The New York Giants fell to 2-9 on the season after their listless loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from the latest loss.
Daniel Jones shows his grit
Giant fans remember the days when Eli Manning was covered in grass stains and dirt after a hard day’s work. On Sunday, Jones did what he could to penetrate the Bears’ aggressive defense and took many a hit in the process. Overall, he did fairly well, but on the Giants’ final series of the game, Jones sustained a cut on his throwing hand between his index and middle finger, which affected his passing. His final three passes were incompletions.
After the game, Jones sloughed off the injury admitting he did not know how it happened but confirmed he would not need stitches. The team’s seventh straight loss is what hurt him the most.
“It’s tough,’ said Jones. “No one likes to lose. Everyone in this locker room, everybody that’s part of the organization, is trying to do what we can to correct it. We got to keep doing that, look at what we’re doing, get better. Right now, it’s not good enough.”
No, it’s not.
DeAndre Baker catches a break, Corey Ballentine does not
Baker’s issues coming into the game were well known, but the Bears chose to basically stay away from him and picked on another rookie instead. Janoris Jenkins played all 76 defensive snaps but Baker, the other starter at corner, played only 48. He shared time with Sam Beal, but Ballentine played 64 snaps. The Bears decided to test Ballentine and found success several times.
“I don’t know that,” said head coach Pat Shurmur when it was suggested the Bears were targeting Ballentine. “You’d have to ask them that. Everybody’s got to cover their guy.”
The Bears’ four longest pass plays came at the expense of Ballentine, all late in the third quarter and all on either first or second down.
(9:44) M.Trubisky pass deep right to A.Robinson to NYG 45 for 49 yards (C.Ballentine).
(12:19) (Shotgun) M.Trubisky pass deep middle to A.Robinson for 32 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
(14:14) M.Trubisky pass deep left to A.Robinson to NYG 37 for 23 yards (C.Ballentine).
(9:02) (No Huddle, Shotgun) M.Trubisky pass deep left to A.Miller to NYG 23 for 22 yards (C.Ballentine).
Ballentine also allowed a 14-yard gain to Anthony Miller in the second quarter.
“You just keep battling, keep fighting,” said Shurmur. “Unfortunately, there’s plays that are made on you throughout the game, then you just keep fighting to keep them out of the end zone, which we did a pretty decent job of for the most part. You just keep fighting. The young players just keep playing.”
Ballentine kept battling, but lost most of the time. He did lead the Giants in tackles with nine (eight solo), but was not credited with a pass defensed.
Patience on Aldrick Rosas could be wearing thin
Aldrick Rosas missed two more kicks on Sunday, field goal attempts of 42 and 43 yards in the second quarter — one wide right, the other wide left. He has now just made eight of his 12 attempts on the season. He’s also missed three PATs this year. A far cray from his Pro Bowl form of a year ago.
To add insult to injury, Rosas’ kickoff to open the second half, trickled out of bounds, giving the Bears the football on their own 40.
“I would say frustrated,” Rosas said after the game. “Obviously, we’re not in the position we want to be in at this point of the season. It’s just frustrating.”
“I think it’s pretty obvious what happened today. We just didn’t make them,” said Shurmur of the field goals. “There are three parts to it. You need to snap, you need to hold and you need to kick. We missed two today. But we just have to move past that.”
