One of my worst habits over the years popped up late in the week when I was trying to put together this week’s Game Preview — specifically, which player I wanted to highlight as the New York Giants player to watch on the offensive side of the ball.
It was a mental tussle between star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and stud rookie running back Saquon Barkley. You could make strong cases for both players as being the guy the Bears need to stop in order to give themselves the best chance to win. In the end, I chose Beckham over Barkley. But to hear Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan talk about it, maybe it should have been Barkley?
Let’s give No. 59 our eyes and ears:
https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1068625888374333442
If you’ll recall, we were pretty high on Barkley entering the 2018 NFL Draft. We wondered what would happen if Barkley – viewed by many as the best player in the draft – was the best player available when the Bears were on the clock. And we even opined the Bears would be foolish to pass on Barkley if the opportunity arose. To this point, he has exceeded even our high expectations.
Barkley has gained 1,410 yards from scrimmage (829 rushing, 581 receiving) with 12 total touchdowns and is a slam-dunk to be named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year at season’s end. He has four 100-yard rushing games and three multi-TD games. Barkley has found pay-dirt five times in the last two weeks and has done a ton of damage on the ground, averaging 6.1 yards per carry in his last two games.
We called Beckham a menace when we wrote up the Game Preview. But when you really dive deeper into the numbers, you can make an argument that Barkley can be far more problematic to stop from the perspective of the Bears defense.
The challenge is right there for the Bears. Will they answer the call?
Game Info
Chicago Bears (8-3, 1st NFC North) at New York Giants (3-8, 4th NFC East) – noon CT, FOX (Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis, Pam Oliver), WBBM-AM 780, WCFS-FM 105.9
Odds: Bears (-3), Over/Under 43, via the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas.
Game Thread and Week 13 Preview
It’s been a while since we’ve had a noon start! Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun. And hopefully, we can watch the Bears keep on keepin’ on while QB1 is on the mend.
Your Week 13 Preview lives here.
Coaches
Matt Nagy (8-3) vs. Pat Shurmur (3-8 with Giants, 13-21 overall)
Starting Quarterbacks
Bears: Chase Daniel: 710 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 67.8 completion pct., 89.4 rating (career)
Last week at Lions: 27-37, 230 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 106.8 rating
versus
Giants: Eli Manning: 3,093 yards, 14 TD, 7 INT, 69.1 completion pct., 96.2 rating
Last game at Eagles: 26-37, 297 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 91.8 rating
Bears Inactives:
#Bears Inactives at NYG:
#10 Trubisky
#11 White
#27 McManis
#30 Cunningham
#69 Coward
#83 Wims
#97 Williams— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) December 2, 2018
Bears Expected Offensive Starters
Bears Expected Defensive Starters
Bears Specialists
Giants Inactives:
#CHIvsNYG #NYGiants Inactives:
QB Alex Tanney
S Kamrin Moore
LB Lorenzo Carter
C Evan Brown
TE Evan Engram
DT John Jenkins
LB B.J. Goodson pic.twitter.com/mgwNsb6UVt— New York Giants (@Giants) December 2, 2018