There are three things the New York Giants can do to ensure a victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday and get their third win this season
The New York Giants head to Chicago on Sunday to face the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, one of the most hostile environments in the NFL.
The Giants’ season has been dismal at best, and while the Bears aren’t faring that much better, it’s still unlikely that Big Blue will make a turnaround this week. That said, there are three things the Giants can do to help ensure a victory.
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Stop Khalil Mack
Mack has just one sack over the last six games, and didn’t appear on the stat sheet at all in the Bears’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week. Pat Shurmur and Mike Shula had better be watching that film very closely to implement a similar strategy to stop Mack on Sunday.
Double- and triple-teams, extra protection, holding, whatever it takes. The Giants season is a wash, so the goal now is to protect its assets, primarily Daniel Jones. Whatever the offensive line has to do to protect the future of the organization, that’s what needs to happen against the Bears defense this week.
Can the Bears contain Saquon? Will Mitchell Trubisky continue his positive string of performances? Our Bears’ bold predictions vs. Giants.
The Chicago Bears (4-6) are coming off a deflating 17-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams (6-4), a loss that essentially ended any playoff hopes in a stacked NFC.
The Bears will be looking to get back on track against the struggling New York Giants (2-8), who have lost six straight games.
While this is definitely a game that the Bears should win, that hasn’t been the case this season. Chicago will need to reduce the missed opportunities and self-inflicted mistakes that doomed them against the Rams if they’re going to beat the Giants.
Here are four bold predictions for the Bears’ Week 12 matchup:
1. Bears defense holds Saquon Barkley under 70 yards rushing
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Despite losing defensive tackle Akiem Hicks to injured reserve, the Bears run defense has remained solid this season. But they’ll face a familiar challenge this week when they go up against New York Giants running back Saturn Barkley.
Last season, Barkley rushed for 125 yards on a Bears defense that included Hicks. But it won’t be a cakewalk for Chicago’s defense, who nearly gave up 100 yards on the ground to Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley last week.
After starting the season with back-to-back 100-yard performances, Barkley hasn’t been able to surpass 72 yards since returning from an ankle injury. And the trend will continue as the Bears will hold him to under 70 yards on Sunday.
New York Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones needs to cure his fumbling woes, but he won’t take a page out of Tiki Barber’s book to do it.
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New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones leads the NFL in fumbles lost with nine this season. Week after week, the team and Jones talk about how they plan on tightening up on ball security but we haven’t seen any of whatever those methods are working so far.
When Tom Coughlin took over as head coach of the Giants in 2004, he had a chronic fumbler in the fold in running back Tiki Barber and did what prep school and college coaches do to fumblers — he made Barber hold a football practically round the clock until he stopped fumbling.
On Wednesday, Jones was asked if that drill could help him, he believes it will not.
“I haven’t done that, and I’m not sure I will,” he told reporters.
And Jones probably shouldn’t. Barber was a running back and ball security is different for the most part, except when Jones decided to tuck the ball under and make a run for it.
Coughlin’s solution for Barber was for him to hold the ball “high and tight,” perpendicular to the ground where tacklers could not get a decent shot at it. Jones can’t really do that as his fumbles mainly have come while attempting to throw the football.
“Yeah, I think for me, it’s in the pocket a lot and keeping two hands on the ball in the pocket. So, whether we’re doing drills in practice, whether we’re doing seven on seven or anything like that, I need to continue to focus on that,” he said.
Jones has a long way to go to break or set any team records. Eli Manning has 124 fumbles in his career and Phil Simms has 93. The Giants’ single season mark for fumbles is 23, set by Kerry Collins in 2001.
While the Giants record is ugly, they have some young talent. Which Giants player would you like to see in Bears’ navy and orange?
The Chicago Bears (4-6) are coming off a brutal loss to the Los Angeles Rams (6-4), and they’re hoping to get back on track against the struggling New York Giants (2-8).
In a rematch of last season’s December meeting at MetLife Stadium, the Bears will be looking to avoid another defeat as they search for what’s left of their crumbling season.
While the Giants record is ugly, there is some young talent on that team, led by star running back Saquon Barkley, tight end Evan Engram and rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.
Which begs the question — which Giants player would you want on the Bears?
The New York Giants and Chicago Bears square off on Sunday in Week 12, so here are six things fans should know.
