Detroit Lions Weblog

Week 11 Preview: Giants Vs. Lions

The last time the Lions started a season 6-2, they lost in a horribly dismal fashion out in Arizona, which subsequently sent their season’s unmet hopes and dreams crashing up against the shore.  

In a remarkably similar fashion, the Lions lost disappointingly last week in Arizona.   With fecundity springs hope, and the Lions hope that their fields of opportunity have not grown tallow after last week’s loss.   This weeks game, against the 6-3 New York Giants, will go a long ways towards indicating if they might find harvest time to be bountiful, or not.

The Giants aren’t without fault, but they do represent a very difficult matchup for the Lions.   Offensively, the “Troublesome Twosome” or “Maginot Line” (take your pick), featuring Jeff Backus (10 1/2 sacks allowed) and George Foster (9 3/4 sacks allowed and innumerable “F-Bomb”-inducing false start penalties), have their hands incredibly full against the best assemblage of pass rushers in recent NFL history.

In order to offset the Giants pass rush, the Lions are going to have utilize some draws and screens, Jon Kitna will need to deliver some slants and quick outs on target to his receivers, and the Lions will occasionally need to provide additional help on the edge with backs and tight ends providing additional protection to help stem the Giants feral edge-rushing onslaught.

If the Lions are able to establish a minute semblance of a ground game, with Kevin Jones and T.J. Duckett, they will prevent the Giants from completely pinning their ears back and coming full force after Kitna.  It remains to be seen, if the Lions can run effectively enough to force teams from out of dropping 7-8 players into coverage, with their safeties deep, and relying solely upon their defensive line to force Kitna, and the Lions offense, out of their comfort zone.

The Lions have not been very successful when their offense has become one dimensional.   If the Giants can force the Lions into abandoning the run completely, the Lions will certainly suffer their first home loss of the season.

Defensively, the Lions front four will have to provide the similar type of play that they given the team in their victories.   In particular, Shaun Rogers needs to devastate the middle of the Giants offense to force huge Giants RB Brandon Jacobs to the perimeter, where the Lions LB’s and DB’s can gang tackle him.

The Lions will need to pressure Eli “The Lesser” Manning, so that he is unable to get comfortable in the pocket and pick apart the Lions zone coverage by delivering passes to Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress.   The Lions secondary can’t allow Burress to get behind their safeties, and their playmaking, opportunism will need to re-emerge.

The proverbial “12th Man”, the rabid horde of Ford Field Lions fans, is an intangible to the game’s outcome.   As cliche as it is, this likely constitutes the biggest game ever played in Ford Field (by the Lions at least) and the Lions fans should provide a fearful, stultifying Silverdome-like atmosphere to assist the Lions, given that the team holds up its end of the bargain.  

If the Lions rush for greater than 75 yards, keep Kitna’s sacks under 5, and generate two or more turnovers:  Lions 31 Giants 24

If the Lions rush for less than 75 yards, Kitna is planted in the Field Turf, and a litany of fumbles, penalties, and missed opportunities dog them all day:  Giants 31 Lions 14