The Chicago Bears lost to the New York Giants, 20-12, on Sunday. This loss breaks the Bears’ four-game winning streak against NFC East teams.
Buy Bears TicketsThis game was a match-up against two rookie head coaches in Matt Eberflus and Brian Daboll. Daboll was one of the coaches rumored to come to Chicago to help the development of Justin Fields. Of course, the Bears ended up signing Eberflus, and the rest is history.
Coming off an ugly win against the Houston Texans, the Bears had another brutal showing against an underwhelming Giants team, where there are still questions on offense, defense and the coaching staff.
Let’s take a look at everything we know about Chicago’s Week 4 loss.
Final Score: Giants 20, Bears 12
Keys to the Game
Lack of a passing offense: Justin Fields had 22 attempts in the air on Sunday, completing just half of them for 165 passing yards. Daniel Jones went 8-of-13 for 71 passing yards. It was an ugly game in the air for both quarterbacks.
Michael Badgley comes up clutch: The Bears couldn’t get in the end zone all afternoon. They had some chances to get points on the board, but their offense stalled out calling on new kicker Michael Badgley, who is filling in for an injured Cairo Santos, four times. Badgley went 4-for-4 in his debut with the team.
Bears defense kept them in the game: Despite how poorly the Bears’ offense was today, they were still in the game until the very last (failed trick) play. Chicago did have some players play poorly on defense, including rookie Kyler Gordon, but the unit as a whole rebounded after a brutal first half and kept things together long enough to give their offense a chance.
It was over when...
It was over when Velus Jones Jr. muffed a punt with two minutes left in the game.
The third-round rookie made his NFL debut against the Giants, which included a nice 19-yard punt return. But he made a costly mistake when it mattered, and it was exactly what New York needed to close out the win.
Though Chicago did get the ball back with 17 seconds to play, it was too little too late for Justin Fields and the offense to put together anything significant.
3 Duds of the Game
*Kyler Gordon: Gordon was beaten up by the Giants’ wide receivers, while also committing penalties that weren’t needed. This was his worst game of the season. He hasn’t been impressive in his first four games, but his play against New York was by far his worst.
**Bears Offensive Line: Despite the struggles from Fields, he hasn’t had much help from his offensive line. They allowed six sacks, including a strip sack. The offensive line hasn’t given Fields enough time to get rid of the football and make correct decisions. For another week, it appeared that Fields was rushed into making decisions.
***Luke Getsy: Though Fields attempted 22 passes, Chicago’s offense still couldn’t score. Getsy needs to take some blame for this, as even the rushing attack stayed out of the end zone. It’s now three games in a row where the Bears don’t have a passing touchdown – that needs to change if they play on being a threat this season.
What's next
Next Sunday, the Bears will travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings at Noon CT. This will be the first of two meetings between the division rivals, with Minnesota sweeping Chicago last season.
