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So What Changed After the Bye?

By Chris Pflum

The Giants' offense didn't have a particularly great day outside of a few plays.

Credit where credit is due, the Bears' defense largely lived up to their billing as a top-five unit in the NFL. 

They were able to consistently frustrate the Giants' offense, holding them to just one (out of 12) on third down and largely suffocate the Giants' running game.

That being said, we did see some changes from the Giants on offense that have some promise.

Getting Daniel Jones outside of the pocket

Neither team did much for the first quarter and a half of the game, trading miscues, penalties, and defensive stops. 

However, we did see some changes for the Giants in their offensive play calling. Most notably, we saw the Giants try to get Daniel Jones outside of the pocket in the passing game. 

The Giants seem to have a love-hate relationship with their quarterback playing in space behind the line of scrimmage--we saw it frequently from them early last year with Eli Manning, only to see the plays disappear as the season wore on. This year we have seen these calls infrequently, but they can be effective.

In this game, the Giants got Jones out in space early and it had a few positive effects on their offense. The first was that it got him away from the Bears' pass rush. 

The Giants' line held up relatively well early on in the game, but as we saw, they could only slow Khalil Mack for so long before he impacted the game. 

Rolling Jones out helped limit the impact that Mack, and the rest of the Bears' pass rushers could have on the Giants' passing game. Not only does the threat of a quarterback run slow the rushers down and force them to respect their gap integrity, but by rolling the quarterback out, it gets him further from pass rushers while giving routes more time to develop.

Rollouts, by their very nature, also split the field in half, limiting the number of reads a quarterback has to make. For a rookie like Jones, who is coming out of a very simple college offense, cutting the field in half and shortening his progressions to one or two reads will dramatically speed up his processing speed and help him make quicker and better decisions. 

And again, by their very nature, rollouts change the quarterback's launch angle and throwing lanes. 

By changing those throwing lanes and launch angles, the Giants are able to put stress on secondaries and help scheme separation for a group of receivers struggling to create it on their own.

Attacking the perimeter

Over the last few weeks, we have seen the Giants try to run the ball up the middle. In a vacuum that would make sense--after all, there have been many studies done on NFL rushing production and they consistently show that the biggest factor is the play of the offensive line, and the Giants' two best offensive linemen are their left and right guards.

However, the Giants have largely struggled to run between the tackles. There have been a variety of issues, from a failure to get a push and create running lanes to sustaining blocks long enough for runners to get to the second level. 

There is also the fact that, despite being injured, what makes Saquon Barkley special is his ability to exploit space by forcing missed tackles and then out-running defenders. 

By consistently running between the tackles, the Giants are limiting the amount of space with which Barkley has to work. 

The Giants' have averaged just 3.79 adjusted line yards (per Football Outsiders) and Barkley has averaged just 2.3 yards before contact (per Pro Football Reference). 

While it is particularly in light of his ankle injury, Barkley has always been a player who needs to be in space.

They didn't sustain it over the course of the game, but we did see flashes of the Giants making an effort to attack the perimeter with off-tackle runs, toss plays, pitches, and sweeps. 

They might want to pound the ball and impose their will on a defense, but at this point, the Giants need to commit to attacking the perimeter in the run game. Over time the middle of the field might soften as they force defenses to spread out and defend horizontally.

Using sweep motion, such as what they did on Sterling Shepard's 22-yard run, will also help open up the defense for plays built off of those motions.

Using Barkley as a receiver downfield

It is mystifying why the Giants have very rarely used Saquon Barkley as a downfield threat. On their second drive, we saw one of those rare instances of scheming to attack the defense with Barkley. 

The Giants used Barkley on a wheel route, getting him matched up in space while also using a rub route to prevent linebacker Roquan Smith from getting even close in coverage.

Unfortunately, Barkley let the pass slip through his fingers and that was the last we saw of that play.

However, it should be a concept that becomes a staple in the Giants' offense.

Wheel routes, even without any kind of schemed rub, are incredibly difficult for defenses to defend. They force a linebacker – who is almost always going to be at an athletic mismatch – to cover in space and try to keep up with a running back who has the opportunity to get the ball in stride. 

When executed well, these are almost free yardage. When paired with other route concepts, wheel routes and angle routes can create chaos on the defense and give the offense opportunities for easy yardage.

Given just how good Barkley is in space, it only makes sense to get him the ball downfield and give him the opportunity to face just one defender and put that player at a disadvantage from the start. 

We saw it once; hopefully, we will see it more often going forward.

Turning now to the defense, this unit has been bad this season. There is no other word for it after we saw them let the Vikings get healthy and let the Jets score 27 points – more than twice their per-game average of 12 points entering that Week 10 game.

The Giants needed to make some kind of adjustment over the bye week because it was obvious that what they were doing wasn't working. Here's some of what they did.

Deone Bucannon at moneybacker

The Giants signed former Arizona Cardinals moneybacker Deone Bucannon last month, but he hasn't seen many snaps to date. 

