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Storylines to follow in Week 10 matchup

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The Giants are back on the road this week as they travel to Chicago for a Week 10 matchup against the Bears.

The Giants saw their losing streak extend to three games this past Sunday as they fell to the 49ers, 34-24. Meanwhile, the Bears went to Cincinnati and beat the Bengals in a thrilling 47-42 shootout that saw three touchdowns scored in the final minute and 45 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Sunday's game will mark the first of three consecutive outings against NFC North opponents. After this week, the Giants will return home to take on the Packers before traveling to Detroit to face the Lions in Week 12.

Here are five storylines to follow in Week 10.

'It's going to take all of us collectively'

Upon Jaxson Dart taking over at quarterback in Week 4, the Giants went on to win two of their next three games, with victories over the Chargers and Eagles. Since then, the team has lost three consecutive games, dropping their record on the season to 2-7. Heading into a tough stretch of the schedule, Dart knows it's going to take everyone on both sides of the ball to turn things around in the second half of the season.

"Just continue to encourage," Dart said after the game about what he needs to do as a leader of the team. "We have really talented players. Guys who have an opportunity each week to do really good things. I'm just going to continue to do my job of encouraging everybody around me and try to hold a standard to myself each and every day and hopefully I can try to raise the bar for everybody else. You know, we're close. Like when you look at the season, and I know that you can say this for a lot of teams, but we're really close to having this season kind of flip in a different direction.

"You know, it's going to take all of us collectively to try to find a way to win one game at a time. We know what that feeling feels like and we're going to have to be able to respond and do the same thing the next week, and I think that that will help us try to get on a roll. We're going to have some more guys get healthy and that will help in the coming weeks, and as leaders, we've got to stay together and try to raise the bar for everybody around us and for us, as well, we've got to play better, too."

The Giants face the Bears (5-3), Packers (5-2-1), and Lions (5-3) over the next three weeks, followed by a Monday night matchup against the Patriots (7-2) before the bye.

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 10 matchup against the Bears.

Dart's historic start

Speaking of Dart, the 22-year-old quarterback was recently named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month. In four October games, Dart threw for seven touchdowns, accounted for 10 total touchdowns, and had a passer rating of 90.0, all of which were the most among NFL rookies. Across his six starts, the first-year quarterback has five games with at least one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. This set a new franchise record and made Dart one of just three rookie quarterbacks to accomplish this feat, joining Cam Newton (2011) and Justin Herbert (2020).

In last week's loss to the 49ers, Dart completed a career-high 72.7 percent of his passes for 191 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, earning a passer rating of 107.0. He has now finished with a passer rating of 93.0+ in five of his six starts. Dart also added eight rushes for 56 yards (7.0 avg.) and an additional touchdown, marking the fourth game in which he has totaled 50+ yards on the ground. He now ranks seventh among quarterbacks with his 251 rushing yards this season, just 54 yards shy of Herbert for the most at the position, despite starting only six games.

Dart has a good opportunity to continue his strong start this Sunday in Chicago. The Bears enter this matchup ranking 25th in passing yards allowed and 31st in passing touchdowns allowed, due in part to Joe Flacco's explosion against them last week as the veteran quarterback threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns. One area the Bears defense has succeeded at is forcing turnovers, as the unit ranks first in the league in takeaways (19) and interceptions (13). The defense is also allowing an average of 6.4 yards per carry to opposing quarterbacks this season.

Some reinforcements on the way?

The Giants played without some notable names on both sides of the ball this past weekend. While it remains to be seen which players are actually able to return in Week 10, a couple of key defenders seem to at least be trending in the right direction, starting with cornerback Cor'Dale Flott. The fourth-year corner suffered a concussion in Week 8 which sidelined him for the matchup against the 49ers. Flott is still in the concussion protocol, but he was able to get on the practice field Wednesday as a limited participant, a positive step in his return to action this weekend.

Flott wasn't the only member of the secondary that missed last week's game but was able to practice on Wednesday. Safety Jevón Holland has been sidelined the last two weeks after suffering a knee injury in Denver. The veteran safety was a limited participant in all three practices last week, leading to him being listed as questionable on the final injury report. While he ended up being inactive on gameday, his return to the practice field on Wednesday signals a return may be close.

