Week 17 Preview: Giants at Bears — January 2, 2022

Hey, whattaya know, the Bears are favorites in a game! And it only took the lowly Giants coming into town with their starting quarterback, who hasn’t played in two weeks and has been limited in practice with an ankle injury all week.

How do we feel about this one? I’m thinking, Bears 69, Giants 14. Let’s check in with today’s panel of experts for their score predictions against the Giants.

The over-under is set at 37, so we’re probably overshooting it, but I feel like we’re in line for a Bears victory this Sunday no matter the score. Why not root for a win at this point? I think we’re at the point where what’s done is done, and whatever the plan is for the Bears’ future has already been decided by ownership. Well, at least we hope that there’s enough competency upstairs that direction has been picked.

So, let’s just have fun with these last two games. It’s best for our health.

“Never Tell Me The Odds”

The DraftKings SportsBook lists the Bears (5-10) as 5.5-point favorites against the Giants (4-11). Over/under: 37. More on the odds and ATS picks here.

Series History:

The Chicago Bears lead the New York Giants 35-24-2 in the all-time series and have won three of the last five meetings, including the previous two matchups.

Game Time, Broadcast Info, Officiating Crew:

Location: Soldier Field, Chicago

Broadcast Info: Sunday, January 2 at noon CT on CBS-TV (Spero Dedes, Jay Feely), WBBM-AM 780, and WCFS-FM 105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Officials: Shawn Hochuli (referee)

Expected Starters and Lineups:

CHICAGO BEARS (5-10, 2-3 NFC North)
POINTS FOR:
265 (17.7 PPG, 28th)
POINTS AGAINST:
373 (24.9 PPG, 24th)

Offense
•   QB Justin Fields
•   RB David Montgomery
•   WRs Allen Robinson II, Darnell Mooney, Damiere Byrd
•   TE Cole Kmet
•   LT Teven Jenkins, LG Cody Whitehair, C Sam Mustipher, RG James Daniels, RT Germain Ifedi

Unavailable: RB/PR Tarik Cohen

Defense
•   DT Angelo Blackson, NT Eddie Goldman, DE Bilal Nichols
•   OLBs Robert Quinn, Bruce Irvin
•   ILBs Roquan Smith, Alec Ogletree
•   CBs Jaylon Johnson, Duke Shelley
•   FS Eddie Jackson
•   SS Tashaun Gipson Sr.

Unavailable: LB Danny Trevathan, LB Khalil Mack, LB Cassius Marsh, CB Xavier Crawford, S DeAndre Houston-Carson, LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe

Specialists
•   Cairo Santos (kicker), Pat O’Donnell (punter, holder), Patrick Scales (long snapper), Jakeem Grant Sr. (punt returns), Khalil Herbert (kick returns)

Expected Starters and Lineups:

NEW YORK GIANTS (4-11, 1-4 NFC East)
POINTS FOR:
 248 (16.5 PPG, 30th)
POINTS AGAINST:
365 (24.3 PPG, 21st)

Offense
•   QB Mike Glennon
•   RB Saquon Barkley
•   WR Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton
•   TE Kyle Rudolph
•   LT Andrew Thomas, LG Matt Skura, C Billy Price, RG Will Hernandez, RT Nate Solder

Defense
•   DL Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams
•   SLB Lorenzo Carter, MLB Tae Crowder, WIL Reggie Ragland, OLB Arzeez Ojulari
•   LCB James Bradberry, RCB Adoree’ Jackson
•   FS Logan Ryan, SS Xavier McKinney

Specialists
•   Graham Gano (kicker), Riley Dixon (punter, holder), Casey Kreiter (long snapper), Kadarius Toney (kick and punt returns)

Three Bears

David Montgomery should be able to eat on Sunday. The New York Giants have allowed the seventh-most rushing yards this season (1,880) and allow opposing backs 4.4 yards per carry, so with Justin Fields’ status doubtful again, Monty should have himself a strong game if Nagy feeds him the ball against the shaky New York rushing defense.

Robert Quinn is just a half-sack from tying Richard Dent’s single-season franchise sack record of 17.5 set in 1984! If Quinn can get to Mike Glennon once on Sunday, he’ll be the Bears’ single-season sack leader with 18 sacks this season, and despite the season not going well for the team, you can’t help but be happy as heck for Robert Quinn. After recording just two sacks last season and being written off by many as washed up, Quinn has come back healthy and on a mission this season. Kudos, Robert, and congratulations in advance on what you’ll likely accomplish this weekend!

Tevin Jenkins will likely get another start in front of the injured veteran Jason Peters this week, and that’s a good thing. Jenkins was drafted by the Bears to eventually be a fixture at one of the tackle positions (of course, who knows which one at this point with Matt Nagy’s head-scratching personnel decisions), and this kid has shown that he’s in desperate need of reps. So, reps he shall receive. Hopefully, we can see a reduction in some of the penalties and mental blunders plaguing the rookie in his cup of coffee this season.

written by

Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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