Chicago Bears 17 – New York Giants 3

Giants Look Dreadful in Chicago; DT Jay Alford Hurt: Perhaps it was the short work-week, perhaps the Giants have been reading too many press clippings, perhaps it was the missing starters, perhaps the Giants just aren’t that good, or perhaps it’s the preseason and none of this should be taken too seriously. Whatever your particular point of view, there is no doubt that the Giants looked dreadful in Chicago on Saturday night.

Worse, DT Jay Alford suffered an injury to his left knee and was carted off the field. The preliminary diagnosis was a “sprain” but the true severity of the injury will likely be determined by an MRI.

The Giants were completely out-played in the first half on offense, defense, and special teams. Chicago scored on each of their first three drives: a 10-play, 50-yard effort that resulted in a 44-yard field goal; a 5-play, 80-yard effort that resulted in a 32-yard touchdown run; and a 10-play, 92-yard effort that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown pass.

Meanwhile, the Giants went six plays and punted, six plays and punted, four plays and punted, and three plays and punted. The only bright spot was a fumble recovery late in the second quarter, with the Giants recovering at the Bears’ 28-yard line. But the Giants could not pick up a first down and had to settle for a 42-yard field goal by PK Lawrence Tynes.

The Bears led 17-3 at halftime. It could have been worse as the Bears fumbled the ball away with less than 30 seconds left inside the Giants’ 10-yard line.

Neither team scored in the second half. The Giants went three-and-out on two of their first three possessions after the intermission and only gained 35 yards total in the third quarter. Meanwhile the Bears were held to 40 yards on two drives in the third period.

In the 4th quarter, the Giants put together a 13-play, 55-yard drive but turned the football over on downs on 4th-and-9 on the Bears’ 24-yard line. The only other highlight was a 55-yard pass to WR Hakeem Nicks late in the game, which gave the Giants a first-down on the Bears’ 19-yard line. But the Giants turned the ball over on downs again after four straight pass plays.

Final score 17-3.

Offensively, the Giants only picked up 11 first downs. Pass protection was a problem all night as Giants’ quarterbacks were sacked five times. The Giants were held to 140 net yards passing. Halfbacks Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Danny Ware did rush for 115 yards on 21 carries. Defensively, the Giants gave up 222 net yards passing and 150 net yards rushing.

“We did do some good things out there,” said Eli Manning, who was 7-of-10 for 62 yards. “We had some big plays and moved the ball, but we just had too many negative plays. We had third-and-long a few times and just couldn’t convert. On the first drive we really had a shot to Mario (Manningham). I just have to get the ball out there some more. After that we moved the ball a little bit. We had some penalties and some sacks that we just couldn’t overcome. We’ve got a lot of work to do. There will be some good things to come out of this, but we’ve got a lot to work on.”

“Obviously, we got ourselves in some third down situations, and we just didn’t get off the field,” said DE Justin Tuck. “The biggest thing is we had some situations where we could’ve made the play, and we just didn’t. I really don’t think we played as bad as it looked, but we certainly didn’t play as well as we wanted to. We’ll go back to work this week, find a way to get everything together here, and we’ll get better and we’ll be okay.”

Post-Game Notes: Not playing against the Bears were OG Rich Seubert (shoulder), OG Chris Snee (knee), DT Chris Canty (hamstring), DT Rocky Bernard (hamstring), LB Antonio Pierce (foot), LB Michael Boley (hip), CB Aaron Ross (leg), and S Kenny Phillips (knee).