He got his first start for the Giants against the Bears. David Mayo has played better than we expected from a player who was signed to be a special teams contributor, but the fact remains that the Giants simply need more speed on their defense.

Their base defense would have few answers for Bears' running back (and occasional receiver) Tarik Cohen, who can be one of the most explosive players in the league. That is likely why the Giants opened the game in their nickel set with Buccanon at his familiar role of “moneybacker”.

Bucannon has shown a solid ability to play downhill from the linebacker position, quickly processing information and easily flowing through traffic near the line of scrimmage. 

He finished the game with five total tackles, and his presence on the field might have contributed to the Bears' difficulty in consistently moving the ball in the first half of the game.

Less Dalvin Tomlinson and more Dexter Lawrence at Nose Tackle

The Giants have one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL. They feature the second-lowest pressure rate in the NFL (per ESPN) when sending four rushers. 

And while their pressure rate increases when blitzing, their young and porous secondary allow more yards, yards per attempt, and a higher completion percentage when blitzing.

In short, the Giants need to figure out some way of improving their pass rush when not blitzing with the players they have. 

And while Dalvin Tomlinson might be their most consistently good and technically sound defensive lineman, he isn't a great pass rusher. 

Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence, however, have athletic profiles that let them create pressure and disruption on the interior. That is likely why, when the Giants' opened the game in their nickel package, it was Lawrence and not Tomlinson who was lined up over the center.

In some ways, that plays to expectations but runs counter to what made Lawrence an intriguing first-round pick. 

Lawrence absolutely looks like a nose tackle at 6-foot-5, 340 pounds, but he was rarely a nose tackle in college. 

Instead, Clemson used his explosive power to attack the B-gap as a 3-technique tackle and only occasionally played him at the nose or 1-technique. 

When the Giants drafted him, the pick was met with derision because it was assumed that they spent a first-round pick on a nose tackle. But Lawrence proved disruptive as a 3- and 5-technique defensive tackle, attacking the B and C gaps. 

However, necessity reigns and if the Giants are going to play a 4-2-5 nickel set, they need a nose tackle, and if they want Lawrence's explosiveness on the field, that's where it has to be.

The Giants shouldn't want to have Tomlinson off the field too often, as he is a great run defender and has some pass-rush upside of his own thanks to his short-area quickness and hand usage. 

That being said, using Lawrence in this kind of rotation does help improve the overall speed of the Giants' defensive front and likely contributed to the Bears' ineffective offense in the first half.

The Giants will need to keep experimenting to find the right balance of personnel, package, and alignment to get the most out of their talented group of defensive tackles.

QUARTERBACK

Daniel Jones: We didn’t think that Jones had a particularly good game this week, but his final stats seemed to prove otherwise.

His numbers were a respectable 21 of 36 for 150 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions, with two rushing attempts for 27 yards. 

Even his quarterback rating dwarfed Mitch Trubisky’s – 86.6 to 69.0. And yet, Trubisky had the much better game (except for his two INTs), which the Giants defense “cured.” 

Jones faced the much tougher defense and predictably struggled. He had trouble finding anything downfield and is starting to have trouble going through his progressions. That’s what happens when you don’t have time in the pocket. 

And yet, somehow Jones produced “winning” numbers with so little running game, little pass protection, and help from the coaches. The pressure that this kid is under in the pocket for instance is consistently relentless, week after week. 

We are legitimately concerned that the punishment he is taking will take its toll. So far he’s somehow holding up under it all, but it sure ain’t pretty. 

His lone fumble this week came on a blindside sack where he had to hold the ball while Saquon Barkley tip-tapped multiple stutter steps before breaking off his route. Jones’ turnover problems have come from his holding onto the ball, but the kid’s gotta have somebody to throw the ball to in an offense that doesn’t get players open quickly enough for an offensive line that can’t give the quarterback time. 

Jones desperately need some easy completions, and it looks like he’s going to have to find them himself. Either that, or start breaking the pocket earlier in the game if only to slow down the pass rush a bit. 

We’d suggest rolling him out more often but every time he rolls out, he gets plastered while throwing short and incomplete to blanketed receivers. 

His only left rollout was a huge success when he faked an inside handoff to Barkley and hit tight end Kaden Smith in the end zone for a very efficient-looking 3-yard touchdown. Jones looks good on the move when the play is schemed to fool the defense. This play did that. 

The kid is very capable of executing on the move, but the coach can’t seem to scheme these plays into the offense. So Jones is stuck in the pocket where the defense is teeing off on him. He’s still standing tall, but he’s rarely afforded the luxury of stepping into a throw. 

He’s sure getting a lot of practice throwing with fire-breathing dragons getting inside his grill constantly. His spectacular 18-yard completion to finish off a fabulous 98-yard drive for the Giants second score came with Khalil Mack right in his face. We don’t know how he did it, but he did it. 

Give this kid credit for doing a lot of good things every week, including his 26-yard scramble and his picture-perfect throw to a free-running Saquon Barkley that was egregiously dropped. The kid is going to be good but he’s got to get some help. He’s not getting much out there and that’s a crying shame.

