The New York Giants won the preseason Battle of New York last week, and will not look to make it two in a row when they host the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium. Read on for more about this matchup between the Giants, who are +6000 to win the NFC Championship. The Bears, on the other hand, are +650 to win the conference.
The Bears started Mitchell Trubisky in Week 1’s 23-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers at home, but the quarterback didn’t attempt a pass and was out of the field before anything significant happened. Instead, head coach Matt Nagy gave the keys to the passing attack to the pair of Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray, with the former going 11-for-13 for 120 passing yards. Neither quarterback tossed a touchdown. The excitement on offense for the Bears was mostly provided by rookie tailback David Montgomery, who had 16 rushing yards and a touchdown on three carries. Montgomery also added 30 receiving yards on three receptions. For fantasy football managers, Montgomery is looking like a potential PPR sleeper. What’s not impressive in that game was the Bears’ offensive line, which allowed five sacks for a loss of 35 yards. The Bears will also continue watching the kicker battle between Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro. Fry drilled his only field-goal attempt in Week 1, which was a 43-yarder, while Pineiro went just 1-for-2.
The over is 4-0-1 in the Bears’ last five preseason games.
Betting on New York Giants (1-0 Preseason)
The Giants induced guffaws in this year’s draft day when they took quarterback Daniel Jones in the first round. Jones was no laughing stock though at least in Week 1 of the preseason, when he went a perfect 5-for-5 for 67 yards and a touchdown in a 31-22 home win over the Jets that also saw them cover their 2.5-point spread as favorites. That being said, Jones has a very long way to go before earning the full trust of the Giants to have him as their starter even though impatient fans of the team are already asking for him to replace Eli Manning. Speaking of Manning, the two-time Super Bowl champion made a very brief appearance in the Jets game, completing a short pass for three yards. The Giants went pass-heavy in that game also, producing a total of 376 passing yards to just 40 on the ground. TJ Jones led the team with 72 receiving yards and a TD, while undrafted free agent Reggie White Jr. had 60 receiving yards on four catches. Expect them to be the top options again on offense with Saquon Barkley unlikely to play.
The Giants are 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last four preseason games.
