Any late-arriving fans to Soldier Field, or anyone tuning in a little late to CBS’ broadcast of Sunday’s Bears-Giants game, pretty much missed all they needed to see if they missed the first three minutes.
On the first play from scrimmage, Mike Glennon, inexplicably starting again for Big Blue was sacked and fumbled; Chicago’s Brandon Nichols recovered it and took it down to the two, and one play later, David Montgomery punched it in for a touchdown that would have been enough to win a game the Bears eventually won 29-3.
“It was cover zero, and I could’ve got it out a little quicker,” Glennon said of the play. “To a certain extent, they hadn't showed that first cover zero look. But you always have to be ready for it. It comes down to execution, and we’ve got to do a better job.”
“We were in empty, I was kind of out wide and they brought one more than we could handle,” added Saquon Barkley. “As an offense, we’ve got to do better there. We have to execute better, but they made a good play.”
Glennon was picked off on the next drive, his first pass of the game intercepted by Tashaun Gipson, and it was second verse, same as the first; Gipson took it to the 23, and Darnell Mooney capped off a seven-play drive by grabbing a TD pass on fourth-and-goal from the 2.
Extra point good, and it was 14-0 before the first quarter was even halfway over.
So what was Big Blue’s solution? Apparently, the best way to minimize any mistakes in the passing game is don’t use it, as Glennon went the whole way (despite head coach Joe Judge saying Jake Fromm was likely to play earlier in the week) but only threw the ball 11 times, going 4-for-11 for 24 yards and two picks total.
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“We wanted to make an emphasis to run the ball. Obviously, we put our defense in a tough situation, essentially, spotting them 14 points to start the game. But the game plan was to run the ball,” Glennon said, in an answer that was puzzling given that the Giants had run all of six offensive plays before going down 14-0.
Judge backed that up, noting several times that the plan was to run the ball, which the Giants did effectively; Barkley had 102 yards on 21 carries, Devontae Booker added 46 on 18 totes, and even Glennon had one run for 13 yards.
“I thought they did a great job,” Glennon said. “I mean, it was pretty obvious when we got in those formations we were going to run the ball. The offensive line did a good job opening the holes, and both (backs) did a good job.”
“We went down 14 points but we weren't going to abandon the game plan. So the focus was keep running the ball, be productive,” Judge added.
“At that point in the game, guys, it's a two-possession game. The defense was able to make a stop, and we have to keep playing to our defense and trust they're going to keep making stops. Stick to the game plan and grind it out and put ourselves in position that throughout the course of the game, if we keep playing good defense, we can have success offensively.”
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The problem is that as Glennon alluded to, the Bears pretty much knew what was coming even in usual passing situations, because the Giants’ passing offense was non-existent. Six of Glennon’s 11 attempts came in the fourth wuarter when the game was all but over – and one of them was picked off – and his fifth attempt, with less than three minutes left in the third, was an emergency heave to Devontae Booker after he fumbled a snap.
Yes, you read that right: Glennon threw five passes in the first three quarters, one of which was picked off and one was an emergency check down, and when you subtract the sack yardage he took on the three sacks the Bears racked up, the Giants had 24 passing yards gross and -10 net.
That net passing total marked the first time since 2009 a team had a negative net passing total, and the last time a team was worse than minus-10? Way back in 1998, when the Chargers led by then-rookie Ryan Leaf had negative-19 in a game against the Chiefs where Leaf was 1-for-15 for four yards and was sacked twice for 23 lost yards, a net of minus-19.
“It's embarrassing. We work hard all week and we have to have a better product,” Glennon said. (Running the ball) was the point of emphasis this week, and for the most part, we did run the ball well. So it comes down to the passing game. We have to do a better job when we had our opportunities.”
Glennon was asked if maybe a hand injury of some sort played into the issues, and all he would say was “we’re just going to see how things are and go from there.” He was also asked if he saw a lack of confidence in the passing game, and simply said “that’s for the coaches” before reiterating the game plan was run-heavy as it was.
Judge was also asked if he considered putting in Jake Fromm, and all he would say was that “I think about a lot of things, but the decisions made today were the decisions that are the best for the team.”
The one thing Glennon would say? He doesn’t feel the offensive line is to blame.
“I’ve played four games before this one, and maybe gotten sacked five times, so pretty good numbers when you look at it that way,” he said. “I don’t know if those are the exact numbers, but it's probably not much more than that. But it’s our job as quarterbacks to go get the ball out quickly, and it falls on everyone – we all play a role in it, but yes, I do feel protected behind them.”
It’s just, as Judge is oft to say, that it once again wasn’t good enough, and their Week 18 date with Washington is now meaningless for anything other than draft position – at least in theory, as the Giants can only pick anywhere between third and fifth depending on the Jets’ and Texans’ results.
So, really, it’s up to Judge to determine what’s best for the team long-term when it comes to the game plan for Week 18, because it’s 60 minutes to play out the string to everyone but the team themselves.
“My focus is on getting this team prepared for next week in Washington. That's it. I'm never worrying or addressing hypotheticals or anything of that nature,” Judge said. “My focus is on this team, getting them ready. They come in and work for me every week. The thing I owe them is having them prepared and ready, and getting them in position to have success. That's it.”
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