RUNNING BACKS

Saquon Barkley: What’s hurting Daniel Jones’ game is the lack of game that Barkley is bringing. Ever since his ankle injury in Week 3, Barkley has not been the same. 

His tendency now is to read-and-react in the backfield on handoffs instead of attacking the line of scrimmage. 

The only attack he shows nowadays is during the rare opportunities when he gets the ball in the open field. 

His drop of that wide-open flat pass this week was simply unacceptable; he never looked this average last year, but his reticence to attack the hole and his failures in the passing game are alarming. 

He’s obviously not himself, because he did all those things last year without hesitation or mistake. For a player to fall off the cliff this sharply has to be because of injury. 

We thought Barkley’s pass blocking this week was his best this year; he was quick to diagnose and stepped up smartly to take on his man before it was too late and losing momentum. 

We liked his aggressive attacks there. His best run this week was a 22-yarder that he broke wide into space, making a tackler miss and finally getting to that second level. 

He finished with 17 carries for 59 yards, his 3.5 per touch a big improvement over last game’s 13-1. But his paltry two catches for 1 yard this week was nearly as damning as that 13 carries for one yard rushing stat from his prior game. 

We’d sure like to see the quarterback over center rather than those shotgun handoffs, which just aren’t working. 

This whole offense isn’t working, and that’s not on Barkley or his rookie quarterback. It’s on the coaches who can’t seem to go away from what’s not working and try something else, like getting their quarterback under center. 

This offense seems terribly predictable, and that’s all on the coaches.

Wayne Gallman: Getting three snaps this week, Gallman got one touch for one yard between the tackles and otherwise did not contribute.

Elijhaa Penny:  Barely sniffing the field, Penny was not utilized in the least this week despite the team’s two starting tight ends being inactive. Incredible. If the Giants are trying to run a power game, then why they don't use the fullback is beyond us.

TIGHT ENDS

Kaden Smith: Getting the bulk of the tight end snaps this week with both Evan Engram and Rhett Ellison inactive, Smith stepped up and played well for his situation as a backup complementary-type player. 

He’s not very fast and not a great blocker, but his blocking was acceptable most of the time and he caught 5 of the 6 balls thrown his way with zero drops. 

He scored his first NFL touchdown by executing a nice misdirection pattern near the goal line and hauling in the short pass for the score. 

His other catches included a nice 11-yard catch-and-run. We like how he protected the ball and himself. 

He certainly has the look of a solid No. 2 or No. 3 tight end as his height and build are positional match-ups. 

He needs to get a bit thicker to help hold his blocks against bigger players, but in his first NFL start Smith more than held up to expectations, and likely exceeded some.

Scott Simonson: Simonson was decent with his edge blocking but he made a terrible decision on a third-quarter pitch, leaving a defensive back to crash the backfield instead of easily guiding him away from the action, which he had every chance to do. 

This gaffe resulted in a 5-yard loss and lead to a punt. Simonson did haul in his lone target for ten yards and a first down. Like his counterpart, we liked how Simonson protected the ball and himself after the catch while absorbing contact.

RECEIVERS

Darius Slayton:  Slayton opened up the game by picking up his performance against the Jets, catching an out pattern for a first down. 

He made his second grab late in the second quarter on a catch over the middle and he then broke a few arm tackles and worked his way down the sideline for additional yardage. 

Slayton ran a nice out route late in the fourth quarter for first down reception. He came back to the ball well, creating separation between himself and the cornerback Prince Amukamara, the former Giant. 

On 4th-and-4 late in the fourth quarter, Slayton made an out move then broke to the inside for a first down reception. 

Later in the drive on third down, Amukamara and the deep safety had Slayton bracketed. Slayton could not break free, but he needed to try and come back to the football on this one.

Cody Latimer: Latimer ran a nice out pattern on the second offensive possession where he ran the route right beyond the first down marker. 

He was not targeted the rest of the way, however, as the Bears play tough man-to-man defense and these Giant receivers have a tough time separating as is.  

Sterling Shepard: REturning after a five-week absence in the protocol, Shepard made his first grab in quite a while on an underneath route early in the first quarter. 

Late in the first quarter, he beat the coverage down the left sideline but never looked back for the pass resulting in an incompletion. 

The Giants ran a reverse to Shepard in the middle of the second quarter. He turned it up quickly and was able to pick up an easy first down. 

On 4th-and-4 early in the fourth quarter, Shepard ran a 1-yard route that resulted in a gain that left him short of the first down. 

On this one, we were again left wondering what the purpose is of running a route that leaves you short of the first down marker. If this was Shepard's decision, then he should have known better. If this was a play design, then this needs to be addressed.  

Golden Tate: Tate took a big hit on a punt return early in the first quarter and looked woozy, but returned. He wasn't so lucky later int he game when on his touchdown reception, he apparently suffered a concussion, as the Giants announced the day after that the receiver is int he protocol.

Early in the second quarter, Tate went over the middle on third down to try and get the first down but the pass was dropped. It was a tough ball to catch but probably should have been caught. 

