3 takeaways from Giants' Week 10 loss to Bears
C.J. Gardner-Johnson of the Chicago Bears sacks Russell Wilson of the Giants during the fourth quarter in the game at Soldier Field on Sunday in Chicago. Credit: Getty Images/Patrick McDermott
CHICAGO — Three takeaways from the Giants’ 24-20 loss to the Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field:
1. At 2-8, the Giants still have to play seven more games. Are the players going to just give up if they decide this season is irretrievably broken?
“This [expletive] can’t be broken if I’m on it,” linebacker Brian Burns said. “If I can help it, this [expletive] ain’t gonna be broke. We’re going to stick together. We’re going to come back and fight. I ain’t got no give-up in my body. You feel me? If I got anything to do with it, I’m going to try and put it back together and keep us focusing on our next fight. I can’t speak for every individual man. It is tough, but at the same time, it’s our job.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll praised his team’s effort.
“The coaches put so much into it, the players,” he said, “and it’s painful when you have these endings. You stick together, and that’s what you have to do. But it’s not easier said than done. Those are tough, man. You put everything you got into it each week, whether it’s game-planning, practices. The guys competed their tails off out here for the whole game, and then to come up short, it’s tough stuff.”
2. The kicking game didn’t hurt the Giants. Well, the field-goal kicking game didn’t hurt the Giants.
Losing Graham Gano to a neck injury didn’t hurt as fill-in Younghoe Koo was perfect on two field goals (32 and 19 yards) and two PATs. The Giants didn’t place Gano on injured reserve, so he can return when he feels better.
But punter Jamie Gillan, who handled kickoffs, hit the opening one out of bounds, giving the Bears the ball at their 40, and then hit another one short of the landing zone for a penalty.
Gillan’s most consequential mistake was when he shanked a 26-yard punt with the Giants desperately trying to hold on to a three-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Bears took over at their own 47 and produced the winning touchdown drive.
3. The offense cratered to nearly a dead stop when Russell Wilson took over for Jaxson Dart
Dart was running around like a colt and throwing pristine passes before he exited the game at the start of the fourth quarter with a concussion with the Giants leading 17-7.
The Giants scored three points with Wilson under center and couldn’t get past midfield on their final drive when they needed a touchdown to retake the lead. Their last chance ended at their own 46 on a tipped pass on fourth-and-10.
Wilson finished 3-for-7 for 45 yards, ran two times for 12 yards and was sacked twice.
Daboll would not commit to Wilson starting next week against Green Bay if Dart is still injured.
“We’ll see,” Daboll said. “Right now, we just had a tough one here.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
