Signature win has ugly side for Giants
New York upsets Bears in OT after blowing 10-point lead
Giants running back Saquon Barkley leaps over Bears strong safety Adrian Amos. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. >> The New York Giants finally have a signature win to carry them through the rest of the season and maybe beyond.
While beating the NFC North-leading Bears wasn’t pretty and involved blowing up a 10-point lead in the final 1:13, the Giants showed character in a wild game in the rain highlighted by trick plays and a reminder of William “The Fridge” Perry.
The Giants (4-8) won for seventh time in 28 games over the past two seasons as Aldrick Rosas kicked a 44-yard field goal in overtime in a 30-27 win Sunday, snapping the Bears’ five-game winning streak.
“The takeaway is, and I told the team this, some people are fond of talented people, some people are fond of smart people. I’m fond of tough, resilient people,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. “When you are trying to flip culture and when you are trying to build something, you have to dig in on that. There was some toughness and resiliency when they came back to tie things up.”
Rosas’ third field goal of the game came on the opening series of overtime. It was set up by a 29yard run by rookie Saquon Barkley, who finished with 125 yards on 24 carries.
“It speaks to the resiliency of the guys,” Giants left tackle Nate Solder said after the team refused to fold following the Bears’ late heroics. “It speaks about the type of guys we have in the locker room and we just got to keep doing it and moving forward and believing in each other and doing it together.”
The Giants didn’t nail down the win until Janoris Jenkins knocked away a deep fourth-down pass to Taylor Gabriel after quarterback Chase Daniel fumbled on consecutive plays on the rainy afternoon to set up a fourthand-8.
Chicago (8-4) forced overtime by getting a 21yard field goal by Cody Parkey and a 1-yard touchdown pass from halfback Tarik Cohen to Anthony Miller as time expired in the fourth quarter.
The trick-play touchdown was set up by a recovered onside kick by Daniel Brown on a play Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did not dive for the loose ball. Then came a questionable pass interference call in the end zone against cornerback B.W. Webb with :03 to go.
“I’m proud of them for fighting to the end. Not every team will do that,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said.
Besides the Cohen pass on what appeared to be a sweep, the Giants saw Beckham throw and catch touchdowns, and Chicago nose tackle Akiem Hicks dive over on fourth down from 1 yard on a play made famous by Perry in the Bears glory days in the mid-1980s.