Tate was targeted a few more times in the game but could not get on track. Tate did not make his second catch of the game until the middle of the 4 quarter for a short gain. 

Then on 4th-and-18 late int he fourth quarter, Jones threw it up in the deep middle of the end zone and Tate went up and got the ball and most importantly gained control and kept both feet in bounds for the touchdown.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Nate Solder: Solder did not have a game to remember by any means. He yielded the offense’s lone sack when Khalil Mack beat him around the corner for the blindside hit that became a fumble deep in Giants territory. 

Solder then compounded his beating by flubbing the loose ball, giving the Bears the turnover at the 3-yard line. The touchdown that resulted gave the Bears their two-score lead that they nursed to the finish line. 

Solder spent the rest of the day being walked back into his quarterback’s lap by Mack like a spinning top. It wasn’t pretty. 

His run-blocking was choppy as well. Solder and company need an offense that is a lot less predictable than this one. It’s tough to face the defense’s best player down-to-down with little misdirection or play-action to worry about. 

However, it needs to be said that the Bears coaches moved Mack to Solder’s side to take advantage of that match-up. They saw the weakness in Solder and let Mack exploit it.

Mike Remmers: Remmers had a decent-to-solid game on the pass block but he’s a far cry from dominating his edge. Even when he mirrors well he’s still being pushed back into his quarterback’s bucket seat more often than not. 

The Bears did move Khalil Mack away from Remmers early on when Remmers’ positioning game was keeping Mack under control. Mack prefers the speed game but Remmers was taking space away from him, as he then took space away from opposite speed rusher Leonard Floyd. 

We liked how Remmers dealt with speed but translating his positioning in power never quite worked. Remmers continues to be a liability in the running game as he can’t sustain a block to save his life, his poor balance preventing him from staying with defenders on the move.

Will Hernandez:  We were disappointed the 2-3 times that Hernandez allowed pressure, as he was beaten at the line of scrimmage each time. He’s a bit over-aggressive at the snap and needs to let the player come to him a smidge more. 

Hernandez is not a great recovery guy when beaten. However, he still played a positive game who can still look electric in space. His hit in the open field on an end-around was breathtaking for a man his size. 

Of course, these coaches can’t seem to find ways to utilize his unusual athleticism for that size. This kid can really motor in the open field. 

He was a touch slow to get outside on one of his early pulls and that’s on him. He’s got to continue to work on his footwork, but it would also help if he got more of these “move” plays to execute on a weekly basis. 

He’s a bit too valuable staying inside on his double-teams, which are often positives, but they were not very successful this week.

Kevin Zeitler: This veteran turned in a nondescript game this week, doing a lot of walling and mirroring but very little hitting. His run-blocking therefore created very little space, though his shields were positive. 

His pass blocking was once again solid enough but it had a couple of missteps, including finding himself on the ground a few more times than we’re used to seeing. 

Zeitler barely survived a Khalil Mack inside power pass rush late in the game but he stayed between the player and his quarterback just long enough for the pass to be released. 

He was also knocked on his behind on a couple of retreats and is not always holding up to power of late. He’s still regularly the second-best blocker on this unit (Will Hernandez regularly grades out the highest) but Zeitler lacks the punch at the point of attack that hurts people. 

His efficiency is usually enough but his lack of power is exploited a couple of times every game. Zeitler had to leave game on the offense’s final last-ditch drive when he might have aggravated the shoulder ailment that landed him on the injury report earlier int he year, but he only missed three plays and came back to finish the game.

Jon Halapio: When it comes to Halapio’s run blocks, he’s too often left standing around grasping for someone to hit but lacking the skills to get where he needs to go. 

His pass-blocking was solid this week but his run-blocking is as hit-and-miss at it gets, and is rarely an asset. 

Halapio is one of many reasons why this line can’t run block to save its life. We think a large part of it is coaching, or the lack thereof, but it’s not all on the coaches. 

They have to have talent they believe in. Halapio is just not starting material no matter what angle you’re looking at. 

The best thing he does is absorb power, but he still can’t stop penetration regularly. He lacks that quick-twitch thing, and it’s not even close.

Nick Gates: Getting three snaps at right guard in relief of Kevin Zeitler very late in the game, Gates looked sharp with each of his pass pro retreats, handling a stunt with aplomb and doing all he was asked to do and doing it well. Zeitler returned after those snaps to relieve Gates and finish the game.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Leonard Williams:  After two rather impressive games in blue, Williams played as invisible a game as you will see from such a large presence in the middle of the line. 

We spotted a couple of good plays against the run and a hit on the quarterback that was more from relentlessness than flash, and that was about it from Williams. 

The big guy spent a lot of time fending off solo blocking with his long arms but remaining chained to the line of scrimmage, rarely getting any penetration or pass rush. 

The Bears did a lot of rollouts with Mitch Trubisky which can take a team’s down linemen out of the play, leaving the edge players to make a play or two to stop it. The Giants edge players are not those types of players. 

Still, managing a measly lone assist on the stat sheet is no way for Williams to earn himself a new contract. 

