Tom Rock grades the Giants in their win over the Bears

OFFENSE: C

There was a time when it looked like the Giants were going to have to win the game 3-0. They were dominating on defense but could not put anything together on offense. They had seven straight possessions of three-and-outs, during which they accumulated a net of 26 yards. They finally got things going with a 90-yard drive in the third quarter that actually went 95 because of an early delay penalty. Eli Manning was an uncharacteristic 18-for-30 for 195 yards. He didn't throw an interception for the first time this season, but he did cough the ball up on a fumble when hit from behind by Julius Peppers (who beat David Diehl with a speed move to the outside). The Giants receivers also continued to drop several passes and the running backs continued to drop the ball. Ahmad Bradshaw had a solid game eventually with 129 yards and a TD, but he also had another fumble inside the opponent's 10-yard line. Brandon Jacobs also fumbled. The Giants have turned the ball over 13 times in four games, on pace for 52 this season.

Defense: A

It should have been a shutout. If not for a fumble by Jacobs in Giants territory, the Bears would not have come anywhere near scoring on the Giants. Forget the 10 sacks for a minute; Chicago only crossed midfield twice, both times in the fourth quarter. Only one of those was on their own, when they came to the Giants' 35 but Deon Grant's interception stopped them. The physical play bounced two quarterbacks from the game with injuries and held the vaunted Mike Martz attack to six first downs, zero third-down conversions on 13 tries, and 110 net yards. They also accounted for three turnovers, although it seemed as if they were going to have to take one to the house on their own to give the Giants any kind of breathing room on the scoreboard. The Giants didn't get very tricky with their pass rush to get those 10 sacks either. Most were with four-man rushes, and more than a few times the Bears tried to block Osi Umenyiora or Justin Tuck (3 sacks each) one-on-one with a tight end.

Special teams: D

Matt, Matt, Matt. What are we going to do with you? Rookie punter Matt Dodge was so focused on not allowing the ball into Devin Hester's hands that he didn't even remember that he had to keep it in his own hands first. He dropped the snap on his first attempt and picked it up, rolling right and kicking it rugby style. Coincidentally, that's how Dodge said his teams would combat dangerous returners in college, by rolling out and kicking on the run. Problem here is that the unscripted move left the Giants flagged for an illegal man downfield because the timing was off. Dodge also scuffled on the hold for Lawrence Tynes' 38-yard field goal that went wide left in an "Ace Ventura" laces-out moment. As for the Giants' own returner, Darius Reynaud continues to have difficulty finding any creases in the Giants' blocking and he nearly coughed up his first punt return when he fielded it on a bounce. The only thing that saved the special teams from a second straight "F" was the thunderous tackle by Gerris Wilkinson on Johnny Knox on a kickoff return and the fact that Hester was kept out of the end zone.

Coaching: B

If Tiki Barber is right, and perception does in fact lead to reality in New York, then Tom Coughlin will have a job for life. Because while players didn't come out and say that they wanted to "Win it for Tom," there were a few comments about having their coach's back and wanting to silence his critics that made you think that Coughlin's popularity in the locker room is still strong. As far as the on-the-field stuff, Coughlin had a good challenge on the Manning fumble that was close and worth a second look. Offensively, there were a few questionable calls that held the Giants to 3-for-15 on third-down conversions. Defensively, Perry Fewell learned from the mistakes in Indianapolis and figured out how to stop the run against a pass-happy team. The porous Bears offensive line helped with that.