Giants-Bears instant grades: New York again fails to protect a lead

The New York Giants seem to find their way into the most creative losses in sports. This team cannot finish; it is unable to make clutch plays, and coach Brian Daboll’s cautious approach bit the team in the rear end once again. The Giants kicked a 19-yard field goal with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter to go up 20-10.

Predictably, with this iteration of the Giants, the Bears remembered how to play football and scored 14 points on their final two drives, defeating the Giants, 24-20. Another catastrophic meltdown. It’s inexcusable at this point.

Excuses will include Dart’s injury; is it viable to a certain extent – sure – but what is one to expect when the team’s rushing attack is the quarterback? Injuries are bound to happen with that approach. The Giants’ offense is uber conservative anytime Russell Wilson is behind center. Jameis Winston should receive future looks in future situations. Here are the grades from the game.

Quarterback

Dart left the game with a concussion. Russell Wilson relieved Dart and led a field goal drive. Wilson did valiantly attempt with his legs on third down from the 4-yard line, but was thrown to the deck by a Bears’ defensive lineman; the Giants kicked a 19-yard field goal.

Wilson looks so uncomfortable when he’s the signal caller. Every time Dart has left play, Wilson has looked overmatched. It would be lovely if the Giants had another reliable option in these situations. Jokes aside, there’s no excuse for dressing Wilson over Winston at this point. Wilson finished 3 of 7 for 45 yards and was sacked twice.

Dart is a football player – and a good one at that. Not only is he tough, but his ability to find answers is a precocious trait that’s been displayed all season. The two-minute drive at the end of the first half was impressive, even with the almost interception that was punched out by Gunner Olszewski.

New York never got going on the ground, other than designed quarterback runs to Dart until late in the second half. The quarterback runs that were so effective did lead to the third-quarter fumble, which gave the Bears the necessary energy to spark an improbable comeback that is seemingly a certainty against this Giants’ team. Dart finished 19/29 for 292 yards with 66 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.

Grade: B

Running Back

The Giants could do nothing on the ground in the first half. The holes were nonexistent and the running backs had little impact on the game. Still, the Giants were employing an effective play action passing attack led by Dart and there were a few quality blocks by the backs in pass protection.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. had 16-yard run after the Giants’ backs gained 6 yards on nine carries. Dart had his second rushing touchdown, the 56 yard untouched BASH scoring play, after that Tracy Jr. run. Other than the ten play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard field goal with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter, the Giants backs did little. Devin Singletary did have an epic 41-yard catch-and-run from Wilson on third-and-1. At this point, Singletary seems more effective than Tyrone Tracy Jr. even though the latter had a few nice runs in the game.

Grade: C

Wide Receiver

Darius Slayton made his presence known early in the game with a sensational one-handed 31-yard back-shoulder grab that was followed with a 38-yard catch on the next play. Slayton briefly left the game with a hamstring injury before halftime, but finished with four catches for 89 yards on four targets. Wan’Dale Robinson had his role; caught six for 62 yards on 11 targets. Slayton and Robinson were the only two receivers with catches. Gunner Olszewski had two targets, along with an excellent play on a punch-out would be interception. There’s just not enough depth or continuity with receivers behind Slayton and Robinson.

Grade: C+

Tight End

Theo Johnson made several tough catches over the middle of the field and he was Dart’s favorite target; he secured seven catches for 75 yards on eight targets in the game – all but one were in the first half. Johnson and Slayton needed reliable performances. Both delivered that. Daniel Bellinger failed to hang onto a fourth-down touchdown in double-coverage; he had the ball in his hands but it was wrestled away once the players hit the deck.

Grade: B+

Offensive Line

The Giants offense struggled to run the football from under center until the end of the third quarter, and then that ceased. The first nine running back carries had a 6-yard net – it was tough to watch. However, the creativity of the Giants’ rushing attack through formation overloads and, eliminating backside defenders through reading, lead to excellent blocking on the edge for designed QB run/reads. Dart had two rushing touchdowns – both were perfectly blocked by the Giants.