He’ll be a free agent this off-season, but nondescript performances like this week’s where he showed so little flash or energy are reasons why he was on the trade market in the first place, and why the Giants were perhaps foolish in dropping several draft choices to get a long look at Williams. 

We did not like what we saw this week.

Dexter Lawrence:  Lawrence continues to have his ups and downs, mostly ups. His pass rush remains as powerful an inside presence as there is in the league. 

His early push and then ability to throw off that block to close down on the pocket can be impressive at times, but opposing quarterbacks are throwing so quickly to wide-open receivers so often that it’s really tough for these types of rushes to get home. 

Still, watching him close on several of these persistent rushes can be breathtaking for someone his size. 

It’s surprising to see Lawrence get knocked over by solo blocking in the pit; that happened twice this week, but for the most part, he controlled his gap and played a consistent team game that included a ton of disciplined contain and point-of-attack power. 

He finished with two solo tackles, both against the run, and was a big reason why the run defense was so stout this week.

Dalvin Tomlinson:  With this big guy leading the way as the defense’s best pit player for the second game in a row, the defense’s run domination wasn’t surprising. 

What was surprising was that the Bears even bothered to run at all as the pass defense continued to give up wide-open receivers on nearly every single down, so why bother to run at all? 

During this recent surge of his, Tomlinson has not only controlled the line of scrimmage with violent power, but he’s becoming a factor on passing downs as well. 

He got one nice hit on the quarterback this week and had another near-pressure, while his run defense was as stout and mobile as they come. 

Tomlinson dominated on a lot of downs this week and is emerging as a powerful presence. 

All of this improved play came when Leonard Williams joined the fold, which seems to have inspired Tomlinson to greater heights. This active version of Tomlinson is tough to handle.

B.J. Hill: This second-year player’s season continued to nose-dive on the stat sheet as he came up completely empty there, but we liked what we saw out of him in his limited snaps. 

The addition of Leonard Williams has really cut into Hill’s playing time, but Hill played hard and active ball this week, running well in space and playing his reads with discipline and power. 

It didn’t lead to much as he’s not playing with any sign of instinct out there. His reactions are slow. 

Once Hill gets going he’s a tank, but he’s not playing quick off the snap, there seems to be too much read-and-react in his game. 

He’s got tools, and young pit players often take a couple of years to reach a comfort level with their games. 

Nobody’s giving up on Hill, but it would help if he stumbled into a big play once in a while. To date, he hasn’t made a big play once all year, and that’s a problem.

R.J. McIntosh: Another talented second-year player, McIntosh got one lonely series on defense, ran well to the ball and actually hustled his way into a pursuit tackle with very limited snaps.

EDGE RUSHERS

Markus Golden: Golden got his weekly sack this week (on a nice hesitation edge rush that totally flummoxed his man) and had another taken away by a huge holding call in the secondary.

He made a huge tackle against the run on a fourth-quarter 3rd-and-short that got his offense one last chance with the ball.

Three of his four tackles this week came in the backfield. He consistently runs hard to the ball, never stops hustling, and is the type of player who could really thrive with a dynamic presence on his opposite edge.

Golden’s not dynamic enough an edge rusher to demand double teams but he is relentless in everything he does, is physical at all times, and should be an inspiration to his young teammates.

If we had our druthers about signing Golden or Leonard Williams this off-season, we’d go with Golden. He’s a real football player, and in our book, a winning ballplayer.

Lorenzo Carter: Carter’s stat line is often much like it was this week. He’s a jack-of-all-trades who does a little bit of everything out there, and seems to be a positive presence who would also benefit from a dynamic presence somewhere else up front.

We’re just not yet convinced that Carter can play a position as an every-down guy well enough to make a difference.

He had one pass defensed this week and is learning to anticipate the receiver screens that his long arms and quick reactions can thus discourage. His lone quarterback pressure came on a close down from the edge.

His initial rushes rarely get home, which means he’s being easily handled. Carter’s pass coverage is consistently positive, but his long legs were tripped by a teammate on a tight end coverage that broke the tight end wide open. (Fortunately, the pass was dropped. )

Carter managed four tackles once again closing down from the edge with his typically hard pursuit, but his edge contain is rarely forceful.

He’s got a lot in his game, but power and edge-bend are not on that list, and those are two key components of playing the edge.

He’s a great teammate, a great hustler, and there will always be a role for a guy with his speed and height, but his legs are too stiff and his upper body too wiry for him to be any kind of difference-maker out there.

A contributor? Yes. A difference-maker? So far, no.

Oshane Ximines: We’re starting to see little slivers of improvement in this rookie’s edge game. He had a couple of interesting edge pressures this week, one of which he totally beat his block, but a back came out of nowhere to double-team him at the last moment, robbing Ximines of a legit shot at a sack.

His play against the run has certainly improved. He’s recognizing what he’s got to do a bit quicker, and he’s getting his nose dirty in the scrum.

Also, we didn’t see him lose a single contain this week, albeit in limited snaps. This is how we prefer Ximines’ development, in smaller dollops like he’s been getting in recent weeks.

