Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Giants-Bears game at Soldier Field. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
CHICAGO -- After last week's frustrating loss to the Los Angeles Rams dropped them to 4-6, the Chicago Bears entered "play out the string" territory. With their playoff hopes all but out, it's time to evaluate the roster with some tough decisions coming this off-season -- starting with the starting quarterback. Evaluation time started today against the New York Giants at Soldier Field.
The Bears lost to the Giants in a wild, overtime game last season at MetLife Stadium (with Chase Daniel starting), so Chicago obviously came in looking for revenge. With Mitch Trubisky healthy to play after suffering a hip pointer injury last week, the Bears had their starting QB today going up against the Giants' young, struggling QB in Daniel Jones.
The Bears absolutely needed a win today against the woeful Giants for the sake of respectability and pride. A loss would've been inexcusable.
In the end, the Bears won an absolutely awful football game -- shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly and almost getting upended at home by the woeful Giants. But a win is a win, and 5-6 is better than 4-7.
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. (Pre-Game) The Bears elevated TE Jesper Horsted, a pre-season favorite, to the active roster this week and made him active today. With the Bears struggling to find a capable, contributing TE all season, why the hell not? See what the kid has. Meanwhile, I'm surprised and saddened to see WR Riley Ridley continue to be stuck on the bench. Clearly, the Bears like their other receivers better and there are only so many spots. But it'd be nice to see him get a chance to get his feet wet in the coming weeks. Javon Wims, who was less pro-ready in his first season, got a chance to contribute in his first season. Let's hope Riley gets his going forward.
2. On the Bears' first drive, Mitch Trubisky had TE Ben Braunecker open immediately for a first down, but he locked on to Allen Robinson and threw incomplete. After a couple weeks of largely good decision making, that was not an auspicious start to the game. For a QB whose biggest issue is still knowing his reads and reading defenses, he NEEDS to exploit a bad defense / secondary like the Giants have.
3. Well, on the next drive, Trubisky largely did a great job -- the drive should've resulted in a touchdown if not for a horrific drop by Ben Braunecker, who was wide open near the goal line.
But two plays later, Mitch threw an ugly pick in the end zone, which was also a nice play by Alec Ogletree. We'll have to review the All 22 to see what happened on the play, but live, that was a bad decision and throw. A promising drive results in no points. It's still 0-0 after one quarter.
4. The Bears have escaped a couple times thanks to some huge drops by the Giants on third down. The first one should've been a swing-pass TD to Saquon Barkley. But the Bears should be winning this game regardless, because a dumb penalty wiped out a huge, 60 yard gain to Allen Robinson on third down from inside the Bears' own 10-yard line. The Bears ended up punting and giving the Giants great field position. This team just cannot seem to get out of their own way.
5. This game has been an absolute nightmare so far. The Bears are committing penalties to wipe out good plays. They're dropping passes. The special teams have been brutal. This has been just an all-around ugly game so far. The Bears are a significantly more talented team than the Giants and are playing down to the competition and losing at home with 5:45 left in the second quarter. The Bears had a bunch of missed opportunities in LA last week. It's more shooting themselves in the foot this week. They need to play better, plain and simple. It's only a 7-0 deficit right now but that's still inexcusable compared to what the score probably *should* be.
6. The Bears escaped absolute shameful status, thanks to Aldrick Rosas missing two field goals in that first half, set up by the Giants starting with excellent field position on both drives. The Bears used the hurry-up offense before halftime to move the ball effectively, but stalled inside the 10 yard line to kick a field goal. That was an ugly sequence near the end, as Trubisky wasted about 15 seconds waiting for someone to come open before running out of bounds (for a loss). Then, the team couldn't get lined up and the Bears had to use their final timeout, necessitating a try into the end zone. They missed, but luckily Eddy Pineiro salvaged the drive with a field goal. The Bears trail 7-3 at halftime, but it could've been worse, even though it should've been so much better.
7. Bears open the second half and catch a couple of big breaks. Aldrick Rosas' kickoff went out of bounds. David Montgomery's obvious fumble on the first play was blown dead due to forward progress. And a Giants holding call on third down negated a sack/punt. On the next play, Mitch found Robinson for a 32 yard touchdown to take the lead. This has been an ugly football game by both teams trying to outdo each other's incompetence, but the Bears lead 10-7 with 12:12 remaining. If you're gonna play poorly against another bad team, might as well win? Let's hope.
8. Khalil Mack re-entered the sack column with a beautiful burst on a sack/strip on Daniel Jones (the NFL leader in this category). Good to see him with an impact play there. Mitch Trubisky then ran it in three plays later to put the Bears up 19-7.
I've gotta say, though, the ensuing sequence was just hilarious and sad at the same time. The Bears went for two and called timeout before then committing a phantom OPI on a made attempt. The Bears then instead attempted a 48 yard XP and missed it. So after all that, the Bears' lead remains 19-7. Just ugly.
9. Mitch with one of the worst INTs you'll ever see -- there wasn't a receiver within 15 yards and he threw it directly to the free safety. I mean, it's literally almost excusable for how bad it was. Luckily, the Bears stop the Giants on fourth down near midfield to take over. New York went for it earlier than I'd have imagined, but great tackle by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to force the TO on downs.
10. It's time to replace Tarik Cohen on punt returns -- he rarely chooses correctly. Yes, he's got big play potential but it's not worth losing yards on bad plays that generally overwhelm and outnumber his good ones. Cordarrelle Patterson can do better than this. The Bears just aren't good enough on offense to overcome mistakes like this.
11. Late game defensive breakdowns have started... the Bears allowed a 97 yard touchdown drive by the Giants. On 4th and 18 (!!!), Daniel Jones somehow found Golden Tate in the end zone for a touchdown. Eddie Jackson completely messed up on that play -- not being deep like he was supposed to be. What a brutal breakdown when that could've iced the game right there. Bears up 19-14 with plenty of time left on the clock and the Giants having all three timeouts.
12. Bears couldn't convert 3rd and 1 to try to seal the game. Matt Nagy called a play that should've made everyone happy -- David Montgomery in singleback formation, but they couldn't convert. The Bears might actually lose this game.
13. WOW, the Bears escape. After allowing a 4th down conversion on the final drive, the Bears escape on another 4th down with an incomplete pass by Jones. An awful, ugly game. But a win is a win. Bears improve to 5-6.
14. Bears with a chance to get back to .500 next week. They'll take it.
15. The Bears have a short week as they head to Detroit to take on the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. They won last year with Chase Daniel starting, thanks to Eddie Jackson's pick-six. Can the Bears win another one and ruin Turkey Day for the Lion faithful?
Early prediction: Bears 19, Lions 16.
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