| Giants
(6-3) vs Bears (2-7)
The Chicago
Bears came off their bye week to play in a road game against Tampa Bay. The Bears
were behind from the start after an interception was returned for a touchdown.
A Hail Mary pass at the end of the half had them trailing by just seven, but they
failed to score again, and they lost the game 36-10.
The Giants beat the Bengals,
21-20, at MetLife Stadium on Monday Night Football. The game started out with
touchdown drives by each team, but then turned into a defensive dual. The Giants
win was their fourth straight to give them six wins to match their win totals
in the past two seasons
Giants
- Bengals Wrap-Up
Chicago
Bears
The last time the Bears were in the
playoffs was in 2010 after winning the NFC North division title. Jay Cutler first
came to the Bears in 2009, and he is the starting quarterback. Last year Cutler
put up the best numbers of his career, with his passer rating at 92.3, and with
his lowest touchdown to interception ratio: 21 TDs - 11 INTs. Unfortunately, Cutler's
four top wide receivers and tight end were hit with numerous injuries and the
Bears finished the season with a 6-10 record, and were last in their division.
This
year the Bears got off to a poor start and were happy to see Cutler returning
from a five-week thumb injury. Leading the team to a strong 20-10 win over division
rival Minnesota just before the bye, Cutler threw for 252 yards and a touchdown
to help stop a three game losing streak. That good feeling lasted up until the
first quarter in their next game back, with that one sided loss to Tampa Bay.
John Fox is now in his second year as the Chicago Bears head coach. Fox had brought
in Vic Fangio to handle a defensive unit that finished 30th in the previous two
years. Fangio's done well, bringing them up to 14th last year, which is about
the area where they are now. Chicago
Bears Offense
Quarterback
Brian Hoyer took over for Jay Cutler in game 2 when he injured his thumb. Hoyer
suffered a broken arm in Green Bay, and with Cutler out, third-stringer Matt Barkley
took over to finish the game. In the six games he played, Hoyer threw 6 touchdowns
and no interceptions. Playing in four games, Cutler has 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
People credited Jay Cutler's improvement last season to offensive coordinator
Adam Gase. Unfortunately for the Bears, they lost Gase to a head coaching job
in Miami. This year Cutler has regressed, and he had his worst outing last week,
where he was under pressure and took four sacks.
Cutler threw two interceptions,
with one being returned 20 yards for a touchdown, and he lost two fumbles, with
one giving the Bucs a safety. In their past two games, the Tampa Bay defense was
chewed up with plays going 20 yards or more, but aside from Cutler's one long
lucky Hail Mary touchdown pass, there was no air attack for them to worry about.
The Bears did better on the ground, with Jordan Howard rushing for 100 yards on
15 carries, though he did have one fumble to give the team a total of five turnovers
on the day. Howard leads the team in rushing and is 11th in the league with 605
yards.
They were concerned when Howard
suffered an ankle injury during the game, but he looks good to go this Sunday.
Still their offense did suffer some setbacks. Pro
Bowl guard Kyle Long has been placed on injured reserve this week after being
carted off the field with a right ankle injury against Tampa Bay. Pro Bowl wide
receiver Alshon Jeffery has been suspended four games by the NFL for violating
its policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Tight end Zach Miller leads the Bears
with 44 receptions, and Cutler will have to depend on him even more with Jeffery
not playing. Chicago
Bears Defense
The
Bears have a decent defense, ranking 12th against the pass and 11th against the
run. They can bring pressure, and are tied for 8th in the league with 24 sacks.
They had a strong showing in the game against Minnesota, sacking Vikings quarterback
Sam Bradford five times, and added four more against Jameis Winston last week.
Willie Young leads the team with 6.5 sacks, and first-round draft choice Leonard
Floyd is finding his groove. Floyd has 5 overall, but 4.5 have come in his last
three games. They did a nice job on Tampa Bay's top receiver Mike Evans last week,
holding him to no catches in the first half, and he finished with just 4 catches
for 66 yards, so Odell Beckham, Jr. will be
challenged.
Early on, because of injuries,
teams were able to run more on this defense, but as players returned to action
things got tougher. Last week the Buccaneers ran for just 80 yards. That said,
and with no players technically listed as out for this game, many are still hampered
and have missed practice this week. Linebacker Pernell McPhee, who spent the first
six weeks on the PUP, list has had a sack in each of Chicago's last two games,
and has said publicly that the Bears defense will get to Eli Manning on Sunday.