When he was needed to play more downs early in the season (due to injuries) he was in way over his head.

Now he’s getting smaller doses of playing time in more contained situations and he’s gaining confidence and it’s helping his game.

He’s a rookie making a huge leap from a small school and it’s going to take time, like so many of his fellow rookies.

OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS

Alec Ogletree:  Weighed down by getting all of these rookies lined up, we’ve never seen him play with so little intensity as he did this week. He looks discouraged and it’s affecting his game. 

The worst optic of all is him not being ready for the start of the play, reacting a count or two after the snap as he seems to be wandering about in his own little shell out there. 

Ogletree's leaping interception in the end zone was one of this week’s few big plays out of his defense, but the number of little plays that he failed to make, or even show an effort to make, was damning. 

His rampant disinterest in pass defense continues to be a concern. For instance, playing five yards off a receiver in his zone on a 3rd-and-2 and allowing the ridiculously-easy first down conversion, was as embarrassing as it gets. 

Ogletree is the captain and leader of this defense, and never comes off the field, so his performance this week affected every level of his defense. 

Two measly tackles despite so many snaps is shocking stuff. We’d much rather see a raw rookie making mistakes and learning the ropes than a player we doubt is int he team's long-term future.

David Mayo:  Playing his typically hard-and-hustle game, Mayo fought his way into seven tackles, one in the backfield, got lost in coverage a couple of times, and tripped Lorenzo Carter in coverage, thus being responsible for Carter’s man breaking free. 

Mayo is another one of those complementary pieces that all teams need, but like so many of his teammates, he is not a play-maker, and that’s what this defense needs. 

Seven tackles is good production from this honest-effort guy, but his talent and speed are suspect, especially in space.

Deone Bucannon:  The more we see Bucannon play, the more we see a natural football player with natural instincts whose lower body looks beat up and stiff, and who doesn’t seem to have much bend in his body. 

His instincts got him to the right place at the right time for five tackles in somewhat limited snaps this week, which is good production. However, his movements at times are lacking and stiff. 

He’s not a big hitter, making most of his tackles at the ankles. His veteran presence on this very young unit helps at times as he believes what he sees and reacts quickly and correctly to it, unlike so many of the hesitant rookies on the field around him.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

DeAndre Baker:  Baker did a good job closing on the tight end over the middle on the first defensive possession. 

He read the pass well and broke up the play. Cohen ran an end-around run late in the second quarter. Baker did a nice job holding his ground and stringing out the play for no gain. 

His receivers were not targeted much in this one which tells us that he was doing pretty well in coverage. It also helped that Corey Ballentine was mostly targeted in coverage int he third quarter, thereby reducing the number of times Baker was targeted.  

Janoris Jenkins:  On first down in the middle of the first quarter, Taylor Gabriel, a very quick receiver who runs good routes. ran an out pattern in front of Jenkins for an easy first down.  

Then, Allen Robinson went over the middle early in the second quarter and Jenkins closed quickly on the play to knock the pass away. 

On a sack early in the third quarter, Jenkins was called for holding. This gave the Bears a second life and they scored a touchdown on the next play as Mitchell Trubisky ran into the end zone to score late in the third quarter. 

On this play, Jenkins gave another half-hearted effort when, while playing outside corner, he just stood there and didn't come up to meet Trubisky at the point of attack, a completely unacceptable showing. 

Jenkins did come up strong on the final play of the third quarter to stop a screen pass in its tracks. He stuck his shoulder in and made a good tackle. This is what you are supposed to do. 

Late in the fourth quarter, the Bears showed as if they were going to go on fourth down then ran their punt return team in. The Giants, failing to fully substitute, left part of their defense out there and Jenkins went back to field the punt--except he didn't and the Giants easily lost about 20 yards in the process on what was an inexcusable coaching gaffe.

Jabrill Peppers: Peppers did a solid job in the middle of the first quarter when he knifed in to stop David Montgomery in the backfield. 

Peppers suffered a transverse process fracture, an injury that head coach Pat Shurmur said is one that the safety could potentially play through depending on his pain tolerance (though whether that will be the case remains to be seen). 

The Giants missed him giving help from the safety position, and if he has to be out for any extended period of time, they'll certainly miss him.

Sam Beal:  Getting increased reps as part of a rotation with Baker, Beal was beaten by Allen Robinson on a slant pass early in the second quarter on a 62-yard gain but it was called back as a result of a penalty. 

Beal really did not get much activity the rest of the way, but we hope to see more of him down the stretch.

Julian Love: After a pass was battled in the air late in the second quarter, Love came over quickly and almost came up with the interception. He didn’t make the play but we liked how quickly he came over and his effort. 

The second chance was easy and Love made the most of it as he came up with an errant pass and returned it 30 yards to set the Giants up in good field position. We hope Love continues to get a lot of playing time down the stretch.

Corey Ballentine:  Ballentine made a nice play on the first defensive play from scrimmage tracking the very quick Tarik Cohen and making the tackle for a short gain. We liked the quickness he displayed here. 

