It was anything but conventional, but the New York Giants came with their third win of the season as they defeated the Chicago Bears 20-12.
It was one of the wildest games in recent memory for Big Blue in which at one point, Saquon Barkley was lined up as a wildcat quarterback. This was due to Daniel Jones having to leave the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury after being sacked by Jaquan Brisker. Then, Tyrod Taylor was forced to leave the game early in the 4th quarter after being hit in the head by Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon.
Taylor would not return as he would be evaluated for a concussion. Jones would re-enter the game at receiver while Barkley was in at QB before he would resume his normal role at quarterback later in the fourth quarter.
There were several Giants that had to leave Sunday’s contest due to injury to injury, and they are Julian Love (evaluated for a concussion), Evan Neal (neck), Kenny Golladay (knee), and cornerback Aaron Robinson (knee).
In his postgame press conference, Brian Daboll stated he did not know the extent of any of the injuries.
For New York to overcome this number of injuries to key players speaks volumes of the toughness and grit this team has shown over the first quarter of the season.
Sunday’s game against the Bears was as hard-fought and closely contested as the previous games were. The big difference was that New York’s offense finally showed life in the first half.
New York scores its first touchdown of the first half this season
After going three and out on the first possession of the game and falling behind 3-0 after Chicago came away with a Michael Badgley 29-yard field on their first drive, New York went on a six-play 75-yard drive that culminated in a Daniel Jones 21-yard touchdown run.
It was the first touchdown that they’ve scored in the first half this season. But it wouldn’t be the only time they found the end zone in the first half.
After the Bears would convert another Badgley field goal this time from a 22-yard field goal, Jones and Saquon Barkley would engineer another scoring drive. Jones would once again use his legs for the score as he scampered eight yards to make the score 14-6.
Chicago would pull closer as Badgley connected on a 40-yard field goal with 1:44 remaining in the first half to make the score 14-9 heading into halftime.
Related: 2022 NFL defense rankings
New York Giants pass-rush wakes up after halftime
The 23 combined first-half points between these two struggling offenses almost seemed like a shootout. But in the second half, both defenses began imposing their will.
In particular, New York’s pass rush came to life as they hurried and harassed quarterback Justin Fields all game long. Fields would be sacked a total of six times on the afternoon. Two of those sacks were by defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence who would have one of the finest games of his career.
The two teams would trade fields in the third quarter as Badgley connected on his fourth field goal of the game from 35 yards out, and Gano would connect on a 44-yarder with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter to give the Giants a 17-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
With the injuries to Jones and Taylor, the Giants would need their defense to step and shut down the Bears offense for good. And Wink Martindale’s defense would deliver.
They would force the Bears to punt on their first two possessions of the 4th quarter and never let the Bears get into New York territory.
The Giants would go on a 13-play, 54-yard scoring drive that saw Gano connect from 43 yards out to make the score 20-12. On that drive, Jones, Taylor, and Barkley lined up at quarterback, making it a truly unique drive for Big Blue.
Gano had a chance to ice the game with 21 seconds left, but the kick hit the right upright, keeping Chicago’s slim chances alive.
On the final play of the game from the Bears’ 33-yard line, Fields would connect on a short pass to running back Trestan Ebner, who would then lateral to Equanimeous St. Brown. Several laterals would follow before Ebner would get the ball back and fumble, which was recovered by Dane Belton at the Chicago 28-yard line to end the game.
It hasn’t been pretty, but Brian Daboll’s team found a way to win in a game in which they only had 71 net passing yards.
The player of the game was undoubtedly Saquon Barkley, who finished the game with 146 yards on 31 carries. It was Barkley’s 14th 100-yard rushing game of his career which is tied for fourth most on the all-time Giants rushing list.
Now New York will need to shift its attention to the Green Bay Packers, who they will play in London next Sunday.