Detroit Lions Dominate New York Giants in 35-14 Win

The Detroit Lions started the season on a positive note, as they manhandled the New York Giants on Monday Night.

Detroit absolutely destroyed the Giants in every category other than penalties. Detroit 85 yards in penalties, which helped keep the Giants in the game.

Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson were basically unstoppable, as they connected for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Stafford was went 22 for 32 and 346 yards. Stafford also rushed for a touchdown against a porous outing by the New York defense.

Johnson’s two scores would come in the first half, both on plays when Stafford escaped the pocket and caught the Giants’ defense off guard. The first touchdown was especially bad for Big Blue. Stafford would escape to the right and embarrass Damontre Moore with a juke, before delivering a bomb to Johnson. Johnson was absolutely wide open on the play, as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle literally ran into each other.

That was only the start of poor performance for the Giants, as there were several more instances of amateurish play. Golden Tate III was also wide open on a 44 yard pass play, and the Giants missed a bevy of tackles.

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The win is a great sign for the Lions, who could make a push to win the NFC North.As ESPN commentator Jon Gruden pointed out, Stafford has seemed like he’s very comfortable in the new offense, which is similar to the New Orleans Saints’ offense.

Stafford could be seen making audibles at the line of scrimmage, and he never put the ball in danger. Number 9 also spread the ball around a great deal, as he completed passes to six different players. Stafford isn’t only looking Megatron’s way anymore. Golden Tate finished with 93 yards, Stafford’s development is a key part in Detroit’s success in 2014. While Stafford wasn’t as flashy in the second half, the offensive surge in the first 30 minutes was more than enough to beat the inferior Giants.

“It was little things that allowed big plays…It takes all 11 guys to execute correctly.”

As expected, the Lions’ defensive line absolutely terrorized the Giants. Eli Manning was under duress for virtually the entire game, which led to the offense struggling so much. The Giants couldn’t get any run game established, which really eliminated play action.

The whole offense just looked sloppy. Newly named captain Victor Cruz had a couple of really, really bad drops, and the only bright spot of the game was young tight end Larry Donnell. Donnell, who entered Monday night with only three career receptions, caught five balls for 56 yards and a touchdown.

We all knew the Giants’ new look offense wouldn’t be perfect to start the season, but what we saw Monday night in Detroit was down right ugly. The offensive play calling was questionable, and nobody seemed to be fully comfortable under the new offensive scheme.

Eli Manning was out of sync with his receivers all game, as he went 18/33 with one touchdown and two interceptions.

The first pick was a clear miscommunication between Manning and Donnell. Manning made an adjustment with his hands, but Donnell must not have noticed because he failed to turn his head around when Manning threw the ball. This led to an incredible DeAndre Levy interception. Along with the defensive line, Levy was a big contributor for the Lions’ defense on Monday.

The second interception was just classic Eli Manning under pressure. Manning was forced out of the pocket and forced a pass he shouldn’t have made.

Head coach Tom Coughlin spoke to the media after the game. Coughlin called the outing a, “nightmare.” Coughlin would also say, “I don’t think there’s anyone in that locker room that doesn’t realize that the bubbles been burst. There’s a lot of things we need to improve on.”

Safety Antrel Rolle also spoke to the media. “Give credit to that team. They came out and their execution was great.” Rolle would go on by saying, “It was little things that allowed big plays to happen. I don’t know if it’s first game jitters or guys trying to do too much… It takes all 11 guys to execute correctly. We need to get better.”

For Detroit, their next game is in Carolina against Cam Newton’s Panthers. After seeing the Lions dominate on the defensive line, it’ll be interesting to see if they can do it again next week.

New York’s next game is home against the Arizona Cardinals, who played in the second Monday night game. Improvements certainly have to be made to both the offense and the defense if the Giants want to be even somewhat competitive.

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