches were looking ahead to the Redskins game. What I mean is, on that first opening drive they hit rookie Ron Dixon with a 34 yard touchdown pass. I thought they would be hitting Ron all game, but that was his only catch. Did they decide not to show him off too much, and keep him under wraps to surprise the Redskins in their Sunday night matchup? I don't think the Redskins will be fooled into thinking it was a fluke catch when they watch the tapes."

Actually, Kerry Collins mixed his passes to eight receivers.
"He's doing a great job this year. This Giants team is still coming together, and there seems to be talent everywhere. By the way, how could the officials miss that face mask call on Collins? I think there were quite a few bad calls for both teams in this game, including the one they handed out to the Bears when our cornerback, Dave Thomas, got into that altercation with Eddie Kennison. It cost the Bears 15 yards, but the refs could easily have hit Dave with that penalty, and it put the Bears at 1st and 25. Also on a play the Bears challenged, the referee announced that the 90-second review period had expired, so the play stood. What was that all about? Didn't he have another quarter?
Anyway, Tiki Barber led the team in rushing again for the third straight week, and came away with a touchdown. Ron Dayne had his best day yet although I was a bit surprised in the fourth quarter when the 'Thunder and Lightning' thing hadn't worn the Chicago defense down. The Giants did fine all through the game and in the third quarter, all six plays were on the ground, ending with Tiki Barber's touchdown run.
In the fourth though, the Bears were able to put some good stops on the Giants running game, and even caused 'lightning' to fumble. Maybe it was all too expected at that point, as the Giants kept looking for a long clock-chewing drive that would put the game out of reach."

The defense came up strong.
"Yes, they held Chicago to only 3-of-12 third-down conversions. The Bears managed only 222 total yards, as once again, the Giants shut down the opponents running game. The Bears had a total of 48 yards rushing, and that makes a total of only 147 yards rushing the Giants have given up in the 3 games this season. They sacked McNown four times, with Strahan and Hamilton getting their first ones this season, and kept the pressure on the quarterback for the whole game."

One bad thing was the kicking game.
"Tell me about it. Last week, Brad Daluiso had field goals of 32, 36, 44 and 23 yards, and now he goes 0-3. To be fair to Brad, they let the Bears come through and block one of those tries, and Maynard messed up a hold on another. Maynard's punting wasn't that good either as his attempts at sidelining didn't pan out. Maybe Chicago was greasing the balls. Anyway, It looks like special teams will be a year long project."

That game was real important to the Bears, and they played hard.
"Right, they made the Giants earn their victory. Remember that the Bears have faced all winning teams so far this season. Also, you have to give the Giants credit. No matter how hard they made it look, they won their second game on the road in a tough town. I guess that one thing we have to remember from this game is that this Giants team is still coming together. Their best games are still to come, and let's hope one of them happens against the Redskins next Sunday night.
In fact, the schedule makers couldn't have done a better job for the Giants. With their game out of the way, they even get to sit back and watch the Redskins play Dallas on Monday night football. After hearing about the Redskins 'superteam' for so long, I don't think too many players will be switching off to the Olympics, even if they have to sit through Dennis Miller references all the way."

Anything else?
Yes, Jason Sehorn had a tough job going one on one with their best receiver, Marcus Robinson all game. Robinson had a game high 9 catches for 84 yards, but if the Giants keep stopping the run the way they do, there are going to be a lot more balls thrown in the air. Sehorn might be giving a little cushion, but the score speaks for itself. With less than a minute left, the Bears put all their last chips on the line going against Sehorn. First they went deep against him, and then after running him all the way downfield their next play was a screen to his side, and he came right up and made the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. I'd say he's back."

Stats

Passing
Giants - Kerry Collins 24-33 for 251 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
Bears - Cade McNown 23-36 for 202 yards. 1 TD, 0 INT.

Rushing
Giants - Tiki Barber 17-88, Ron Dayne 19-69, Ron Dixon 1-12, Greg Comella 1-4, Kerry Collins 3-1.
Bears - James Allen 10-31, Curtis Enis 5-13, Cade McNown 1-4.

Receiving
Giants - Tiki Barber 6-58, Ike Hilliard 4-54, Ron Dixon 1-34, Greg Comella 4-31, Amani Toomer 5-26, Howard Cross 1-18, Pete Mitchell 2-17, Daniel Campbell 1-13.
Bears - Marcus Robinson 9-84, Bobby Engram 4-38, Macey Brooks 3-26, Curtis Enis 3-26, John Allred 1-18, James Allen 1-8, Eddie Kennison 1-2, Dez White 1-0.

Kickoff Returns
Giants - Greg Comella 1 for 9.

Punt Returns
Giants - Tiki Barber 3 for 21.
Bears - Glyn Milburn 2 for 15.

Fumbles Lost
Giants - Tiki Barber 1.
Bears - Cade McNown 1.

Opponent's fumbles recovered
Giants - Michael Strahan 1.
Bears - Mike Brown 1.

Tackles-assists-sacks
Giants - Armstead 5-0-1, Barrow 5-0-1, Sehorn 5-0-0, S.Williams 5-0-0, Strahan 4-0-1, Phillips 3-1-0, D.Thomas 3-1-0, Hamilton 3-0-1, Peter 2-1-0, Garnes 2-0-0, C.Jones 2-0-0, McDaniel 2-0-0, Dixon 1-0-0, Golden 1-0-0, Griffin 1-0-0, Monty 1-0-0, Petitgout 1-0-0, Stephens 1-0-0, Whittle 1-0-0.
Bears - Urlacher 11-2-1, M.Brown 9-1-0, Parrish 7-3-0, Holdman 9-0-0, T.Smith 6-0-0, Wells 5-1-0, Flanigan 4-0-0, S.Harris 4-0-0, W.Harris 4-0-0, Wilson 2-0-1, Simmons 2-0-0, Azumah 2-0-0, B.Robinson 1-1-0, Daniels 1-0-0, Mannelly 1-0-0, F.Smith 1-0-0, Culpepper 0-1-0, McQuarters 0-1-0.

Net yards rushing
Giants - 172
Bears - 48

Net yards passing
Giants - 235
Bears - 174

Time of Possession
Giants - 38:11
Bears - 21:49

Scoring:

1ST QUARTER:
NYG - Ron Dixon 34 Yard TD Pass from Kerry Collins (Brad Daluiso Extra Point), G0:38. N.Y. Giants 7-0
2ND QUARTER:
CHI - Eddie Kennison 2 Yard TD Pass from Cade McNown (Paul Edinger Extra Point), 0:14. Tied 7 -7
3RD QUARTER:
NYG - Tiki Barber 3 Yard TD Run (Brad Daluiso Extra Point), 5:26. NY Giants 14-7
4TH QUARTER:
NONE

Notes:
Both teams lost replay challenges in the second quarter.

Bears first-round pick Brian Urlacher made his first career start at MLB and had 13 tackles and a sack.

Giants fifth-string cornerback Ralph Brown will miss six to eight weeks with a lacerated kidney he suffered in the third quarter.

Giants RB Joe Montgomery was not active for the third time in as many games.

Next Game
Sept 24, Washington at Giants, 8PM ESPN

Game 1 - Preseason

Game 2 - Preseason

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