New York Giants vs. Detroit Lions: Giants Week 1 Game Preview
The New York Giants will kick off the 2014 season on Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions.
These two teams faced off not so long ago—Week 16 of the 2013 season. Although the Lions dominated the majority of that game, the Giants won 23-20 in overtime, thanks to a poorly thrown Matthew Stafford pass before the end of regulation and a 45-yard Josh Brown field goal in extra time.
The win helped New York accomplish a 7-3 run to finish the season after starting out 0-6. For the Lions, however, the embarrassing loss was rather emblematic of a 7-9 season that ended with a 1-6 slide.
Last year's contest was only the latest installment of a historic series. The Giants first met the Lions, then known as the Portsmouth Spartans, in 1930 and won by a score of 19-6. The two franchises have met 43 times over the last 84 years, with the Lions leading the all-time series, 21-20-1. The only tie of the series occurred on November 7, 1943, and ended with a score of 0-0—the NFL hasn't seen a scoreless game since.
On Monday night, the Giants, down one game in the all-time series, will try to even the score.
Read on to get the latest news, injury updates, matchups to watch and more.
Preseason Recap
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Last month, the Giants put forth what must have been the worst undefeated preseason in professional football history—a five-game one at that.
Perhaps it's a sign that luck will be on New York's side in 2014; it certainly wasn't a year ago.
What won't be on New York's side are the 37 recently released players, many of whom were directly responsible for the Giants' perfect preseason record. After the starters and immediate backups fell behind, the third- and fourth-string reserves consistently dug the team out of the hole.
Each of the Giants' five preseason exhibitions was won with a fourth-quarter comeback.
If Big Blue is to win a real, meaningful game in 2014, the team's top talent must finally perform.
That means Eli Manning must get a grip of the new offense. So far, it appears offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo's scheme has Manning stumped. Aside from a conservatively efficient Hall of Fame Game vs. the Buffalo Bills, in which he completed six of seven pass attempts, Manning struggled to connect with any of his targets in the remaining four preseason contests.
The offense had a few bright spots: Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 of the preseason, Rashad Jennings ripped off a 73-yard touchdown run; and, against the New York Jets in Week 3, Manning hit his stride during the two-minute drill, connecting with Victor Cruz several times and once with Rueben Randle for a 15-yard touchdown.
With the passing game still in a state of flux, the Giants must rely upon a power running game and sturdy defense early in 2014. Jennings, as well as rookie Andre Williams and the pummeling Peyton Hillis, will actualize the first aspect of that formula, and the defensive platoon is primed to hold up its end of the bargain.
Maybe somewhere down the line, a couple of those late-game standouts who beat the odds to make the team help the Giants win a regular-season game. Corey Washington, with his four fourth-quarter touchdown catches, turned out to be quite the playmaker at receiver. Kerry Wynn might have some potential on the defensive line.
The lights only get brighter when the regular season begins, however, and I wouldn't expect either of these preeminent preseason performers to play at all in Week 1.
News and Notes
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Snyder Replaces Schwartz...For Now
Starting left guard Geoff Schwartz will nurse a dislocated toe for the first eight weeks of the season on short-term injured reserve, according to Michael Eisen of Giants.com.
To fill Schwartz' roster spot, the Giants signed former San Francisco 49er Adam Snyder.
Snyder probably won't start in Week 1, as rookie Weston Richburg has slid over from center to fill the vacancy left by Schwartz. However, as a reserve, Snyder brings some reliable experience.
Through nine seasons—all but one (2012, Arizona Cardinals) with the San Francisco 49ers—Snyder has accumulated 137 games played and 87 starts. More importantly, the 32-year-old has played every single position along the offensive line.
There's a reason why Snyder was available, as Jordan Raanan of NJ.com points out. The former third-round selection has somehow made a decade-long career out of playing football quite poorly, per his Pro Football Focus grades.
Kiwi Likes This Year's "D"
Mathias Kiwanuka has seen his fair share of defensive units since entering the league in 2006. He has seen them from multiple angles, too; New York's former first-round selection was drafted as an end but has filled in for entire seasons at linebacker in the past.
Kiwi thinks this year's defense could be one of the league's best, per Jordan Raanan of NJ.com.
He has a good point. Last year, New York fielded the eighth-best overall defense. The team's only key losses were Linval Joseph (free agency, Minnesota Vikings), Justin Tuck (free agency, Oakland Raiders) and Will Hill (suspended/released, Baltimore Ravens).
