The New York Giants (0-1) will look to win its first game of the season when it heads to Soldier Field on Sunday to take on the Chicago Bears (1-0). New York is looking to rebound from its 26-16 loss to the Steelers Monday night. Chicago is coming off a 27-23 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions in week one.
The Giants run game was non-existent in the loss to the Steelers. Saquon Barkley rushed for only six yards on 15 carries. Luckily, the Bears defense struggled last week against the Lions’ rushing attack. Chicago gave up 138 yards on the ground and 93 came from running back Adrian Peterson. Look for the Giants to try and establish the run game early.
New York’s offensive line will need to have a significant improvement from last week’s performance. While struggling in the run blocking department, they also gave up the most pressures of any team in the league in week one. Daniel Jones was pressured on 26 of his drop backs, a stat the Giants will have to improve upon Sunday against a tough Bears pass rush.
Jones did have a decent performance despite the constant pressure. He completed 63.4% of his passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns, although he did throw two costly interceptions. The Bears gave up 279 yards and one touchdown through the air last week to Matthew Stafford, and came away with an interception.
Defensively, the Giants will have to slow down the Bears run game that totaled 149 yards last week. The Giants gave up 141 yards on the ground to the Steelers.
The Giants pass rush will look to pick up where they left off last week. They had 14 pressures on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and finished with two sacks. The secondary will look to have a better performance after allowing Roethlisberger to complete 65.6% of his passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns last week. Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns in its win last Sunday.
Prediction: The Giants are hoping to avoid yet another 0-2 start to the season. Barkley will look to lead the Giants offense into Chicago and get the run game off to hot start. The potential return of WR Golden Tate will help give Jones more options in the passing game. The offensive line will have to contain the tough Chicago pass rush led by Khalil Mack. I believe the Giants will go into Chicago and come away with a hard fought 24-20 victory over the Bears.
(Photo: Chris Szagola/AP)