Allen Robinson went across the field and Ballentine overran him, allowing a pass to be completed early in the third quarter. On the very next play, Ballentine closed quickly again on Cohen to stop him for no gain. 

Ballentine was having a good game until the third quarter when he was targeted more often by the Bears. He got turned around on a slant route early in the third quarter and the result was a touchdown to Allen Robinson. 

In fact, Ballentine was attacked three times in a row in the middle of the third quarter. The big one was a 47-yard reception to Robinson then two passes caught by Anthony Miller. 

Working from the slot is not easy and Ballentine was having a lot of trouble maintaining contact with the receiver. Overall it was a tough outing for the youngster, but we still think he has a lot of promise and can be a solid player in this league.

Antoine Bethea:  The Bears really did not go down the field much so it was a quiet afternoon for Bethea. 

He did come up and make three tackles but his best days are behind him and we would much rather see some of the younger players get more playing time down the stretch. The veteran has lost a step and probably will not be on this Giant roster next season.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Aldrick Rosas: It’s true: Rosas is struggling. It’s also true that Rosas is a young player who is still learning what it takes to thrive in this league. 

Last year everything went his way and it was almost too easy. This year he’s having his scuffs and stumbles. It’s up to him to fight through it.  

After missing extra points in three successive games, Rosas followed that up this week with his worst game of the year (albeit in difficult, windy conditions and one due to a poor snap). 

He missed very makeable field goals of 42 and 43 yards, and then started the second half with a kickoff out of bounds that set up the Bears with field position for a touchdown drive that gave them the lead they would never relinquish. 

Though Rosas made both of his extra points, it must be said that there were bad snaps on both of his field-goal attempts (though both balls were placed down fine), a problem that has been present all season long and has perhaps interfered with Rosas’ rhythm. 

The bad news is that Rosas has allowed these imperfections to affect his approach, technique and follow-through. He’s got to be bigger than that and show the focus that is required to kick in non-optimum conditions. 

That’s part of the deal. It’s not always going to be perfect. It’s up to him to control his technique and make that as perfect as can be every single time. He doesn’t get to kick that often. 

Each time, his focus has to be complete and unaffected. If he continues to allow imperfection to bother him, then the Giants may indeed have a problem. 

A player with his size and talent is not going anywhere. He’s got all the physical stuff. It’s the mental that he needs to conquer. All kickers struggle at times. The good ones learn how to fight their way through it.

Riley Dixon:  It’s not often a very good thing when your team’s best player is your punter, but Dixon was just that. 

Not only did Dixon do his punting job at a Herculean level this week, but his holds on two successive bad snaps were almost inhuman. We’re still not sure how he got that second squib-snap down. 

We’re not sure how he kept his cool as the skidding ball approached him, and how his hands were able to snag it and then place it perfectly for the kick. Again, amazing job by Dixon. 

His punting was nearly as good. Dixon punted five times this week, grossing an average of 51.4, a net average of 51.2. That means he allowed 1 return yard in five punts. Amazing. 

Additionally, four of those punts were either fair-caught or downed inside the 20. Not once did he punt a ball through the end zone, and not once did he give his coverage team a chance to get down there under these consistently-high moon balls. 

Dixon consistently put the Bears in tough field positions. The defense of course consistently allowed the Bears to escape it. Dixon did every part of his job at a master-level this week. He was the Giants best player, even if nobody is talking about it.

Zak DeOssie:  The object of this space is a weekly focus that has been targeted for most of this year, and that is the quality of DeOssie’s deep snaps. 

We’re convinced that this year’s punt blocks have been exacerbated by the lack of speed of DeOssie’s snaps. One of his punt snaps was low; all of them lacked bite. And yet, that was not DeOssie’s biggest problem. 

That was his short snaps, two of which were unacceptable, one of them near-impossible to place. That both were handled well by his holder does not in any way relieve DeOssie of his responsibility in Aldrick Rosas’ misses on these snaps. 

If DeOssie’s snaps are affecting the placekicker, it’s a lot easier to replace the snapper. That’s going to have to happen this off-season as DeOssie’s advanced age and declining skills demand a change to be made. 

He’s been a fine deep snapper and punt cover defender for a very long time. All things come to an end.

Jabrill Peppers:  The more we see this guy play football, the more we like what we see. Peppers is a guy who cares so much and tries so hard that you want him on your side. 

This week he lobbied to return punts and kicks, and sure he enough when he got the chances this week, he delivered. On his lone punt return, Peppers picked up a short punt on the bounce and took if 40 yards up the sideline, nearly breaking it all the way with as aggressive a return as you will ever see. 

This kid goes 100 mph every time he’s on the field and leaves nothing there. That’s the kind of player we like. 

On the Giants' last kickoff return the coaches gave him the opportunity. We loved how he ran up on the ball, catching it on the run, and taking it right into the teeth of the coverage without fear.

After watching all of this week’s previous kickoff returns, it was nice to see one returned with such unbridled abandon. That he suffered an injury that could force him to miss time was the damper on an otherwise fine showing.  

