NFL fans are in for another exciting slate of games in Week 2, so who plays primetime on Monday Night Football?
Week 2 of the NFL season only features two games in which 2016 playoff teams face off against each other and both are slotted in primetime spots. One of those games will be featured on Monday Night Football as the Detroit Lions travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants.
The Lions enter Week 2 1-0 after beating the Arizona Cardinals at home on Sunday, while the Giants are 0-1 after losing to the Dallas Cowboys.
It remains unclear on if star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr will be able for the Giants in this game. If the Giants’ game against the Cowboys on Sunday Night was any indication, they will likely need Beckham healthy to win. The Giants are now 2-4 in games in which Beckham did not play since they drafted him in 2014.
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Beckham is one of the top receivers in the league, but it seems that he might be the most important non-quarterback on any offense based on how ineffective they were against the Cowboys. Eli Manning and the Giants scored 3 points and threw for less than 200 yards against a Dallas passing defense that ranked 26th in 2016.
The Lions are coming off a 35-23 victory over Arizona in which they scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. After a rough start, Matthew Stafford’s new $135 million contract looks good. Stafford threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns against a talented Arizona defense and led to Lions to another fourth quarter comeback victory.
In 2016, Stafford broke the NFL record for most fourth quarter comebacks in a single season. Eight of Detroit’s nine total wins were Stafford-led comebacks in the fourth quarter.
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This matchup on Monday night will be important for playoff implications. The Giants were considered strong contenders to make the playoffs again this season. However, starting the season 0-2 would make it difficult to make a run at even a wild card spot in the NFC. The game will kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET and will be air on ESPN.