The Giants are in position to replace Joseph and Tuck with second-year men Johnathan Hankins, a tackle, and Damontre Moore, an end. Although Hill was a dynamic player in the secondary, the Giants improved their defensive backfield drastically by signing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Walter Thurmond III and Quintin Demps. They also have Stevie Brown, who intercepted eight passes in 2012, returning from a knee injury that stole his entire 2013 season.
Where the Giants are most impressive, however, is at linebacker—a distinct deviation from the norm. Jon Beason is finally healthy in the middle, Jacquian Williams has found himself on the weak side and both Devon Kennard and Jameel McClain present themselves as viable candidates for the starting duties on the strong side. Behind them, the Giants have two former undrafted free agents with starting experience in Mark Herzlich and Spencer Paysinger.
Until I see the platoon perform otherwise, I'll support Kiwi's claim.
Johnson's Weakness: Fact or Fiction?
Detroit's Calvin Johnson is widely accepted as the league's most dominant wide receiver.
A perfect pass-catcher, though? That's another ball game.
Recently, Giants cornerback Walter Thurmond III tried to pinpoint a weakness in Johnson's game. As a slightly smaller corner, Thurmond naturally gravitated toward the things an oversized receiver, like Johnson, generally struggles to do. He told Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger that "he has some weaknesses" and "there is no perfect receiver."
"It takes him longer to get out of stuff where the ball is coming in and we can get out and beat him to the route, we've won that play. Whether it be a knockdown or interception, that is one of the benefits of being someone smaller than he is. There's always benefits to being able to get out of a break quicker than your man.
"
Former NFL linebacker Jonathan Vilma weighed in on Thurmond's comments in a Bleacher Report TeamStream video, claiming that "it makes no difference when you can high-point the ball, you can out-jump someone and you can body them."
I'm inclined to agree with Vilma's analysis. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford doesn't lose any sleep over the speed at which Johnson comes out of his breaks, especially when he knows he can just heave the ball in his general direction, knowing "Megatron" will come down with it.
Quote of the Week
"Guys have that perception of him. But I just think he's a guy that plays hard and it's his way of playing. I mean, people feel that he takes it too far, but it's just football."
-Giants guard John Jerry on Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's "nastiness" (per Jordan Raanan of NJ.com)
Injury Report
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Here's the Giants' working injury report (as of Sept. 6), courtesy of NFL.com:
| PLAYER | INJURY | PRACTICE STATUS | GAME STATUS |
| WR Odell Beckham Jr. | hamstring | Did not participate | OUT |
| OT James Brewer | back | Did not participate | OUT |
| DT Markus Kuhn | ankle | Did not participate | OUT |
| LB Jon Beason | foot | Limited participation | Probable |
| OT Charles Brown | shoulder | Limited participation | Probable |
| G Brandon Mosley | back | Limited participation | Probable |
Beckham is still nursing a hamstring injury that has bothered him since the spring. Head coach Tom Coughlin thinks Beckham is still 2-3 weeks away, according to a Tweet by Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. Jerrel Jernigan should get the majority of the snaps in his place.
With Brandon Mosley's back ailing, John Jerry has stepped into the starting right guard role. Weston Richburg is already filling in for Geoff Schwartz at left guard, so the injuries to Brewer and Brown have New York's offensive line in a precarious predicament.
Beason is making his return from a fractured foot, suffered in the spring. After spending the entire summer on the physically unable to perform list, Beason is on pace to play Week 1, according to the Giants' official Twitter account. It's uncertain whether he'll be able to reclaim his starting middle linebacker spot right away.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie vs. Calvin Johnson
The Giants signed Rodgers-Cromartie to cover the opposition's No. 1 receiving threat, and he may face no greater challenge in 2014 than his Week 1 opponent: Calvin Johnson.
The 6'5", 236-pound pass-catching freak they call "Megatron" is one of the most physically imposing receivers in the game. Rodgers-Cromartie is better known for his speed; Johnson holds a three-inch, 41-pound advantage over DRC.
Johnson is finally healthy, too. You wouldn't know it just by looking at his stats from 2013 (his third consecutive All-Pro season), but Johnson was hampered by a knee injury that sent shockwaves through the Lions offense and beyond. The team collapsed down the stretch, and head coach Jim Schwartz was fired after the season.
Rodgers-Cromartie is a good cornerback, but, if defensive coordinator Perry Fewell leaves these two alone, it's a matchup Johnson is sure to win. The Giants should be quick to double-team him by shading a safety to his side of the field.
Eli Manning vs. Lions Secondary
Manning has struggled mightily throughout the preseason, but the football gods have offered him a gift by allowing him to open the season against what figures to be another subpar Lions secondary. It's a problem that has plagued Detroit for a few seasons now, and not much was done in the offseason to rectify it.
