Before we dive into the numbers from the Chicago Bears in their fifth win this season, you need to understand that the New York Giants have a bad football team. Offensively, defensively, and on special teams, they have been brutal most of the 2019 season. That doesn’t lessen the importance of the win for Matt Nagy’s team, but I feel it’s important to get that bit of context in before thinking that this offense has turned some kind of corner after exploding for their biggest passing game this season.
I did think quarterback Mitchell Trubisky showed a nice command of the offense on Sunday afternoon, and while the penalties and drops hurt his overall numbers, he still had a few head-scratching plays. But more on him later...
For just the second time this season the Bears went over 300 yards in total offense with 335 yards and they held N.Y. to only 243. Chicago’s defense kept up their stingy ways by holding the Giants to 1 for 12 on third downs (8%), and the Bears were a but better at 4 for 15 (27%), but that’s still below their season number of 30%.
Time of possession was in the Bears’ favor 33:11 to 26:49, but the Giants had less penalty yards 35 to 53, with both teams getting flagged 6 times.
This game had some ‘what ifs’ that could have swung the score more favorably for Chicago, but the same could be said from Giant fans. They did miss two field goals
Let’s take a closer look at the playing time break downs for the Bears and also some individual stats.
OFFENSE
Trubisky went for 278 yards on 25 of 41 passing (61%), with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. He added 18 yards on 7 runs (including 3 kneel downs) plus a TD, but keep in mind the Giant defense he was facing has allowed most QBs to light them up.
#GiantsPride Passer rating against in 2019 (QBR):
— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) November 25, 2019
Dak 158.3 (97.4)
Cousins 138.6 (69.1)
Stafford 129.4 (93.2)
Winston 112.4 (64.9)
Dak 101.7 (81.0)
J.Allen 101.1 (70.4)
Darnold 97.9 (86.5)
Brady 88.9 (43.8)
Murray 78.3 (62.2)
Trubisky 69.0 (51.1)
Haskins 32.8 (26.1)#Bears100
Everyone except Trubisky and a couple rookie QBs has fared well against the Giants’ D this year so far. Even on Trubisky’s touchdown pass he was fortunate the defender got turned around because the pass was thrown behind Allen Robinson.
Mitch ➡️ A-Rob for 6️⃣! #Bears have the lead and we very much prefer that.
— Bears Talk (@NBCSBears) November 24, 2019
( : @NFL)pic.twitter.com/Fj5uaR9qUO
The offense seemed to make some baby steps by getting Trubisky out of the pocket, but it was still an uneven performance by him and Nagy’s O. With another poor defense up next on Thursday in Detroit, maybe they can build off this and get things straightened out before closing the season out with four tough games.
The running game continues to struggle with David Montgomery having no where to run. He may be a little too jittery at times after taking the handoff, but he’s rarely had a hole opened up for him this year. On Sunday he had 13 carries for only 22 yards, and he added 2 receptions for 9 yards.
The Giant defense was credited with 7 tackles for loss and 5 quarterback hits.
Tarik Cohen led the Bears in rushing again with 25 yards on 6 carries and he chipped in with a team high 7 catches for 29 yards.
Robinson had a game high 131 yards on 6 receptions and that TD and Anthony Miller had another strong game with 6 catches for 77 yards.
Have we witnessed a changing of the guard at wide receiver? Taylor Gabriel saw a decrease in playing time and Javon Wims seemed to be the beneficiary of that. Could it have been a message after another Gabriel drop? This was the fewest offensive snaps from Gabriel this year and the most from Wims since filling in for Gabriel while he was out with his concussion. Gabriel had 1 catch for 19 yards and Wims didn’t catch a pass. We’ll need to see if this trend continues on Thanksgiving.
The tight ends didn’t do much, with Ben Braunecker standing out most for dropping a pass, but he did grab 2 for 9 yards. Fellow Ivy Leaguer Jesper Horsted made his NFL debut with 1 reception for 4 yards. Both also had a tackle on special teams.
DEFENSE
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix led the Bears in tackles with 7 while adding a pass defended. Eddie Jackson had 6 with a tackle for loss.
Inside linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, a week after leaving the field on most nickel situations, played 95% of the snaps and I thought he performed well in coverage. He had 5 tackles, a TFL and a PD, and the free agent to be is setting himself up for a nice contract somewhere this offseason.
Nick Williams, another free agent to be, had a fumble recovery and 4 tackles.
Khalil Mack had 3 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and 2 QB hits, while Leonard Floyd had 4 QB hits and a tackle.
SPECIAL TEAMS*
*The above image has players that only played in the third phase.
It was a better day for Eddy Pineiro with him going 2 for 2 on field goals, but his kickoffs were sketchy and he missed a long extra point.
Patrick O’Donnell had a bad 13-yard shank in the first half that set the Giants up at midfield (they ended up missing a FG), but he boomed a 61-yarder with under four minutes remaining for one of two he placed inside the 20. Overall he had 6 punts for a 41.7 average.
All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System, as are the accompanying pictures.
To check out the full box score I find that ESPN has an easy to navigate site.