First-year coaches Matt Eberflus in Chicago and Brian Daboll in New York have created unexpected excitement for the Bears and Giants early this season.
A good start was something on the their rookie wish lists this season rather than the expectation. The Bears were 6-11 in 2021 under Matt Nagy, while the Giants went 4-13 under Joe Judge.
Eberflus and Daboll haven’t revealed much of substance regarding what has gone right. They have talked about continuing the process of learning, getting better week to week and fixing mistakes. "I think you learn a lot about yourself when you play, when you coach, and like I said, we’re a work in progress," Daboll said. "We’re still working to improve in a lot of different areas. I think we’ve done some things well, we’ve done some things we can improve on, all of us."Though the Bears rank second in the NFL in rushing, their passing game is grounded. The Bears are averaging a league-low 78.3 yards.
Kenny Golladay, who signed a $72 million contact last year, has two catches for 22 yards in three games. Kadarius Toney, the team’s No. 1 pick in 2021, and Wan’Dale Robinson, a second-round pick in May, are out again after missing last week with hamstring and knee injuries, respectively. On the other side of the ball, Wink Martindale’s defense was shredded for 176 yards on 30 carries, a 5.9 yard average. It will be without top lineman Leonard Williams for the second straight week.