Bears Special Teams Instrumental In 24-0 Blanking Of Giants

New York knew that they were in trouble from the beginning as their running ratings were about as bad as they could get. This forced the Giants to put the ball in the air much more than they normally would and at the same time allowed the Giants to drop back into pass coverage throughout the entire game.

Chicago's defense would come up with the big play on the Giants opening drive when Kerry Collins (16-33-146) on 4th and 10 from the Bears 29 was picked by RW McQuarters who returned the ball back out to the Bears 40. Due to an injury to kicker Daluiso the Giants kicking game was set back and forced them into going on 4th down throughout this game when they got deep inside the Bears end of the field. After the interception QB Jim Miller (6-11-95) found Marty Booker for a 33 yard gain down to the Giants 27. It would be a Miller to Booker 5 yard connection 7 plays later giving the Bears the 7-0 lead.

The score would remain that way until the turnover bug hit the Giants at the 4:24 mark of the second quarter. Brad Maynard delivered a beautiful 52 yard punt that would be muffed by Tiki Barber (13-45 rushing) and Tony Parrish scooped up the loose ball and raced the remaining 20 yards into the end zone to give the Bears a 14-0 lead. Paul Edinger would later come on to add a 26 yard field goal with only 5 seconds left before the half to give the Bears a 17-0 halftime lead.

The rest of the second half saw both teams exchange one punt after another with the only score coming late in the 3rd on Anthony Thomas (27-93) 11 yard scamper over right tackle for a 24-0 Bears lead. The Giants did threaten throughout the second half at times but with no running game and no kicker they just couldn't convert the 4th downs into 1st downs.

The Bears are now 4-0 and most importantly 3-0 in the division while the Giants drop to 1-3 on the season. --submitted by Bill "Ditka" Vogt--