• I was wrong about Plaxico Burress. After he took a swipe at Chicago's "beatable" secondary, I predicted he'd grab four balls for 42 yards in a lame showing. He actually caught four for 48 yards — and a fumble — in a lame showing. My bad, Plax.

• Eli Manning (14-for-32, 121 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 fumble) straight-up stunk. Blame the weather, credit the Bears, whatever. Rex Grossman had to deal with the same conditions against a fairly formidable defense, and he was great after a horrid start. Grossman, drafted 22nd overall in 2003 (but somehow is regarded as lacking NFL skill), finished 18-for-30 with 246 yards, 3 TDs and one early pick. He not only didn't screw it up, but he came up big during the Bears' 35-7 run.

• Yep, a 35-7 run. The Giants took a 13-3 lead with just over two minutes left in the second quarter. With the Bears facing a 3rd-and-22 from their own 28, New York called time out to force a punt after an expected stop. Thomas Jones went for 26 yards up the middle, and the Bears scored a TD soon thereafter, cutting the halftime lead to 3. If the Giants stop Jones and go into the break up a minimum of 10, maybe things turn out different. Maybe New York doesn't need to try a long Feely field goal that had no shot and ended up being a -7 instead of a +3.

• Luke Petitgout fractured his left fibula in the first quarter, joining Strahan, Umenyiora, Arrington, Emmons and Toomer as Week 1 starters who were unavailable in the second half collapse against Chicago.

• Tiki Barber gained another 157 total yards (141 rushing). Even in a dreadful game offensively, against a top-tier defense, he posted a bounty of yards that total more than 2,500 over 16 games.

• One catch for Jeremy Shockey. Think he's gonna be silent about that this week?

• At one point, Grossman was 4-for-12 and the Bears had rushed 10 times for 5 yards.

• With 12:29 remaining in the game, the Giants were down only 4 points, with 1st-and-10 from the Bears 29. We were right there, man.

• Combined record of the three teams — Colts, Seahawks, Bears — that have beaten the Giants: 23-4.

• Still have to be happy at 6-3, with a one-game lead in the NFC East and tie-breaker (so far) against the Cowboys and Eagles, who have to come here next month. The mounting injuries concern me more than anything right now. Remember, we got jacked up in Seattle and responded by winning five straight. No reason to lose faith yet.