After losing a 10-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation, the New York Giants won, 30-27 in overtime, against the Chicago Bears.
After losing seven of their first eight games, the Giants have won three of the past four.
The Giants haven't rolled over in the second half of the season.
"There's probably plenty of takeaways, you've probably got plenty of questions, but toughness and resiliency are demanded in our sport," coach Pat Shurmur said in his postgame press conference. "And we have that. We've just got to clean up the mistakes and keep going. That's why I'm proud of our guys. It's fun to win."
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Cornerback Janoris Jenkins broke up Chase Daniel's pass intended for Taylor Gabriel on fourth-and-eight with under three minutes left in overtime. On the play before that, Olivier Vernon strip-sacked Daniel, who recovered the ball. The Giants had the lead at the time thanks to an Aldrick Rosas 44-yard field goal, which capped an eight-play, 49-yard drive that began with a 29-yard run by Saquon Barkley on the first play of the extra period.
IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS OVER WHEN: Rosas made a 37-yard field goal to give the Giants a 27-17 lead with 1:49 left in regulation. But the Bears, winners of their past five games entering Sunday, didn't go away. They marched down to kick a field goal, recovered the ensuing onside kick, and were kept alive by a pass interference penalty on Giants cornerback B.W. Webb that spotted the ball at the one-yard line with three seconds remaining. On a trick play, running back Tarik Cohen threw a touchdown pass to Anthony Miller as time expired. "That was nifty, well-designed," Shurmur said of the game-tying score. "Good job on their part."
On the onside kick, Shurmur said: "The ball got in there, we probably would've been a little closer to it but they did a good job. That was well-executed by them, was a perfect kick, and certainly they got their hands on it and we didn't. … [They] did exactly the same thing [after the timeout]. We took the timeout to see how they were going to line up, but it appeared like after the timeout their intentions were exactly the same. The approach was the same, you'd have to ask them. I coached with [Bears special teams coordinator] Chris Tabor in Cleveland, he was my special teams coach, so you'd have to ask him."
TOUGH, RESILIENT PEOPLE: The Jimmy's and the Joe's played above the X's and O's on Sunday. Jenkins broke up a season-high three passes, including the game-clincher. Linebacker Alec Ogletree had 10 tackles and two interceptions, including his second pick-six in three games. Rosas continued to mount a serious Pro Bowl campaign by making all three of his attempts, including the longest field goal in franchise history at 57 yards. He has missed only one field goal this season and passed the pressure test on Sunday. Odell Beckham Jr. maintained his perfect passer rating with his second touchdown pass of the season on a 49-yard completion to Russell Shepard, his first score as a member of the Giants. Shepard also had a key special teams play, tipping a Riley Dixon punted ball to Antonio Hamilton, who then tipped it to long snapper Zak DeOssie to down the ball at the two. Webb forced a fumble that Sean Chandler recovered on the Bears' ensuing possession. "I'm fond of tough, resilient people," Shurmur said.
WHAT THE WIN MEANS FOR THE 4-8 GIANTS: The Giants rebounded from their loss in Philadelphia by taking down a division leader for the second time this season. The surging Bears entered – and exited – MetLife Stadium atop the NFC North. Earlier in the year in Week 3, the Giants grabbed their first win of the season over the Houston Texans, who have not lost a game since. It was the Giants' only victory in a 1-7 start. Since the bye week, which fell exactly at the midway point, the Giants have won three of their past four games.
"The mindset was the same," quarterback Eli Manning said when asked about the team's preparation for the Bears coming off the Philly loss that snapped a two-game win streak.
"We know we are a good team and we can hang with anyone. We have been right there at the end with every team except maybe the first Philly game with a chance to win. The same thing with this game. Defense did a great job setting the tempo with Alec getting a pick six to start the game. Offensively, it took us a little while to get going. We got a nice field goal before half. Then, in the second half the first two drives we scored touchdowns and we built a lead. They are a good defense and a good team. I felt like we could come in and hang with them. We made plays and we feel like the last three or four weeks, we have been playing good football. We just have to continue to do that."
WHAT THE LOSS MEANS FOR THE 8-4 BEARS: Chicago survived its first game without injured quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on Thanksgiving Day, but not the second. The second overall pick in last year's draft was still not ready on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in Week 11. Next on the Bears' schedule is a Sunday night home game against the 11-1 Rams.
"Yeah, he is feeling better," Bears coach Matt Nagy said after the game. "I think, for him, it is going to be a day-to-day thing where we just continue to see where he is at. So like today, he went, he did some more throwing — 'Where are you at?' — and then same thing for the rest of the days this week, and that's our plan this whole time is for the communication and see. I said last week, his arrow is going up every day, he feels like, and you can see when he is throwing, so we will continue to keep our fingers crossed."