On the other side of things, cornerback Paulson Adebo did not practice on Wednesday after missing the last two games with a knee injury. The status of all three defensive backs will be something to monitor in the lead up to Sunday.

The strength of the Bears' offense lies in the run game, which we'll get to in a bit. But Chicago's pass game has come to life the last two games with quarterback Caleb Williams throwing for 280+ yards in back-to-back outings. Wide receiver Rome Odunze leads the way with 473 receiving yards and five touchdowns, while veteran D.J. Moore has added 403 receiving yards himself. Between Odunze, Moore, and Olamide Zaccheaus, all three wideouts have caught 30-31 passes this season. Additionally, rookie tight end Colston Loveland is coming off a breakout performance in which he set new career-highs with six receptions for 118 yards and the first two touchdowns of his NFL career. In a matchup against an up-and-coming offense with playmakers spread out across the unit, the Giants could use some of their starting DBs back on the field.

Emphasis on stopping the run

The Giants' struggles in stopping the run continued against the 49ers. Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson Jr. combined for 159 yards on 33 carries, good for an average of 4.8 yards per carry, with both backs scoring a touchdown on the ground and registering three explosive runs of 10+ yards. McCaffrey also finished with a team-high five receptions for 67 yards and an additional touchdown.

After recording consecutive outings with fewer than 90 rushing yards allowed in Weeks 5-6, the Giants have surrendered an average of 192.3 rushing yards per game over the last three games. The defense heads into Week 10 ranking 31st in total rushing yards and 32nd in average yards per attempt, while the unit's 12 rushing touchdowns surrendered are tied for the second-most in the league.

While it's important to try to stop the run in every game, there should be even more of an emphasis on it this weekend. The Bears are not only one of the most run-heavy teams in the NFL, but they've also been one of the most successful on the ground. When it comes to the run game, Chicago ranks third in attempts, second in yards, eighth in touchdowns and sixth in yards per attempt. The Bears have really picked things up in recent weeks as they've topped 220 rushing yards in two of their last three games.

Veteran D'Andre Swift has been their leading rusher on the season, taking 100 carries for 464 yards (4.6 avg.) and four touchdowns, but rookie Kyle Monangai has really stepped up lately. With Swift sidelined last week due to a groin injury, the seventh-round pick exploded against the Bengals for 176 yards on 26 carries (6.8 avg.). This marked his second game in the last three weeks with an average of more than 6.0 yards per carry, as he took 13 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown against the Saints in Week 7.

Other injury updates; Eluemunor, Schmitz sidelined

The secondary isn't the only position group that's been hit with injuries in recent weeks. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor missed last week's game due to a pectoral injury suffered in Week 8. The veteran tackle was unable to get on the practice field last week and was listed as doubtful on the final injury report before being inactive on gameday. Eluemunor was unable to get back on the practice field Wednesday, as he went down as a DNP on the first injury report of the week.

Center John Michael Schmitz was also sidelined for Wednesday's practice after suffering a shin injury against the 49ers. Schmitz was unable to return to the game following the injury, which led to Austin Schlottmann taking over at center. Schlottmann has filled in admirably for Schmitz when called upon this season. If Schmitz is unable to suit up in Chicago, Schlottmann would start his second game of the season.

Wide receiver Beaux Collins (neck) and linebacker Darius Muasau (ankle) did not participate in Wednesday's practice, either, after both went down with injuries this past Sunday. The other players missing from practice were defensive lineman Chauncey Golston (neck), outside linebacker Victor Dimukeje (shoulder), and kicker Graham Gano (neck).

On a positive note, tight end Daniel Bellinger did make his return to practice as a full participant. The fourth-year tight end suffered a neck injury in Week 8 which sidelined him for Sunday's game against the 49ers, but was able to get back out on the field as to open the week. Bellinger was starting to see his role on offense increase the last few weeks before the injury as the Giants started shifting towards more two tight end sets following the season-ending injury to Malik Nabers. His last full game came against the Broncos, where he and fellow tight end Theo Johnson combined for six receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

View rare photos of the all-time history between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears.

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