Bears' wave wipes out Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Momentum is a funny thing in football. Once the tide turns at the high school or even the college level, things can go tsunami in a hurry. Not so much at the pro level. You'll occasionally see a dramatic change in fortune, but seldom an avalanche like the Bears pulled off Sunday night at Giants Stadium in a 38-20 victory over the New York Giants.

The victory capped a glorious day for the Bears, who improved to 8-1 and extended their lead in the NFC North to four games with seven to play thanks to Minnesota's loss to Green Bay. The Bears' magic number in the NFC North is four.

Of course, they have more ambitious goals than simply making the playoffs. Their victory over the Giants, coupled with New Orleans' loss earlier in the day, gives the Bears a two-game lead in the NFC and front-runner status for home-field advantage through the playoffs. The Bears effectively have a three-game lead over the Giants because they win the tiebreaker of head-to-head play.

''This is a huge win for us,'' Bears quarterback Rex Grossman said. ''A quality team, on the road, a confident opponent. This is a big win for the team and for me.''

Grossman was coming off a bad performance in the Bears' first loss of the season against Miami and a miserable outing in his last nationally televised game against Arizona. The young quarterback was responsible for 10 turnovers in those games, and there was plenty of argument around town that maybe the team would be better off going with backup Brian Griese.

That idea didn't seem so outrageous after the Bears' first possession, when Grossman threw an interception under pressure that was returned to the Bears' 1 to set up a touchdown. The defense limited the Giants to two field goals the rest of the first half, including one off a rare fumble by Thomas Jones.

Protecting the ball seems to be more important for the Bears than other teams because their vaunted defense is set up to use speed over size and shoot gaps to make big plays in the backfield that produce points. The philosophy of the takeaway is essential to Lovie Smith, whose teams are 14-2 when they win the turnover battle but only 5-7 when they're even in that category and 5-9 when losing it.

But even the mistakes on this night weren't too costly. Not when the Bears endured the Giants' initial charge, then seized the momentum.

New York had an excellent game plan. Missing plenty of important starters, especially on defense, the Giants opted to run stunts and games on their line and move linebackers around in rushing positions to create pressure with the idea of forcing mistakes.

A heavy rainstorm added to the Bears' woes. Center Olin Kreutz said it was difficult to adjust the blocking scheme to what the Bears were seeing in a loud, hostile environment. But eventually, the game slowed down, and the Bears started controlling the line of scrimmage late in the first half.

Defensively, the Giants came out with the idea of enveloping the Bears' front with their size on the offensive line. They spread out their linemen and offered larger gaps for the Bears to shoot with the idea of blocking down on them and overwhelming smaller players.

It worked for a while, but the Bears adjusted and took control for long stretches in the second half.

If there was a turning point, it came with 90 seconds left in the first half and the Bears down 13-3 and facing third-and-22 from their 28.

Jones, who had gained nine yards on eight carries at that point, took the ball on a draw during a rare use of the shotgun formation and burst 26 yards for a first down. Three plays later, Grossman threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradley that put the Bears within a field goal at halftime.

''I was looking at the first-down marker the whole time, and I was thinking if we can get the first down, maybe we can get a field goal and get some momentum going into the half,'' Jones said. ''That was definitely something that gave us momentum, especially for us to get a touchdown. That sequence of plays was really big as far as us getting momentum back.''

The Bears were a different team in the second half, as were the injury-depleted Giants. Already without a host of key players heading into the game, the Giants had another two players go out, and with them went their hopes of victory.

Left tackle Luke Petitgout suffered a broken left leg and gave way to useless veteran Bob Whitfield, who was overmatched against Alex Brown. That injury might ruin the Giants' season.

The other was the loss of cornerback Sam Madison to a hamstring injury that has bothered him most of the season. Former Bears cornerback R.W. McQuarters had to move to the outside role from his nickel position, and that proved disastrous for the Giants.

''We didn't let the early mistakes compile,'' said wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who finished with 123 yards on seven catches with a touchdown. ''We were able to regain our composure and make some big plays.''

Grossman finished with a 105.7 passer rating after the slow start.

''We faced adversity and got through it,'' he said.

That's what it's all about.

Mike Mulligan and Sun-Times reporter Brian Hanley host a daily show from 10 a.m.-noon on WSCR-AM (670).