The New York Giants (2-7) face off against the Chicago Bears (5-3) this Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Here are five storylines to follow heading into his weekend’s Week 10 kickoff.

No additions or subtractions at the trade deadline

The Giants stood pat at this week’s trading deadline. There was speculation they might add an offensive playmaker or two in light of the injuries to star wide receiver Malik Nabers and stud rookie running back Cam Skattebo, but either nothing materialized or they decided the moves were too expensive.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart will now be forced to play the rest of his first year in the NFL with the hand he’s been dealt. It’s unknown how close they came to making any deals, but it may end up being a good thing. This year is lost, and they didn’t have an excess of draft capital to play with going in.

On the flipside, the Giants did not end up dealing several other players rumored to be available, such as Evan Neal, Jalin Hyatt, Deonte Banks, Russell Wilson, and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Outside of Thibodeaux, he other players don’t have much of a future with the Giants.

Road worriers

The Giants are 0-5 on the road this year and are 4-18 away from MetLife Stadium since the beginning of the 2023 season. They haven’t been much better at home (7-14).

Perhaps it’s emblematic of a larger issue. The Giants are simply just a bad team. They aren’t good, no matter where the schedule takes them.

As Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy LaSorda once said, “We can’t win at home, we can’t win on the road…we’re running out of places to play.”

The clock is ticking…

At the end of last season, Giants co-owner John Mara gave general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll a reprieve after a 9-25 stretch that included some embarrassing moments on and off the field.

Seven games into this year, they are 2-7 and going nowhere again. There have been some bright spots and reasons for hope, such as the play of Dart, but it will be difficult for Mara to stand in front of the media and fans and defend this mess again in January.

The only thing that can save this regime is victories — or, at the very least, a good showing in the final eight games. Even then, it will be a tough sell, especially if Giant season ticket holders continue to dump their tickets to opposing fan bases in the secondary markets as the season goes on.

Is it time to manage Dart?

The lure of Dart is his competitiveness, but he has been reckless with his body so far in his short career. He is always looking downfield for the explosive play, leaving him susceptible to pass rushers, and he has failed to protect himself sufficiently as a runner.

The Giants can do Dart and themselves a service by managing his time. Understandably, they want him to get some seasoning, but they could end up getting him hurt instead. When games reach a point where they are unwinnable, perhaps they should shelve their rookie star and live to play another day.

“We’ll just keep developing Jaxson. Jaxson’s a competitor,” Daboll said this week after the serious injury to Washington’s Jayden Daniels was mentioned. “We’ll do the things we think we need to do. You never want anybody to get hurt, but like I’ve said many times before, it’s an opportunity every time you step on the field to do that. Some of it is scrambling, a couple of runs that we had on the outside, but we’ll just keep working with him and do what we think we need to do.”

What’s up with the defense?

The Giants have allowed an average of 404 yards and 35 points per game over their last three games, all losses. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

Daboll said he still had confidence in the defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, but the tone of the players in interviews indicates they feel they aren’t putting their best foot forward from a strategic standpoint.

It doesn’t appear that Daboll will replace Bowen in-season, and it all may be moot if Daboll and his entire staff are canned at the end of this season. That doesn’t take the heat off several of the players who have underperformed this year, such as defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and second-year safety Tyler Nubin.

One of the big questions is the utilization of top draft pick Abdul Carter. Bowen has not been able to find a permanent home for Carter, who clearly has made an impact no matter where he lines up, and has played on 70 percent of the snaps. Perhaps it’s better this way. Carter leads the NFL in QB pressures but has recorded a half-sack.