Daniel Jones and T.J. Jones – © USA TODAY Sports
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NEW YORK GIANTS 32 – CHICAGO BEARS 13…
The New York Giants soundly defeated the Chicago Bears 32-13 on Friday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. While the Giants played without a number of starters, including running back Saquon Barkley, tight end Evan Engram, wide receiver Sterling Shepard, linebacker Alec Ogletree, and cornerback DeAndre Baker, the Bears sat all of their offensive and defensive starters.
The Giants’ first-team offense easily moved down the field against the Bears’ second-team defense on their initial possession, driving 79 yards in 10 plays. On 3rd-and-5 from the 8-yard line, quarterback Eli Manning hit wide receiver Bennie Fowler for an 8-yard touchdown. The Bears’ second-team offense responded with an 11-play, 55-yard drive against the Giants’ first-team defense to set up a 41-yard field goal. Giants 7 – Bears 3.
Daniel Jones took over at quarterback on New York’s second possession near the end of the first quarter. He connected on a 17-yard pass to Fowler on 2nd-and-14. Two plays later, Jones found wide receiver Cody Latimer for a 40-yard gain on a deep sideline pass. However, an untouched Jones fumbled the ball away on the very next play and the Bears took over at their own 24-yard line.
After two three-and-outs by the Bears and one by the Giants, Jones was stripped of the football on a 3rd-and-11 play on the team’s fourth possession of the night. The Bears returned the fumble to the Giants’ 12-yard line. However, defensive end Olsen Pierre sacked the Bears’ quarterback on 3rd-and-15, setting up a 47-yard field goal attempt that was missed.
On the ensuing drive, Jones connected with wide receiver Brittan Golden on a 27-yard catch-and-run that set up a 47-yard field goal by place kicker Aldrick Rosas. Giants 10 – Bears 3. The Giants quickly extended their advantage to 12-3 when Chicago botched a shotgun snap that resulted in a fumble out of the end zone for a safety. The Giants got the ball back on the free kick. Jones connected with running back Paul Perkins on a 26-yard screen pass. After two short passes to wide receiver T.J. Jones and a run by Perkins, Jones threw a perfect pass into the endzone for a 15-yard score to T.J. Jones. The Giants now led 19-3 with just over a minute to play before halftime.
The Bears appeared to have returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown, but a holding penalty brought the ball back to the Bears’ 28-yard line. Still, Chicago was able to drive the ball 63 yards in nine plays to set up a 27-yard field goal. At the half, New York led 19-6.
Chicago went three-and-out to start the second half. Alex Tanney was now in the game for the Giants at quarterback and New York also went three-and-out. After the Bears’ second three-and-out of the half, the Giants drove 71 yards to the Bears’ 1-yard line. But on 1st-and-goal, Tanney threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off and returned 62 yards by the Bears to the Giants’ 37-yard line. Six plays later, the Bears scored a 1-yard touchdown to cut New York’s lead to 19-13.
On their third possession of the second half, New York impressively responded with a 6-play, 60-yard score after a 43-yard kickoff return by T.J. Jones. On 3rd-and-8, Tanney hit wide receiver Da’Mari Scott for 38 yards on a deep pass. Three plays later, running back Jon Hilliman ran for a 10-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed and the Giants led 25-13 at the start of the fourth quarter.
After both teams exchanged punts, linebacker Jonathan Anderson forced a fumble that linebacker Josiah Tauaefa recovered, setting up the Giants at the Chicago 36-yard line. Six plays later, quarterback Kyle Lauletta threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Garrett Dickerson. Giants 32 – Bears 13.
An unforced fumble by the Bears that defensive end Terrence Fede recovered gave the Giants the ball back at the Chicago 24-yard line with 5:38 left to play. The Giants took 4:33 off of the clock before turning the ball over on down at the 3-yard line. Chicago then just ran out the clock.
On offense, Manning finished 4-of-4 for 42 yards and a touchdown. Jones was 11-of-14 for 161 yards and one touchdown. He also fumbled the ball away twice. Tanney was 4-of-9 for 54 yards and an interception. Lauletta was 2-of-3 for 13 yards and a touchdown. No receiver had more than three catches. Hilliman rushed for 56 yards on 16 carries; Rod Smith 42 yards on 10 carries with one fumble; and Perkins 35 yards on six carries.
Defensively, the Giants recovered two fumbles. In addition to Pierre, linebackers Markus Golden and Oshane Ximines each had sacks.
Video highlights are available at Giants.com.
INJURY REPORT…
RB Wayne Gallman (ankle), WR Sterling Shepard (thumb), WR Darius Slayton (hamstring), OT Brian Mihalik (burner), OT George Asafo-Adjei (concussion), LB Alec Ogletree (calf), CB Deandre Baker (knee), CB Sam Beal (hamstring), and LS Zak DeOssie (toe) did not play.
Running back Saquon Barkley and tight end Evan Engram were healthy scratches.
Cornerback Antonio Hamilton left the game with a groin injury and did not return.
POST-GAME REACTION…
Transcripts and video clips of post-game media sessions with Head Coach Pat Shurmur and the following players are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
Head Coach Pat Shurmur will address the media by conference call on Saturday. The players are off on Saturday and return to training camp practice on Sunday.
Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.
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