Golden Tate: Tate’s two punt returns went 5 and 12 yards, respectively. The first one was erased by a penalty. Both returns were taken right into the teeth of the coverage, as north-south as you will find, which happens to be the only way to return punts and make plays. 

Tate shows both great guts and feel for this job, always looking to not only milk every yard out of each return, but to press the shortest way between two points for a crease.

Cody Core: The night’s lone coverage tackle came from Core who ran the Bears returner out of bounds. 

Core also made a smart shield block on Peppers’ big punt return, doing just enough at the perfect angle to avoid drawing a flag while breaking Peppers into the open field.

Cody Latimer:  Getting the kickoff return job, we’ve never seen such uninspired kick-returning on this level than the performance Latimer turned in this week. 

It seemed like his legs refused to get up to full speed, loping and cringing his way into coverage rather than attacking it. He posed absolutely zero threat to the opposition. 

For the record, Latimer’s three returns reached the 25, 22 and 19-yard lines. Talk about the law of diminishing returns!

I on Strategy

by Mike Iannaconi

If you're wondering why the Giants lost this game, one place to start is to look in the second quarter. The Giants started two consecutive drives on the Chicago 29- and 48-yard lines and ended up with no points. 

Another place to look is at the running game, which is still not able to get on track, and the receivers' inability to stretch the field.  

The longest play, before the fourth-quarter touchdown to Golden Tate, was an 18-yard pass play to Darius Slayton but this play was really a result of Slayton making a short grab and picking up yardage after the catch. 

Overall, there was no rhythm in the offense. And since the running game is nonexistent there is really no chance to set up the play-action. 

With Evan Engram continuing to battle injuries, the tight ends who have stepped in for him have not struck any fear in opposing defenses. 

This allows the defenders to spend a lot of time locking down on receivers who, other than Slayton really do not have the ability to separate on the mid-range or deep routes. 

They are unable to successfully get Barkley into the pass offense. He caught two passes for exactly one yard. 

There was another wheel route that was intended for Barkley but he was unable to hold onto the ball. 

There is no better friend to a young quarterback than a running back catching the ball out of the backfield. It provides a safety net and puts the offense in better down and distance situations. The Giants didn't have that this week.

The offensive line played well early on but had trouble as the game continued. The Bears logged eight quarterback hits and one key sack by Khalil Mack that lead to a Bears touchdown. 

Like last week, the offensive line was not helped much by the tight ends. At times it makes sense to chip the end rusher just to throw him off. 

The Giants' tight ends were not going to be big parts of the passing offense so why not have them give the offensive line some help? With all the issues Jones is having with fumbling the football it made sense to try and keep defenders off him.

The defense had an average outing. The bottom line is the Bears offense has not been good this season and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has not been accurate. 

Despite this, the Bears were still able to log a number of big plays which helped lead the Bears to this victory. Receiver Allen Robinson had 131 receiving yards and much of it came when he was working from the slot against Corey Ballentine. 

One of the toughest jobs in the NFL is playing slot corner. What we do not understand is when the opposition puts their best player in the slot , why wouldn't a team put their best defender against him? 

There are a lot of things we do not like about Janoris Jenkins' play of late, but if your objective was to win the game, Jenkins was likely the lesser of the evils to cover Robinson, and we feel that Ballentine could have gotten some experience on the outside.  

Tarik Cohen has played well against the Giants and one of the plans the Bears had was to get the ball to Cohen more often. They targeted him nine times and he finished with seven receptions. 

The good news for the Giants is he only had 29 yards. Although Ballentine had trouble staying with Robinson he did a good job of tracking Cohen throughout the game and stopping him before he was able to take it to another gear.

The run defense was strong for the Giants as it held the Bears to 47 yards on 19 carries. The defensive front has been much better in run defense as they have been much better at staying in their assigned gap. 

A defensive lineman must stay under control so does not create natural holes for the running back. The line has been a bright spot against the run but we would love to see them get some more pressure on the quarterback.

The Official Review

There wasn't much to report from this week's game which I thought was well and evenly officiated.

The hands-to-the-face call on the Bears was actually a good call. Although color commentator Chris Spielman complained that it could have been called both ways, such a call is typically not made unless the action by both players is egregious. 

In this case, I did not feel that the Giants player maintained contact long enough to warrant a flag.

The ball-handling by the officials on the last punt by the Bears was excellent. They managed to get a kicking ball into play from the sideline and spotted as the Bears changed platoons and then checked to see if the Giants would be making any substitutions. 

Once the Referee recognized that no one was coming off the Giants sideline, he released the Umpire and sounded the whistle to allow play to continue. 

Had the Giants shown any intention to change out players (as they should have), the Umpire would have stayed over the ball until the change was complete.

I felt the OPI call on the Bears on the PAT was a good, albeit marginal call. The offense has the responsibility to avoid the defensive player and despite the acting job, I thought it was clear that the play was designed to pick off the Giants defensive player. 

The fact that the flag came out as quickly as it did from the Side Judge also told me that this was something that the crew had seen when reviewing the film and was ready for such a situation. 

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