The New York Giants lost their seventh consecutive game on Sunday, falling to the Chicago Bears, 19-14, at Solder Field in what may have been the ugliest display of football all season (if not longer).
The Giants did have a chance to pull off a miracle at the end, but Daniel Jones was unable to channel his inner Eli Manning and watched as his final fourth-down attempt fell harmlessly to the ground.
Here’s a look at Sunday’s winners and losers (and those in between):
Winners
Julian Love: Love wasn’t just eased into the defensive rotation, he was straight-up thrown into the fire. The results? They were largely positive. While it wasn’t perfect, Love made several key plays, including his first career interception off the arm of Mitchell Trubisky. He also made two other potential touchdown-saving plays.
Markus Golden: On a defense that simply doesn’t play well at all, Golden continues to make his presence felt and Sunday was no different. Not only did Golden record another sack, he added several other pressures and a couple batted balls at the line of scrimmage. He also came up with a huge 3rd-and-1 stop late in the fourth quarter, giving the Giants an opportunity for a last-minute win.
Riley Dixon: It’s a sad day when a punter is one of the few players to appear in the “winners” column, but here we are. But don’t let that be a reflection of Dixon himself, who had quite a day, averaging 51.4 yards per punt with four being downed inside the 20.
Others: Golden Tate, Jabrill Peppers
Losers
Daniel Jones: Jones had his first taste of an elite defense on Sunday and he did not fare all too well. He finished the game completing 21 of his 36 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but he also lost a fumble and had two other interceptions dropped. He missed several of his targets and just generally appeared out of sorts.
Eli Penny: Penny missed a block on the first run of game and later committed a holding penalty on a punt return. After that, he fell silent and that includes in the running game, where the Giants have now proven themselves incapable of blocking at any level.
Zak DeOssie: It’s a sad reality, but DeOssie’s NFL career has run its course. Once an automatic long-snapper, he’s become one of the Giants’ many liabilities this season and cost them some points on Sunday. He rolled a snap leading to an Aldrick Rosas miss, which was his fifth consecutive game with a sailed kick.
Aldrick Rosas: An All-Pro a season ago, Rosas is arguably the worst kicker in football right now. Sunday yielded two more missed field goals (one off a bad snap) and a kickoff out of bounds. He’s now missed at least one FG or PAT in five consecutive games.
Corey Ballentine: Sunday was a true “welcome to the NFL” moment for Ballentine, who was determined by Matt Nagy to be the weak link after halftime adjustments. The Bears began to exclusively target Ballentine, who at one point in the third quarter surrendered five straight completions for well over 100 yards.
Others: Jon Halapio, run blocking, play-calling, coaching
Mixed reviews
Janoris Jenkins: Sunday was a typical Jenkins-type of game. There were moments where he looked like a lockdown corner, batting passes away, knocking the ball out of a receiver’s hands and playing well against the run. At other times, he was giving too much cushion, allowing first downs and making errors against the run. A true 50-50 kind of game for The Jackrabbit.
Saquon Barkley: It was another unimpressive day for Barkley save for a run or two. He dropped a would-be touchdown early in the first half and took until late in the fourth quarter to finally secure a break-out run. He finished the gamer with 59 yards on 17 carries, and one of those went for 22 yards.
Nate Solder: Solder was in the “winners” section for much of the game, having handled Khalil Mack in a way precious few expected, but eventually, the All-Pro edge rusher broke through causing a strip-sack of Daniel Jones. Still, all things considered, tip your cap to Solder who played better than just about anyone expected.
Alec Ogletree: Ogletree came up with a key and extremely athletic interception early on and had a few other flash plays in coverage, which is generally a weakness of his. But there were other moments where he remained a liability in coverage.
Others: Lorenzo Carter, David Mayo