The New York Giants (2-8) head out to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears (4-6) in a meeting between two of the NFC’s most disappointing teams this season.
Here are six things to know:
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The history
This is the 52nd meeting between two of the NFL’s most iconic franchises dating back to 1925. With a win on Sunday the Giants would improve their all-time record against the Bears to 22-28-2. A victory this week would also improve the Giants’ road record against the Bears to 12-13.
The Giants are making their first trip to Soldier Field since 2013, a 27-21 Bears victory on Thursday Night Football in Week 6.
The teams have met just 18 times since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger and had played only three times between 1970 and the January 5, 1986 NFC Divisional Playoff game in which the Bears shut the Giants out, 21-0, at Soldier Field.
The Giants are 7-5 against the Bears since the teams last met in the postseason — a 31-3 victory in the 1991 NFC Divisional Playoffs.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Tom Brady might be the best quarterback ever, but he’s not the best in the NFL right now. He certainly won’t be the best in 2022.
He’s human, after all, and at age 42, regression is inevitable even for someone with six Super Bowl rings. That puts the New England Patriots in an uncertain situation at quarterback two or three years down the road. The New Orleans Saints, with 40-year-old Drew Brees under center, find themselves in a similar scenario.
Other teams, such as the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, likely will face difficult personnel decisions at the quarterback position much sooner than that. Only a handful of teams, notably the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, appear secure in their quarterback situation for years to come.
All this got us thinking about the quarterback situations of the future — and where each of the NFL’s 32 teams ranks in terms of preparedness at the game’s most crucial position.
By quarterback situations, we mean the full overview of each team’s quarterbacks group, including backups and a potential succession plan, if necessary. For this exercise, we will define the future as three to four years down the road.
To help form these opinions, we consulted with a blue-ribbon panel of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager. They were asked for their thoughts on each team’s quarterback situation. They provided insight to inform our rankings.
With that in mind, we present Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings for every NFL team, from worst to first:
32. Miami Dolphins
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Earlier this season, many observers accused the Dolphins of tanking to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and presumably select a quarterback. Since then, Miami (2-8) has been eclipsed by the ineptitude of Cincinnati (0-10) and Washington (1-9), so the Dolphins might not get the first QB off the board. Currently, the Dolphins have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen on their roster. Rosen has failed in his playing time. There’s no way he’ll be back next year. The Dolphins have the option to hang onto Fitzpatrick, 36, who’s currently under contract next season at $5.5 million. It makes sense to keep Fitzpatrick around for one more year to help groom a young quarterback. That could be LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa (although his recent hip injury now complicates his draft status), Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. Two members of my panel said they like Burrow better than Tagovailoa. Either way, it’s going to take some time to develop a young quarterback.
31. Chicago Bears
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For the moment, Mitchell Trubisky is Chicago’s starting quarterback. But it doesn’t appear that he will be in that role next year — although he remains under contract and the team holds a fifth-year option on the No. 2 overall pick from 2017. Given his level of play this season, it’s highly unlikely he will receive the option year, and he might not even see 2020 with the Bears — although the cap hit for cutting him would be slightly more than $9 million. The Bears are 4-6 after going 12-4 last year. There’s one main reason for the decline. That’s Trubisky. My panelists say he’s holding the offense back and could end up keeping a good team out of the playoffs. All four panelists agree Trubisky should be nothing more than a backup. Current backup Chase Daniel’s contract expires after this season. So there’s no telling who will be Chicago’s quarterback next year. Maybe the Bears will draft a quarterback. But with a talented roster already in place, the Bears should be first in line to sign New Orleans backup Teddy Bridgewater as a free agent.
30. Cincinnati Bengals
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Veteran Andy Dalton has been benched, and the Bengals are giving rookie fourth-rounder Ryan Finley a shot. There should be no turning back to Dalton, even though he remains under contract for 2020 with a $17.5 million scheduled salary. The Bengals can cut Dalton after the season without any salary cap ramifications. It’s too early to judge Finley. Cincinnati is going to end up with an early draft pick and could have a shot at Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts. The Bengals will be starting over. But, given their current state, that’s not a bad thing. “Dalton had more than enough time and couldn’t win consistently,” one panelist said. “I have no idea what they have in Finley. But they have to draft a quarterback if they’re sitting there at No. 1 or 2.”