Giants
offense
Points, the Giants need to score
some. Their wins this season have been by one, three, four, seven, five and one.
An extra incompletion or missed play during one of those games could have kept
them from being the 6-3 team they are now. They have that record despite scoring
182 points and giving up 184. They took to the field on Monday night with the
attitude of a team that knows it can get things done, and they did. The Giants
scored a touchdown on the opening drive, but then cooled down. Some of that was
likely due to Brett Jones, Justin Pugh's replacement, suffering an injury of his
own on that drive. Marshall Newhouse filled in during the second half, and will
likely play in the left guard spot again on Sunday.
The ground game showed
improvement last week. Rashad Jennings ran for 87 yards, and nearly half came
at a time when the Bengals were expecting it, as the Giants were trying to run
down the clock. Paul Perkins also had 31 yards, to put the team over a hundred.
It will be interesting to see if that was a fluke or if Ben McAdoo has figured
something out. A dependable running game is the one ingredient this offense needs
the most and that will be tested this game against the Bears defense.
Victor
Cruz missed last week's game because of an ankle injury he suffered against the
Ravens. Cruz had limited practice this week, but they say he's good to go on Sunday.
Dwayne Harris, who suffered a toe injury, and had to leave the game on Monday
night, is expected to play as well. With Victor Cruz sidelined, rookie Roger Lewis
got his first career start last week and dropped a sure-catch deep pass from Eli
Manning on one play, and missed on another, running the wrong route, with both
coming on third downs.
The Giants need to improve in that area as Manning
has seen 16 dropped passes, as they are rated, which ties the Giants for the third-most
in the league. Giants defense
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
has been working his magic. Defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon,
and tackles Damon Harrison and Johnathan Hankins, have been bringing it. Maybe
not sacks, the team has just 14 sacks on the year which puts them 30th in the
league, but they bring consistent pressure. The unit is really coming together.
It's been over the last four games that they added 10 of those sacks and had 7
interceptions. They have the best red zone defense in the league, and the Chicago
offense lost two Pro Bowl players just this week.
Jay Cutler will have to be
more aware of his surroundings. Both of Cutler's fumbles last week occurred on
sacks in which he was chased down from behind, and the Giants are capable of doing
that. Rookie running back Jordan Howard has been a pleasant surprise for the Bears.
The fifth-round draft choice was barely used in the first three games, and since
had four 100-yard games. Howard leads the team in rushing with a 5.3-yard per
carry average, and has also caught 18 passes. The Giants defense will have to
watch out for him and tight end Zach Miller on shot routes. Overall
The
Giants don't leave themselves with much of a margin for error. Last week they
had to nurse their one point lead over Cincinnati through the whole fourth quarter.
Luckily their defense was up to the task, as Manning's offense added no more points,
and he threw an interception to add to the degree of difficulty.
Chicago is
certainly at a disadvantage in this matchup, and if the Giants can get their act
together on offense they should win this one.
NFC East Games
Sunday
at 1:00pm Cowboys (8-1) at Ravens (5-4)
Sunday
at 1:00pm Bears (2-7) at Giants (6-3)
Sunday at 4:25pm Eagles (5-4) at Seahawks
(6-2)
Sunday at 8:30pm Packers (4-5) at Redskins (5-3-1)
The Giants, Cowboys
and Redskins are the NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
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Notes.
Giants
have not won by more than a touchdown since Nov. 8, 2015 at Tampa Bay, 32-18.
Giants have played in 9 games this season,
and 8 have been decided by a touchdown or less. Giants
Landon Collins is the only player in the NFL with at least four interceptions
and three sacks. Giants kicker Robbie
Gould was with the Bears for 11 years before coming to the Giants. Bears
are 0-5 on the road this season. Bears,
with a 2-7 record, are off to their worst start since 2002. Bears
are one of three teams that have used at least three quarterbacks this season. Bears
Jay Cutler was sacked 9 times the last time the Bears played in MetLife Stadium
in 2010. Bears Jordan Howard's average
of 6.1 yards per carry on first-and-10 is the best in the NFL.
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Next Games
Nov 27 - Giants at Browns.
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