Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Giants game at MetLife Stadium. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Chicago Bears sneaked their way to 2-1 last Sunday at home against the Houston Texans. Thankfully, a brutal game from Justin Fields didn’t bite them in the end, as Roquan Smith jumped in front of a Davis Mills tipped pass in the final minute to set up a walk-off field goal.
Roquan bails out the Bears in a game they probably deserved to lose. At home. To the TEXANS.
Bears are 2-1, but big big big problems in Justin Fields land.
Should I even bother watching this tape?
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) September 25, 2022
This week, the Bears traveled to East Rutherford, NJ to take on an equally surprising 2-1 New York Giants team who are quite similar to them.
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Both teams have had brutal QB play. And both teams have had excellent running games with decimated WR rooms. Limiting mistakes and sound defense were the keys to this game.
Like every Bears game ever.
A windy and rainy MetLife Stadium made those keys even more paramount. Win, and get to a surprising 3-1 with two key NFC wins. Lose, and head into a divisional road game next week with their heads hung low.
In the end, the Bears couldn’t get out of their own way and failed to capitalize on opportunities, losing a brutal game to a bad Giants team to fall to 2-2.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (PREGAME) — A couple key things to note heading into this game:
- David Montgomery and Jaylon Johnson are both out for this game, as expected
- Cairo Santos is also out for a personal reason. Veteran kicker Michael Badgley was signed in his place — but for an expected windy and rainy day, this is a huge disadvantage for Chicago
- Rookie WR Velus Jones Jr. is expected to make his NFL debut, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter
Lots of interesting developments that are bound to impact this game.
2. Interesting start to the game. After the Bears got a 3 and out from the Giants to start, the Bears drove down the field near the red zone after a nice throw and some good scrambles, settling for a field goal.
I liked what I saw there on that drive from Fields, though. Finally more decisive and reacting better.
Want to see this continue past the opening script.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
Then the Giants unleashed an offense series where they attacked the edges with Saquon Barkley and beautiful play fakes and boots with Daniel Jones and marched down the field quickly for a touchdown. That happened with EASE, too. Bears lost contain a lot and were fooled on almost every play. That needs to be tightened up.
Pretty awesome series from NYG. Bears were constantly fooled.
Have to tighten that up.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
The good news is, Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney connected on a 50+ yard air yard throw on the ensuing drive! It led to a field goal, but it was well placed and the catch was terrific. Good to see these two getting things going.
Giants up 7-6 after one quarter.
3. Justin Fields got sacked and fumbled near the red zone just after a nicely executed screen picked up 24 on 3rd and 20. The Giants recovered, ruining an opportunity for Chicago to take the lead.
Brutal there. Cody Whitehair just jogged towards the loose ball, too. No hustle there.
Braxton Jones got beat on the left side, as did Sam Mustipher up the middle. But it seems the ball just slipped out of Fields’ hand when he motioned up to throw. I didn’t see anyone hit his arm.
Cody Whitehair is going to HITS jail on that one.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
4. Missed tackle after missed tackle. Saquon Barkley with some special contact balance. And another confused defense on a boot and Daniel Jones has his second touchdown run. The Bears ending drives with field goals and the Giants scoring touchdowns is a massive differential today.
This cannot be a more rough display this afternoon so far against a bad Giants team.
14-6 with 5:17 remaining, and the Giants already have 123 rushing yards…
The Giants have 123 rushing yards with 5:17 left in the second quarter.
Saquon has been awesome anyway, and it seems the Bears HAVE to deploy a spy on Daniel Jones now.
Whew.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
5. Justin Fields converted a first down with his legs on the ensuing drive, though while he was in the pocket, Darnell Mooney drifted completely uncovered up the seam. That should’ve been six. Instead, the Bears later settled for a field goal. It’s those kinds of plays that you HOPE Fields learns from as he gets more experience… but it’s just a bad look.
I appreciate that Fields scramble, but man, he's gonna see a wide open Mooney in his dreams tonight.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
14-9 Giants at halftime.
6. Halftime thoughts:
- The Bears had no answers for Saquon Barkley or Daniel Jones’ legs.