29. Washington Redskins
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The current situation is a mess. Veterans Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, who clearly aren’t the answer, each is in the last year of their contract. The Redskins have little choice but to play rookie Dwayne Haskins, who has five interceptions and two touchdown passes, the rest of this season. Call it an audition for Haskins. But this situation is complicated because the Redskins currently have interim coach Bill Callahan, who took over when Jay Gruden was fired. There will be a new coach next year, and he might not like Haskins. With an early draft pick likely, the new coach might want his own guy. Give up on Haskins after only one season? Arizona did it with 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen after drafting Kyler Murray. All four of our panelists said Haskins was overrated when he was drafted.
Here are six things (plus more) to watch over the final six games of the New York Giants’ 2019 regular season.
There’s not a whole lot to root for in these 2-8 New York Giants, but fans will be looking for any signs of life– and hope — in Pat Shurmur’s team over the last six games of this lost 2019 season.
Fans are shedding themselves of as many tickets as they can for the remaining three home games (Week 13 vs. Green Bay, Week 15 vs. Miami and Week 17 vs. Philadelphia) and there won’t be a ton of viewers watching on television, either, as the Giants close out their sixth losing season over the last seven years.
But there are a few things to watch for. I like No. 6, so I narrowed (or expanded) the things to watch to that number for the heck of it.
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Pat Shurmur
Is he coaching for his Giants life? It doesn’t look like they’ll better last year’s record of 5-11, but if he can only win two or three of the last six games and the team is still a disorganized mess, do the Giants look to move on?
The Bears are coming off a loss that ended their playoff hopes. The Giants have lost 6 straight games. Who comes out on top in Week 12?
The Chicago Bears (4-6) return home for a Sunday showdown against the New York Giants (2-8) at Soldier Field.
The Bears are coming off a 17-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams (6-4), which all but ended their playoff hopes. Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had one of his better performances this season early in the game before suffering a hip pointer at the end of the first half. He was pulled from the game in the final minutes, and his status is up-in-the-air against the Giants.
The Giants are coming off their bye week, but they’re heading anywhere but the right direction. They’ve lost six straight games, their most recent a 34-27 loss to the New York Jets in Week 10. Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has struggled with ball security, as he leads the league with 21 turnovers – eight interceptions and 13 fumbles.
Will the Bears’ offense find some kind of offensive rhythm against the Giants? Can the Bears capitalize on the Giants struggles and deliver them a seventh-straight loss? Or will the Bears be the team that loses to a bad Giants team?
Things look bad for the New York Giants right now, but do they actually have one of the NFL’s best young cores?
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The New York Giants are mired in another losing season and fans are beginning to groan that things are never going to change, but when stepping back and looking at their roster objectively, is there enough young talent to warrant some long-term optimism?
Key Young Core Players: Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence
It is hard not to like a core that has a player with the rushing prowess of Saquon Barkley.
The 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year bullied his way to 1,300-plus yards on the ground and 11 touchdowns last year for a bad New York Giants team. While the 22-year-old running back had one particularly awful showing in Week 10 this season (13 carries for one yard), he would still be on pace for nearly a 1,000-yard campaign if he weren’t missing time with a shoulder injury.
Barkley is a nice support for rookie Daniel Jones, who was hindered by a coaching staff unwilling to move on from Eli Manning. The 22-year-old quarterback has shown big upside while completing 63 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions despite taking 32 sacks.
Dexter Lawrence, a first-round pick this year, has quietly been a force. The 22-year-old defensive tackle is the highest-graded player on the Giants because of his run defense (sixth at his position), according to Pro Football Focus.
And there are also guys like tight end Evan Engram (25) and guard Will Hernandez (24), not to mention a young wideout not part of the 25-and-under core in Sterling Shepard.
Roling makes his case without even mentioning breakout wide receiver Darius Slayton, talented linebacker Ryan Connelly and a few other 25-and-under stars like Jabrill Peppers, Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill and Leonard Williams.
The reality is, the Giants are stocked with young front-end talent, but are struggling due to their inexperience and lack of depth behind them. Time will provide a wealth of knowledge for most, but the Giants still have a lot of roster building to do — this young talent needs some veteran experience and leadership around them. Certainly more than the team has right now.