The problem for Manning last season was his interceptions. He threw 27 of them. Although opposing defenders did not catch any of his passes this preseason, his own pass-catchers weren't on the receiving end of many of his tosses, either. Against below-average coverage men, Manning now has an opportunity to connect with the targets he so often missed last month.
First and foremost, Manning must be on the same page with his receivers; communication errors have been an ongoing issue with receiver Rueben Randle. Secondly, the receivers must work to get open and Manning must be accurate—this is where Victor Cruz comes in handy. Lastly, a third pass-catching target must emerge. Whether it's Jerrel Jernigan, Rashad Jennings out of the backfield or one of the team's three tight ends, someone needs to pick up the slack until rookie Odell Beckham Jr. is healthy.
Despite an awful preseason, Manning still holds the upper hand in this matchup. A strong showing could set the tone and build his confidence for the remainder of the season.
Giants Offensive Line vs. Lions Defensive Line
I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself, for if Manning is to pick apart Detroit's secondary, he'll need time for his receivers to get open and a clean pocket to keep his focus downfield. In other words, the offensive line will need to have one heck of a game against an imposing Lions defensive line.
It's a tall task to ask of a unit that just lost its best interior lineman in Geoff Schwartz for eight weeks. The all-new interior lineup will feature J.D. Walton at center and Weston Richburg (left guard, rookie) and John Jerry (right guard) to either side of him. Those three will butt heads with a pair of former first-round selections in Ndamukong Suh (2010, second overall) and Nick Fairley (2011, 13th overall) at defensive tackle.
The Giants feature more familiar faces at either tackle, with Will Beatty manning the blind side and second-year man Justin Pugh on the right. Beatty is coming off an atrocious season that concluded with a broken leg, and he will be tested right away by 2013 fifth-overall selection Ezekiel Ansah at defensive end. Pugh will have his hands full with Jason Jones.
New York must get a lead and establish the running game. Otherwise, the Detroit's dominant pass rush will tee off on Manning, smothering a passing attack that is already gasping for air.
Giants X-Factor of the Week: Jason Pierre-Paul
The time for talk is over when it comes to Pierre-Paul.
The preseason is over, we've waited a couple weeks and now we want to see which JPP will come out in 2014. Will it be the destructive force that racked up 23 sacks from September 2011 up until the first week of November 2012? Or, will it be the injury-hampered shadow of himself that has collected just two sacks in the 18 games since then?
Monday night's outcome may teeter upon this specific uncertainty.
Prediction
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Giants 13, Lions 10
In complete defiance of everything we witnessed during the preseason, Eli Manning will lead an extended opening drive. A heavy dose of Rashad Jennings, both as a ball-carrier and pass-catcher, will keep Detroit's defense on its heels as New York moves into scoring position.
The offense will stall with the field shortened, as Manning fails to connect with Rueben Randle in the end zone. Josh Brown will kick a chip-shot of a field goal, and the Giants will take an early 3-0 lead.
From there, things will really slow down.
Detroit will dominate the time of possession and field position battle for the remainder of the half. The Giants defense will just barely keep the Lions offense out of field-goal range, while New York repeatedly goes three-and-out on offense. Manning won't throw an interception, but he will be sacked—more than once. If he fumbles, Detroit will cash in on the opportunity.
Even if New York protects the ball well on offense, the defense will eventually break from being on the field so much. Whether Calvin Johnson hauls in a big catch or Reggie Bush rips off a long run, the Lions will turn some massive gain into seven points just before the half.
Detroit will lead, 7-3, at the half.
Building off that momentum, the Lions will add a field goal on their first offensive possession of the second half. The Giants defense will stiffen from there, clinging to a touchdown-wide deficit as it patiently waits for the offense to locate its rhythm. The score will stand at 10-3, in favor of the Lions, when the two teams enter the fourth quarter.
And that's when Corey Washing—
Sorry, still shaking off some preseason rust.
That's when Manning will get in a groove with Victor Cruz. They'll start to move the ball with an efficiency not displayed since the opening drive, and Manning will reconcile with Randle on a 30-yard touchdown strike early in the final frame, tying the game at 10.
Later, New York will ease its way into field-goal range with less than five minutes to play, setting up Brown for a 45-yard field goal to take the lead. Deservedly, the defense will preserve the victory when Damontre Moore registers a game-clinching sack of Matthew Stafford on fourth-and-long.
That's how I see it playing out, anyway. Leave your game predictions in the comments section below.
Kevin Boilard covers the New York Giants for Bleacher Report.
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