- Justin Fields has been just OK, all things considered. He’s had to scramble a bit and was hit/sacked a lot in the first half, but he’s leaving plays on the field and inviting some of that himself. It’s still frustrating.
- Cody Whitehair going immediately “Doubtful” with a knee injury is rough. Lucas Patrick will take over at LG and Teven Jenkins RG for the rest of the game, but an OL being basically ruled out that quickly is never a good sign.
- I’d like to see the Bears attack the edges in H2. Sweeps, end-arounds, etc. would be good to see. Get the Giants’ D running side to side.
7. After a decent drive to start the half, including a nice Fields-Mooney conversion, an TE screen call that didn’t go far resulted in a FG attempt — which Badgley drilled. The red zone struggles are quite aggravating, but it’s 14-12 Giants.
Also, Kindle Vildor has really stepped up on defense this year. He’s playing like a decent CB2, which is big! His play led to a Giants punt.
8. Kyler Gordon, on the other hand, my word. He’s struggled big time — and was a culprit for three straight plays on a drive that the Giants started inside their own 20. A bad defensive hold, losing contain, and then a 40-yard PI. A clear target.
Kyler Gordon continues to be a liability.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
Frankly, the Bears ought to just give Gordon one spot and stick with it (and I think it should be outside corner … he is overwhelmed in the slot).
17-12, Giants, after the FG.
9. Bears’ offense is just a mess. After a beautiful interception from Eddie Jackson (CF style!), the Bears had momentum, but a three-and-out followed. They just haven’t had any answers for Wink Martindale’s blitzes. None.
EJax is really back.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
And you won't guess what happened next!
3 and out.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
10. Daniel Jones got injured. Then Tyrod Taylor got injured. And then Saquon Barkley started running the Wildcat. Repeatedly.
And yet:
Matt Eberflus' defense is getting absolutely shredded by a team without a quarterback.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
Pretty entertaining, to be honest. Not so much if you’re a Bears fan, though.
20-12, Giants, with about five minutes left.
11. Look, the defense has been bad today against a generally bad offense. But the Bears’ offense has 12 points. This team just looks slow and … not smart … on the road.
12. Luke Getsy has been brutal today. No creativity. No rhyme or reason. No answers to the blitz. Simply put, it was just bad.
13. Velus Jones muffs the final punt to put a bow on an absolutely brutal loss. Not once did the Bears deserve to win today.
Velus Jones with a debut to forget. Bears lose an awful football game.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 2, 2022
14. Chicago being 2-2 after four games is what most people would’ve had them at. The way they went about this, though, is just odd. It’s been a weird season. Unfortunately, next week’s game in Minnesota is sure to be rough for this team. A divisional loss to put them 0-2 in the division would be quite the hole, but that’s basically what this team is at this point.
Early prediction: Vikings 31, Bears 13.
The Bears need only 3 yards for a 1st down…instead of a slant beyond the marker, they throw a pass behind the line and gain 1 yard. I have been watching them do the same thing for 20 years or more….when will they learn? Then a run up the gut that everyone knew was coming? Go back and watch how Fran Tarkenton used to fake handouts, then run around the end for a first down…please!
These were NOT observations.rather a summary of the game.
1 thing that might help Fields is to fix his release. It is very slow and almost wind-up like. Which is IMO is why he has trouble getting in to tight windows. Muck like Trubisky I have never seen him change a play at the line of scrimmage.
The only thing worse than the coaching was the effort displayed by many of the players. There were a couple of guys balling out but way too many loafs. This team brought a bit of an edge early on but that is all gone and Flus will be too before long.
L Getsy and A Wlliams are both Nagy 2.0! Neither one seems to know or understand how to make adjustments and utilize players to their strengths. Getsy’s scheme and play calling is atrocious and totally elementary, he is in way over his head just as Nagy was, he refuses to recognize his scheme is a failure and adjust to any of the plays that utilize J Fields strength or capitalize on the speed of his WRs.A Williams scheme utilizes nothing of the speed or strengths of his players, no imagination or desire to utilize designed blitzes. Eberflus needs to take… Read more »