Offense
D
Rex Grossman completed his first five passes for an opening touchdown and should have had a second, but a wide-open Devin Hester dropped a ball in the second quarter that created a game-changing 14-point swing. The Giants sacked Grossman six times, and he still completed 25 of 46 for 296 yards and a touchdown. Adrian Peterson was solid as the new featured back, picking up defensive ends and blitzers and keeping the sack total from being higher. But only 16 points despite five trips inside the New York 30 and four takeaways are the stuff of failure.
Defense
D+
Brian Urlacher’s interception stopped New York’s first drive and led to a touchdown, and Adewale Ogunleye forced two fumbles. Charles Tillman was matched up on Plaxico Burress and limited the Giants’ No. 1 receiver to three catches and saved a TD with an interception in the third quarter. Anthony Adams and Mark Anderson shared the Bears’ only sack, but the defense was unable to stop the final New York drive with the game on the line. The defense had too many breakdowns as the Giants averaged 4.7 yards per rush.
Special teams
B
Robbie Gould converted field goals of 35, 46 and 41 yards despite a difficult wind, and was the only scorer after the Bears’ first possession. Giants punter Jeff Feagles followed his coaches’ dictum and kept Hester from being a factor. Coverage units continued to excel, giving New York only 32 yards on five punt returns and 18 per runback on four kickoff returns. Kicking by Gould and punting by Brad Maynard plus effective coverage allowed the Giants to start only once as close as their 40.
Coaching
D-
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner sending out the Bears in no-huddle struck an aggressive note and netted a score before the Giants were out of their stances. The scheme also produced field goals on two second-quarter drives. But the no-huddle disappeared in the second half until the last desperate possession, before which the play-calling failed to run the clock and led to too many deep throws when field position could have created field-goal chances. The defense was passive on the last two drives as the Giants picked apart a base scheme.
