Giant Takeaways: Giants Fall From Grace Continues After Loss to Bears

The bye week did the New York Giants no favors, as they fell 19-14 to the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.

New York looked to have the advantage in the first half, thanks to the poor play of Bears signal caller Mitchell Trubisky and the numerous penalties against Chicago. Yet, the Giants could only must seven points, coming off a two-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to tight end Kaden Smith.

That would be it for the Giants, as the Bears awakened in the second half and pulled away for the victory.

New York’s losing streak has now hit seven games, resulting in a 2-9 record on the season and a lot of lost hope for the franchise. While some of the takeaways will remain the same like in previous matchups, there will be some new ones as well.

Special Teams an Absolute Disaster

Just one season ago, kicker Aldrick Rosas was a Pro Bowler. You wouldn’t be able to tell that from watching the third-year placekicker this year.

Entering the Windy City, Rosas entered in prime situations to put points on the board. After a strong punt return from safety Jabrill Peppers to set the Giants up at Chicago’s 29-yard line, New York called upon Rosas to add three points on the board. Yet, a dreadful snap from Zak DeOssie resulted in Rosas hooking a 42-yard attempt wide right. On the very next series, Rosas attempted a 42-yarder, and eve with the laces out, he sent the ball wide left.

Oh, and to add to his hellish day, Rosas sent the second half opening kickoff well out of bounds.A true fall from grace from Aldrick Rosas, who may have kicked his way out of a job once the season is over.

Then, there was the fourth quarter. The Giants had stopped Chicago on a pivotal third-and-one, seemingly resulting in the Bears punting it away. Yet, Bears head coach Matt Nagy completely fooled Pat Shurmur by pretending to go for it, before sending out the punt unit. In the process, Shurmur didn’t have a returner on the field. The team had to resort to using cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who has no returning experience. As Jenkins called for the fair catch, Bears special teamer Cordarrelle Patterson downed the ball at the six yard line.

So, the Giants had 3:37 remaining with no timeouts and 94 yards to attempt a game-winning touchdown. The task proved to be too much for the Giants offense, resulting in them turning the ball over on downs.

No special teams = no success.

Saquon Still Stuck in Rut

Saquon Barkley simply hasn’t been the same since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After being held to one rushing yard against the New York Jets prior to their bye week, the hope was the extra week of rest would benefit Barkley. That wasn’t the case.

Barkley is still far from the running back that took the league by storm in his rookie season. In Chicago, Barkley rushed for 53 yards on 17 carries, while hauling in two receptions for one yard.

While he did find his groove later on in the game, he did struggle early on. The most notable was when Daniel Jones targeted him along the left sideline, on what looked to be a potentially large gain. Instead, Barkley dropped it.

While there were flashes of his old self, it just didn’t translate throughout the game. All eyes will continue to be on Barkley for the remainder of the season to see when he finally gets out of his rut.

Ballentine Bullied by Bears

For once, the defense didn’t have an all-around terrible game. New York held Trubisky in check throughout the first half, while also picking him off twice. But the third-year signal caller shined in the second half when he targeted Giants rookie corner Corey Ballentine.

It started in the third quarter when Trubisky hit receiver Allen Robinson with a pass, who was covered by the sixth round pick out of Washburn. Robinson hauled in the pass, and dragged Ballentine with him into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

The tough day only continued for Ballentine, as on a later drive, Trubisky targeted him on three consecutive plays, equating to 86 yards. Luckily for him, the yardage resulted in a Chicago field goal.

In the past, opposing quarterbacks picked on fellow rookie DeAndre Baker. Yet, in Ballentine’s first start in place of Grant Haley didn’t go as planned, but he can use it as a learning experience.

Jones Lone Turnover Not His Fault

Here we are again. It’s become a weekly occurrence for Daniel Jones, as holding onto the ball has turned out to be a chore.

During the team’s bye week, Jones worked on his ball security in hopes of finally getting it right. But all that practice is hard to translate onto the field when Bears stud linebacker Khalil Mack his heading your way.

In the third quarter, Jones stood in the pocket while reading the field. Unfortunately for him, Mack bulldozed his way past left tackle Nate Solder and hit him from behind, causing the ball to fly nearly 20 yards backwards and into the hands of the Bears. To make matters worse, it set up the Bears three yards out of the end zone, which they accomplished on a Trubisky scramble.

While Jones wows viewers with his ability to hit small windows and throw deep downfield, people will only remember the 18 turnovers he’s accumulated so far in his rookie campaign. Even though this fumble wasn’t his fault.

Shurmur’s Job Security Continues to Fall

The temperature increased on Pat Shurmur’s seat following their Week 10 loss to the New York Jets. With a week to rest and prepare for a struggling Bears team, the Giants still looked out of sync.

Shurmur’s play-calling and decision making still leaves many scratching heads. The coach preaches that there are improvements behind the scenes in a response to fan backlash, but the on-field product is 2-9, well worse than the 5-11 team just a year ago.

Prior to the game, rumors began swirling that the Giants have interest in Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as an option if the team moves on from Shurmur. Maybe it was a way to motivate Shurmur into winning out the remainder of the season, who truly knows. The answer won’t come until season’s end, but as of now, Shurmur’s stock continues to plummet off a cliff, despite the Giants praising him as a coach. 2-9 will only get you so far.

“Chase for Chase” Odds Increase

For those of you immersed in the “tanking,” here’s your latest update out of the Meadowlands. Following the Washington Redskins’ 19-16 win over the Detroit Lions, the Giants have now jumped up to the second overall pick in the NFL Draft order. Even if both teams lose out, New York would retain pick No. 2 due to their strength of schedule.

That means the Giants have great odds of selecting stud edge rusher Chase Young out of Ohio State. The junior Buckeye would immediately help the Giants pass rush and his performance this past weekend against Penn State certainly showed that. Young recorded three sacks and two forced fumbles against the Nittany Lions, while breaking the program’s single-season sack record (16.5), previously held by former New York Jet Vernon Gholston (14.0).

Unless the Cincinnati Bengals stun the world and don’t take LSU quarterback Joe Burrow with the first pick, Chase Young is destined to become a New York Giant.

What’s Next?

The Giants return home on Sunday, Dec. 1, to face the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers at 1:00 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium. Green Bay will enter East Rutherford very determined, after they were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers faces a potential “get-right” game against a young, Giants secondary. Can New York score an upset? Or will there losing streak increase to eight games?