For nine weeks, the New York Giants had played mistake-free football to the benefit of a surprising 7-2 record. If the first nine weeks were a fever dream, Week 11’s game against the Detroit Lions was a hard fall to earth.
Two Daniel Jones interceptions and a combination of poor tackling and bad penalties resulted in New York’s 31-18 loss to the Detroit Lions Sunday afternoon.
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted. It’s hard to win when you have three turnovers and you don’t get any. Some things we did well, but give Detroit credit for the win.” Brian Daboll told reporters after the game.
Detroit got the scoring started early on their opening drive going 11 plays for 64 yards to kick a field goal. An unforced error from the Giants kept the drive alive though when Oshene Ximines was called for roughing the passer on Jared Goff when the Giants had seemingly gotten off the field on fourth down.
Unforced errors were key throughout the game for both teams.
The Giants would respond to the Lions’ field goal with an 11-play touchdown drive of their own that was capped by a Daniel Jones touchdown run.
But a missed PAT attempt from Graham Gano would give New York just a 6-3 lead going into the second quarter. Gano’s missed kick would be a sign of things to come for the Giants in the second quarter.
A Daniel Jones interception to Aidan Hutchinson would set up a quick three-play score that gave Detroit a 10-6 lead. Jamaal Williams would score his second touchdown of the game a quick drive later to give the Lions a 17-6 lead.
“I didn’t see him there. It was a bad decision and a good play by him. You can’t afford to do that though.” Jones said on the interception later.
Williams would score his third touchdown of the game to cap a nine-play, 56-yard touchdown to go up 24-6. The Giants’ chance of a rally was quickly snuffed out on the ensuing drive when Jones was picked off for the second time Sunday, this time to Kerby Joseph.
New York would score twice in the final quarter with Matt Brieda getting a three-yard touchdown run and Richie James catching a nine-yard throw from Jones. It wouldn’t alter the final score at all with New York falling 31-18.
“The story of today was that we didn’t execute how we needed to. All around it wasn’t our day.” Julian Love said.
For New York, they fall to 7-3 on the season and face off against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon.
Game Notes
- Daniel Jones’ first interception was the first pick the quarterback has given up since week three.
- To add insult to literal injury, the Giants lost a good chunk of their secondary in the game. In total, five defensive players were lost for Sunday’s game. Due to the quick turnaround, there can be some concern about the availability of the Giants’ defense. “Guys will be ready. We just gotta have the next man up.” Lawrence said after the game.
- One bright spot in the Giants’ loss was the continued play of Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson. While Robinson had to leave the game with an injury, he caught nine passes for 100 yards while Slayton recorded five catches for 86 yards receiving.
