Why the Giants Will Beat the Bears, Why They Won't and a Prediction

The Giants have a good chance of going 3-1 if they can outduel the Chicago Bears in some key areas.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Oct 2, 2022 9:00 AM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

Chicago Bears

This weekend's matchup features the Chicago Bears at the New York Giants, a pair of teams that are 2-1 but who, if the critics are to be believed, have no business holding winning records.

Too bad, as the records are what they are. And by the close of this weekend's game, one of them will fall to 2-2 while the other advances to 3-1.

Will it be the Giants, who aim for a 3-0 mark at MetLife Stadium, over the Bears? Or will the Monsters of the Midway rise to the occasion and thwart their hosts in what would be an upset victory?

Read on.

Why the Giants Will Win

Considering that the Bears' run defense, ranked 30th in the NFL (157 yards/game), doesn't seem to believe in loading up the box with eight or more defenders, Giants running back Saquon Barkley could be primed to run wild as he did in Week 1 against the Titans, who inexplicably chose not to stack the box against him. If that's the case, expect a huge day from Barkley--and a win to go along with it.

Why the Giants Will Lose

The Bears have the league's second-best rushing offense (186.7 yards/game), and the Giants run defense ranks 25th. Although the Giants are expected to deploy newly signed inside linebacker Jaylon Smith in hopes of improving some of the run fits that last week were just atrocious against Dallas, the Giants will still be without defensive lineman Leonard Williams, whose absence due to a knee injury has been felt in the run defense.

Prediction

The over/under on this week's game per SI Sportsbook is 38.5 points, which sounds about right as these two offenses haven't exactly been juggernauts through three weeks of play.

The home team has won seven straight in this series, and given that the over/under on this week's game per SI Sportsbook is 38.5 points, we're expecting a low-scoring game. Give the advantage to the Giants on this one, as we think the attempt to upgrade the run defense by adding Jaylon Smith will help stop some of the bleeding that's developed since Leonard Williams was pushed out of the lineup due to injury.

Giants 19, Bears 17