Bears defense looks dominant against QB Mike Glennon, Giants
CHICAGO — New York Giants quarterback Mike Glennon took the opening snap and never had a chance.
Bears outside linebacker Trevis Gipson rushed in completely unblocked and demolished Glennon as he reared back to pass. The 32-year-old former Bears quarterback fumbled the ball away. Bears defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returned the fumble to the 2-yard line and set up an easy touchdown run for running back David Montgomery.
Unfortunately for Glennon, his day didn't improve. He threw an interception on his second dropback and the Bears piled on, winning 29-3 on Sunday at Soldier Field.
In a mostly meaningless game between two teams that are out of the playoff hunt, the Bears (6-10) at least looked the part of an NFL team. The Giants (4-12) didn't trust their quarterback. Glennon attempted only two passes in the first half and finished the game 4 for 11 for 24 yards with 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles lost. Factoring in the lost sack yardage, the Giants finished with negative 10 passing yards as a team.
The Giants looked like a team that didn't want to be anywhere near a football field Sunday. They ran the ball on a third-and-10 to set up their lone field goal and were an abysmal 1 for 11 on third downs in the game. The Bears went for it on fourth down three times, including a first-quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to receiver Darnell Mooney
The Bears defense totaled four takeaways and added two points with a safety just before halftime. Defensive lineman Angelo Blackson stuffed Giants running back Devontae Booker before he could escape his own end zone for two points. It was the Bears' first safety of the season.
Bears safeties Tashaun Gipson and Deon Bush grabbed an interception each. Linebacker Trevis Gipson finished the day with 2 strip sacks. It was his first strip sack, on the first play of the game, that set the tone.
“It sort of caught me by surprise that they went empty (with no extra blockers) the first play of the game,” Trevis Gipson said. “We've got Rob Quinn rushing his life out on the other side, so that did surprise me.”
To put a cherry on top, Quinn strip sacked Glennon in the fourth quarter to set a new Bears single-season sack record with his 18th sack of the season. Head coach Matt Nagy called a timeout to give Quinn a moment to soak up the cheers from the Soldier Field fans.
“It just pays respect from all of us as coaches and players to him, how much we appreciate [him],” Nagy said.
The Bears offense was fine, but didn't need to be anything more to beat the Giants. The Bears were without rookie starting quarterback Justin Fields, who missed his second consecutive game with an ankle injury.
Dalton and the offense took advantage of two short fields following turnovers, turning drives of 2 yards and 24 yards into a 14-0 lead. The Bears's 11-play, 75-yard drive after halftime might have been their most impressive of the game. Montgomery ran in a 2-yard score to cap the drive and push the lead to 29-3.
At that point, the game was more or less over.
Dalton was 18-for-35 passing for 173 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Montgomery carried the ball 22 times for 64 yards with two touchdowns. Montgomery also threw an interception on a trick play.
The win does little more than pad the record for Nagy and the 2021 Bears. Was this Nagy's final game coaching at Soldier Field? Only team chairman George McCaskey can answer that. At this point, it feels as if the Bears won't make a determination until after next week's season finale at Minnesota.
“I take it day by day,” Nagy said when asked about his job status. “If it goes that way, it's meant to be. And at the same point in time, I'm so stuck in today's game and the feeling that I have that I don't even have time to really — I haven't thought about that. Maybe I will down the road, if that was to happen. If not, then I'm just going to do exactly what I've been doing all year long, which is prepping for Minnesota.”