There’s One Clear Hero In The New York Giants’ Victory Over The Chicago Bears

Dec 2, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants safety Sean Chandler (36) and the Giants defense celebrate a fourth quarter fumble recovery against the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Some might say New York Giants‘ veteran quarterback Eli Manning was the catalyst behind Sunday’s improbable win over the Chicago Bears. A toss-up in the face of pressure to Odell Beckham Jr. in the third-quarter was one of the premier highlights of the game, but, I would stake my claim in rookie running back Saquon Barkley.

The dynamic running back enjoyed another monster performance, recording 125-yards on 24 carries, averaging 5.2-yards per-carry. Barkley has now recorded three straight games with more than 100 rushing yards and is just 46 shy of passing the 1,000 yard mark. His greatness continues to grow, and his light burns ever-bright with each passing game.

The New York Giants had other factors in play in the win:

Looking at the game objectively, it’s easy to break-down the thought process behind a strong Bears team starting their backup signal caller. They chose to sit their franchise quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, in favor of Chase Daniels, which is a slap in the face to a lowly Giants team. The Bears thought it would be a walk in the park after Daniels had a stellar performance last week, earning 27 completions for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

With the Giants up 24-14 in the fourth quarter, time management was the priority, keeping the ball with the offense and running out the clock. As we know, the Giants can never make a win ‘that’ easy, so they went on to allow 13 points in the final quarter, tying the game and sending it to overtime. The boot of rejuvenated kicker Aldrick Rosas, sealed the deal, giving the Giants their fourth win over a team featuring the leagues No. 2 ranked defense. Once again, head coach Pat Shurmur reached the 30-point mark, for the third time this season.

But, we must address the stellar play of the defense in the first half of the game, despite a late-game meltdown. On the first drive of the game linebacker Alec Ogletree returned an interception for a touchdown, putting the Giants up 7-0. Ogletree has seemed to develop a sixth-sense for finding the ball recently, earning himself two scores in the past two weeks. He led the team with 10 combined tackles and two interceptions. Behind him was rookie corner Grant Haley, who has emerged as a solid player (8 tackles). He will be given more responsiblity as the season continues, as the Giants will look to get their young players live-action to prepare them for a more competitive 2019 campaign.

My biggest concern of the game:

The most glaring negative on the field for the Giants was safety Curtis Riley. To name a few mishaps, he dropped an easy interception that resulted in a Bears touchdown, and he completely whiffed on an essential block on the onside kick that allowed Chicago to tie the game and send it to overtime. His lack of talent at the safety position has been a major hole for the Giants, and will likely continue to be. I would not anticipate him sticking around for next season, unless he’s in a reserve role.