Up 10, 8:41 left in the game, with the Giants attempting to win a close game, the Giants offensive line committed a false start (Runyan Jr.) and a holding penalty (Austin Schlottmann). The protection was solid from the Giants; Dart was sacked just twice. New York would go three and out on that and the subsequent drive. They surrendered four sacks for a loss of 25 yards.

Grade: C

Defensive Line

The Giants defense had a bounce back game until the recoil stopped, which was before the clock hit zero. Both Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter had sacks negated by penalties. New York committed 10 penalties for 69 yards. As for the defensive line, specifically, Roy Robertson-Harris flashed a bunch in the game, making plays down the line of scrimmage in the run game. He had five tackles in the game Lawrence was generating some push up front, but had little impact other than the negated sack. The Giants were lighter with their personnel than they were against the 49ers last week.

Grade: C+

Edge

Time and again, it looked as though the Giants were about to bring down Caleb Williams off the edge, but the second-year quarterback consistently escaped pressure. Much like the team as a whole, the edge defenders struggled to finish plays. Carter’s first full NFL sack was wiped out by yet another penalty in the secondary, while Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux each came within inches of several takedowns. The pressure was consistent — the execution wasn’t.

Carter saw snaps at the second level and occasionally served as a spy on third downs. His presence caused some hesitation from Williams, but the trio’s overall impact fell short of what the Giants needed.

Grade: C+

Linebacker

Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was an upgrade over Darius Muasau next to Bobby Okereke. Flannigan-Fowles made important open field tackles and had a huge quarterback hit against Williams late in the fourth quarter on a blitz. He lead the Giants’ defense with seven tackles. Okereke had important coverage on the fourth-and-3 with 8:51 left in the game. It was the Bears’ third time turning the football over on downs. He finished with six tackles. However, there’s still a ton of space in the middle of the field when the opposing team is passing.

Grade: B

Cornerback

Ben Johnson attacked Tae Banks early in the game and Korie Black relieved the overwhelmed former first-round pick. Rome Odunze was open early and often; the Giants secondary had wide holes in their zones, but players like Dru Phillips were slightly better against man coverage. Cor’Dale Flott had a tough first half with a penalty that extended a Bears drive on third down and a missed tackle that led to a fourth-down conversion for D’Andre Swift.

The comeback drive was assisted by Banks, who returned to play in the second half. Banks took a bad illegal contact penalty that negated a Carter sack and then Banks grabbed Rome Odunze, which prompted a pass interference that resulted in 19 yards and a red zone trip for Chicago. Tae Banks is Tae Banks and Ben Johnson attacked him when he needed a big play.

Banks, Phillips, and Flott all struggled and the Giants dearly miss Paulson Adebo. The three cornerbacks were handsy and took multiple pass interference and illegal contact penalties. Williams threw for 220 yards with one touchdown to Odunze. A Olamide Zaccheaus drop and a ball – that was difficult to catch – but was not secured by DJ Moore could have led to massive stats for Williams.

Grade: D+

Safety

Tyler Nubin had seven tackles and suffered an injury in the second half. Nubin and Holland weren’t as visible on the non-All-22 film, but there were holes in the secondary dialed up by savvy route concepts from Ben Johnson. I’ll have more information on exactly how the safeties played after watching the All-22.

Grade: C

Special Teams

The weather conditions dictated for much of the game, and It wasn’t a great start for the Giants on special teams. Jamie Gillan was horrible. He sent the opening kickoff out of bounds, giving the Bears the football at the 40-yard line. Then, with three seconds left in the first half, Jamie Gillan put the kickoff short of the landing zone, giving the Bears the football at the 40-yard line; at least Younghoe Koo converted the field goal which prompted Gillan’s second mistake. Koo also converted a 19-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter to give the Giants a two score lead.

Gillan than shanked the punt, up three, with three minutes left in the game. The punt went 26 yards and gave Caleb Williams the football at the Bears’ 47 yard line. Inexcusable.

Grade: F

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