Okay…so maybe last night’s much anticipated NFC showdown didn’t go the way Giants receiver Plaxico Burress thought. His comments were dumb to begin with and had to fire up the Bears, who were coming off a bad home loss to Miami. Well, he was right about one thing. He torched that secondary for a whopping 48 yards to lead Big Blue! Ah…maybe next time Plax will keep his mouth shut. I wonder what Eli Manning thinks of that Bears D a day later. He’s probably having recurring nightmares of Alex Brown coming from the left side unchecked for a couple of sacks after key tackle Luke Petiguot broke his left leg in the first half (done for season). Poor Eli was harassed into two rushed interceptions and also fumbled twice (lost one) while completing only 14 of 32 passes for 121 yards.

So how did a game Big Blue was in complete control of up 13-3 late in the first half go so wrong? Well, they failed to take advantage of some other chances and get in the end zone for starters. A bigger lead might’ve demoralized the Bears. Then there was the silly zone where the Giant D which had dominated fell asleep and somehow let Thomas Jones rumble for 23 rushing yards to convert a long third down which kept a late Chicago first half drive alive. Not long after, Rex Grossman found a wide open Mark Bradley all alone in the end zone for a huge game changing score to give Chicago new life. That was the turning point. My one question is if the ageless Sam Madison was banged up to begin with. Then what the heck was he doing on the field? He was so burned that you knew something must’ve been wrong. Then he limped off the field after the big play with a hamstring injury.

Ah…now we’re no fan of Grossman. But he looked like Joe Montana in this one once he started picking apart second-year corner Corey Webster en route to three TDs and 246 yards through the air. The same QB who looked lost for much of the first half. It helps when you have a lost corner who couldn’t cover his grandma last night. Poor Webster. He’s a talented player but he left way too much cushion and got abused by Muhsin Muhammad (7 catches for 123 yards, TD)
It seemed like all the injuries to Big Blue’s D finally caught up with them in the second half. Not having a pass rush to get to Grossman made life miserable. Plus a revitalized Jones burned them for much of the half on his way to a solid 30 carries for 113 yards and a score.

So what to make of a game in which Da Bears ran off 21 straight only to then see the Giants finally awaken down 11 and convert a quick five-play TD drive which featured tight end Jeremy Shockey’s only catch along with a breathless 46-yard Tiki Barber run before it was finished off by an eight-yard dash by second-year back Brandon Jacobs to suddenly cut it to 24-20? Not entirely sure. But when they got it back and were on another drive thanks to some more big running from Barber (game high 146 yards on 19 carries), it looked like they might tilt the game their way. But a silly call by Coach Tom Coughlin proved costly. After Manning misfired on a long third down, Coughlin decided to have kicker Jay Feely try a 52-yard field goal into the wind. While it was true he made his last two kicks after a bad miss from 33 during the game’s opening drive, this was just a very poor decision by the coach. I understand he wanted to make it a one-point game meaning another kick would win it. But given the rainy and windy conditions last night, Coughlin should’ve punted there and tried to pin the Bears, making it a field position battle the rest of the way. Instead, Feely’s try fell short and then the biggest play of the game took place when electrifying rookie kick returner Devin Hester duped the Giants by faking like he was taking a knee before going 108 yards down the sideline in what seemed like a nanosecond. If you blinked, you missed it. He’s that fast. I saw him do this countless times for the Miami Hurricanes. It’s just unbelievable that Coughlin’s guys were ill prepared and could be so faked out. You had to figure Hester would return it. The postgame comments from Coughlin and linebacker Antonio Pierce take the guys out there off the hook:

Coughlin: “It’s very difficult to cover a field goal. The people who do it are not the kind of people who normally do it for you.”

Pierce: “It’s hard when you have a speed guy alone and you have offensive linemen, they don’t have a chance to catch him.”

Okay, maybe all that’s true. But they were caught napping. Look what Hester said after matching teammate Nathan Vasher’s league record return:

“I probably would have downed it if I saw defenders coming at me. It seemed like all of them were walking off the field like it was over. So I decided to take it out. It surprised me.“

That right there is an indictment of Coughlin and the personel he had out there. This was inexcusable. Instead of still being in the game, it was essentially over given how well Chicago’s D was playing the second half. It also forced the Giants to abort the running game and predictably, Manning forced one into double coverage which was picked off by that “average secondary.” The Bears sealed the deal not long after when Jones rushed in from two yards out to give his team the final margin of victory.

So how does Coughlin’s walking wounded recover from this defeat? Who knows? Michael Strahan could miss the rest of the regular season. Osi Umenyiora still hasn’t returned. Petiguot’s injury is a crusher because he gave Eli such great protection. Now, future opponents will try to wreak havoc the way Chicago did Sunday night. All-time receiving leader Amani Toomer also is out the remainder of the season, meaning either the underachieving Tim Carter or special teams guru David Tyree better step up. Tyree did have four catches. He’s got more heart but isn’t the threat Toomer was. It’s just amazing that with that the case, somehow Shockey only had one catch and was hardly thrown to. Why? When are the Giants going to adjust their offensive strategy and involve the talented All-Pro tight end in more plays? He can expose mismatches all day. This must change.

While it’s true New York is still a game up on Philadelphia and Dallas, they travel to Jacksonville next week which will be no picnic. With tough games also at Carolina and home for the Saints along with leftovers against both Dallas and Philly, it promises to be a tough stretch to finish the season. How well Coughlin’s club can deal with adversity will determine where they stand at the end of the year.