The Giants flew to the windy city, with two things in mind, to get a win, and to improve their draft pick. With the addition of the Chicago Bears draft pick last season, they had a great shot at accomplishing both tasks. Coach Burn came up with a solid game plan that included the short passing game mixed with a combination of both Barkley and Booker.
The Giants defense played their best game of the season. They started off the game intercepting rookie quarterback Fields and ended the game intercepting him. The offense would make the most of the turnovers, as Jones threw three touchdown passes to just one interception. Fields would do some work of his own, throwing 4 touchdowns, however, he had a case of the Jones in this game. For all of the yards and touchdowns he threw, his interceptions were what cost the Bears the game. The final score ended up as 49-35, however, the game seemed to be in the Giant’s hands from the start.
This win marked the Giants first win in 10 weeks, since beating Carolina in week 7. This losing streak took a toll on the Giants as a team, however, they didn’t give up and beat a team that was contending for a playoff spot. This win along with a 49er or Saint win would knock the Bears out of the playoffs. This would be an important difference as the pick potential between playoff and non playoff teams is huge.
Speaking of playing playoff contending teams, the Giants final game of the season was against the Washington Football Team. The Football Team beat the Giants in a blow out in week 2 so they were looking for revenge. Some would say the Giants should play for draft position, but Coach Burn had a shot to stick it to a playoff team and came up with a game plan to help ensure the victory.
The game plan consisted of smash mouth running from both Booker and Barkley, mixed with target passes for both backs and both tight ends. This game plan quickly changed after the first quarter as the Giants only had one possession, scoring a field goal. The Football used up the entire half, except for a few minutes left in the second quarter. After the Giants stopped the Football Team on the goaline, they thought they would gain momentum, however, on the very next play Jones would take a sack for a safety which was the start of the end.
Jones would take the team down the field after the Giants gave up a touchdown on defense, however, his pass to an open engram was undercut by Collins. Jones would throw another interception in the red zone where he had two players in the same area open, only for the throw to fall into the hands of a Football Team defender. The interceptions and safety mixed with the ground and pound offensive style of the Football Team resulted in a 32-17 loss for the Giants.
Jones played okay, however, the turnovers were the difference in the game. The Giants forced no turnovers, while letting the rushing game of the Football Team do whatever they wanted. In the offseason, the Giants have a lot of choices to make on who they will be bringing back to this defense. While they have had some individual players play well, the defense as a whole has been one of the worst in the league. Currently, the Giants hold the third and seventeenth picks in the draft. It’s rare for a team to be picking twice in the first round so the Giants will need to hit on both picks in order to sure up a team that didn’t live up to their expectations this season.
