My Friends,

 

It was all so confusing.

 

It started with the coin flip, when the Bears’ captains approached midfield. Usually when you’re playing on the road there is some sort of team logo painted on the turf, real or fake, that tells you whose house you’re in. Like the Nordic guy with the horned hat at the center of the Metrodome, or the football shaped “G” that sits beneath the steaming turd in Curly’s Place. But here it was different. The name on the place said Giants Stadium, they were sure they saw that as the team bus sloshed closer, but they were in New Jersey, and the NFL shield was spotted squarely on the 50. Whose place was this, really?

 

It was confounding for the TV viewers as well. NBC kept showing video of Times Square and Yankee Stadium, places an entire state away, when coming out of commercial. Mojo recoiled in horror several times as the headquarters of GE, his former employer, was shown, not remembering that they were the network’s corporate teat until well into the second half. Shouldn’t NBC have been showing the oil tanks overlooking the New Jersey Turnpike, or the plaque in front of Frank Sinatra’s childhood home in Hoboken?

 

Maybe it was because the Bears were disoriented that the Giants defense kicked their ass all over the field for most of the first quarter. Their offense did, too, on their first drive, but kicker Jay Feely pushed a 33-yard field goal attempt wide. It was just the start of a very long night for him.

 

When Rex Grossman threw an interception that was returned to the one on the Bears first possession, you wondered if he had learned anything during the loss to the Dolphins. The Giants went up 7-0 on the next play.

 

But then the Bears defense started to click, as they intercepted Eli Manning’s next pass and followed that up with a pair of three-and-outs. During the last drive, a bunch of older guys wearing pinky rings were seen viewing x-rays of leg bones on the Giants sideline, and we thought there was a new theory on where Jimmy Hoffa had been buried. But it only turned out to be the busted fibula of Giants left tackle Luke Petitgout. He was done for the night.

 

In the meantime, the Bears notched a field goal on a 49-yard bomb by Robbie Gould and trailed 7-3 when Thomas Jones coughed it up and the Giants recovered on the Bears 31. Big Blue only managed three yards on the drive, though, and had to settle for Feely’s first field goal of the night.

 

Then Lovie Smith started playing Spin-The-Running Back, putting Cedric Benson in for a series that netted one yard on two carries. Punt. The next Bears possession featured Jones again, who picked up four yards on two runs. Punt again, and it’s obvious why neither of these guys can get into a rhythm. Pick one, dammit!

 

The Jints added Feely’s second field goal on their next drive, and it was starting to feel like one of those games where the opposition grinds out score after score while the offense does nothing, and then you look up at the scoreboard in the second half and discover the Bears trail by 17. Or more.

 

It was a mess. Grossman wasn’t doing much of anything, and you wondered if Brian Griese would start the third quarter if the Bears couldn’t make something happen before halftime. Some of the play calling by Ron Turner recalled the days of John Shoop, like the incomplete swing pass to Jason McKie on second and 13, or the two yard run by Jones on the following play. But there was a method to Turner’s madness. He was determined not to get away from the running game, and it was about to pay off.

 

The Bears got the ball back just before the Two-Minute Warning, and Turner had Grossman work the short routes for a first down. Then an incomplete pass, a pair of false starts and a run for a loss of two by Jones put them back where the drive started, and it was third and 22.

 

And the fun ended for the Giants faithful.

 

A draw play by Jones picked up 26 yards and a first down, and three plays later Mark Bradley twisted Giants cornerback Sam Madison like a pipe cleaner, Grossman finding him all alone in the endzone for a 29-yard TD. The Giants ran out the clock, and the Bears took the opening second half kickoff and drove to the Giants one, where the Giants recovered Muhsin Muhammad’s fumble. Every time the Bears ran a play, Gus yelled “HOLD ON TO IT!” But it didn’t matter, because three plays and a New Jersey penalty netted nothing. The Bears took over after the punt, and scored twice on the ensuing drive. The second touchdown, a pass to Muhammad, counted, and it was 17-13 Bears.

 

Manning fumbled on the next two snaps, the first on a botched handoff to Tiki Barber, the second when he was drilled by Alex Brown on the first of his two sacks. Adewale Ogunleye recovered at the Giants 21. Four plays later Grossman found Desmond Clark in the back of the endzone for his third touchdown strike. 21 unanswered points. It was 24-13 Bears, and Mojo was dancing around Sanctuary like Jackie Gleason.

 

After misfiring on first and second downs, the Giants answered with a touchdown of their own on three successive big plays. First, Jeremy Shockey caught his only pass of the night for a first down on third and ten, then Tiki torched the Bears off right guard for 46, and finally an eight-yard burst by Brandon Jacobs for the score. 24-20 Bears, and it wasn’t over yet.

 

The Bears managed a couple first downs as the quarter ended but had to punt on their next drive, and then the call was made by the league office to get the Giants back in the game. Barber picked up five yards on the first play of the drive, but Lance Briggs was flagged for a horse collar tackle after referee Ed Hochuli and his crew spent some time deciding how to distribute the payoff money. Replays showed Briggs’ hand clearly outside the jersey and on the shoulder pad, but it wasn’t reviewable, and the Giants were in business at their 41. But the drive stalled at the Bears 34, and Feely was sent out to try a 52-yard field goal to pull the Giants to within one.

 

The kick was short, and then Devin Hester pantsed the Giants. Hester fielded the ball eight yards deep in the endzone and stood there for a moment, faking like he wasn’t going to run it out, and then he took off. He was never touched, and a few seconds later he had tied teammate Nathan Vasher’s NFL record for the longest touchdown in league history, a 108-yard return that took all the wind out of the Bears’ loudmouthed hosts.

 

Manning threw an interception on the next series to end all hope, and Grossman took the turnover and drove the Bears to their final score, a two-yard run by Jones.

 

Plaxico Burress spent time in the interview room last week badmouthing the Bears secondary, saying they couldn’t cover guys straight up and down the field, but Peanut Tillman had a great game against Burress, putting him into his own personal shell. Burress posted four catches for 48 yards, far short of Burress’ fellow Michigan State alum Muhammad, who caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. Who is it that can’t cover?

 

The New York Daily News ran a column this past week in which several NFL officials characterized the 7-1 Bears as overrated. If that’s the case, what were the 6-2 Giants?

 

It’ll be said that the Bears beat a beat-up team, and that’s true, but the Bears were playing without Mike Brown and Bernard Berrian, with Brian Urlacher hobbling on a bum toe. As John Madden said last night, all our guys can do is play the games on their schedule, which next Sunday brings them back to New Jersey. The Bears will be shocked to see what it looks like around the Meadowlands in the clear light of day, but they shouldn’t be.

 

After all, it’s their house now.

 

LBF

11/13/2006