Die Hard Giants Fan

Game Time: 4:15     Location: Soldier Field     Channel: FOX

At 7-4, the Giants desperately need a win and to get on a winning streak.  And who better to do it against than the Bears.  The Bears go back as far as the Giants do in the NFL.  The matchup just has a ring to it.  After we beat the Bears, we will be 8-4 on the season, we will be 2-2 in the second half of the season, and we need to solidify our spot in the Playoffs.  Let’s take revenge for 2006.  Are you ready for this Die Hard Giants Fans?

The Chicago Bear (5-6) will be hosting the New York Giants (7-4) at Soldier Field.  The Giants are still favored by 1.5 points.

The Tom Coughlin led Giants are trying to get over the second half letdown hump.  They have to do it against a Bears team that started the decline a year ago.  Expect the Jints to play old school smashmouth football today for two reasons.  First, the Bears aggresive defense will force Eli to hurry up which may force the Giants to hand the ball off more.  Second, it is supposed to rain in Chicago today.  The Giants are a little bit banged up on both sides of the ball, and that could make a difference in today’s game.  On offense, Eli Manning needs to bounce back and have a great outing.  Brandon Jacobs will probably be on the sidelines again, but Derrick Ward should be fine as the starting RB with Reuben Droughns backing him up.  That’s a better situation than the Giants were in last Sunday.  Plaxico Burress is banged up to the point where it isn’t worth the risk of him being on the field with the opportunity to get hurt more.  Our other receivers are going to have to step up and make catches.  On defense, CB Aaron Ross and FS Gibril Wilson will probably not start.  So our secondary is going to be weak, but we still need to stop Grossman from making big plays.  Rex has a very strong arm.  My message to the special teams unit is simple, kick and punt it out of bounds.

The Lovie Smith led Bears are fighting for their Playoff lives.  The offense is ranked 23rd in the NFL.  Chicago is 14th in passing and 26th in rushing, which is pretty bad.  There talent on offense is sub-par as well.  Rex Grossman sat out five games earlier in the season, but he is getting the start today.  He wasn’t good before and he shouldn’t be good now either.  He might use this start to prove Smith wrong.  Cedric Benson had a season ending injury last weekend, so backup Adrian Peterson will get the start.  The Giants will need to double cover the really good receivers of the Bears, Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammed.  The depleted Giants secondary needs to step up big time today and cover these guys.  Hopefully, the Giants will apply so much pressure on Grossman that Rex won’t have any time to throw the ball to his receivers.  The Giants front seven need to be blitz happy again this week.  We all know that the Bears’ defense is nothing like the offense.  The stats do not reflect their talent however.  The defense is ranked 26th through Week 12.  What happened?  They are 25th against the pass and 27th against the run, so it doesn’t matter which way we do it.  However, the Bears are third in sacks, so Eli needs to be cautious.  DE Adewale Ogunleye leads the team with 9 sacks.  MLB Brian Urlacher is a monster with amazing speed.  He leads the team with 106 tackles, and he can run to the ball in any direction extremely effiently.  The special teams unit is very special for the Bears.  We all know what returner Devin Hester has done in two seasons so far.  The Giants need to kick the ball out of bounds, even if it gives the Bears the ball at the 40 yardline.  With Grossman in at QB, he shouldn’t do much damage.

History

The Bears lead the regular season series 27-17-2.  No Postseason statistics were provided, but we know there have been plenty.

Who’s Out?

Giants: Doubtful: RB Brandon Jacobs (hamstring), CB Aaron Ross (hamstring), FS Gibril Wilson (knee).  Questionable: WR Plaxico Burress (ankle), WB Steve Smith (hamstring).  Probable: MLB Antonio Pierce (ankle), RB Derrick Ward (ankle).

Bears: RB Cedric Benson (ankle).  Questionable: T Fred Miller (ankle), CB Nathan Vasher (groin).  Probable: OLB Lance Briggs (hamstring), DT Tommiel Harris (knee), KR Devin Hester (foot).

This is how I’m calling it.  My Prediction is: Giants 17 - Bears 10.

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