The New York Giants and Detroit Lions braved the 35-degree weather and 20-plus MPH winds at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Lions roared over the listless, sloppy Giants who now head to Dallas for a Thanksgiving Day game that should they lose, could damage their postseason hopes.
But the bad news doesn’t end there….
They’ll be short-handed come Thursday as they lost six players to injuries in this game: starting cornerbacks cornerbacks Adoree’ Jackson (knee) and Fabian Moreau (ribs), center Jon Feliciano (knee), offensive tackle Tyree Phillips (neck), safety Jason Pinnock (jaw) and wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (knee).
Here’s some winners, losers and in-betweens from Sunday’s loss.
Winners
Wan’Dale Robinson: Played his best game as a pro with nine catches for 100 yards but then left the game in the second half with a knee injury. It is the latest in a series of injuries the rookie has incurred this season.
Darius Slayton: Had another fine statistical day with five catches for 86 yards. Slayton had 95 yards receiving last week and 66 the week before. His resurgence is perhaps the only positive thing coming out of this game for the Giants.
Matt Brieda: Showed some life in lieu of Saquon Barkley’s stinker of an afternoon. Had a rushing touchdown and a 16-yard reception.
Richie James: Got some garbage time snaps on offense and caught three passes for 48 yards including a touchdown.
Others: Darnay Holmes, Kenny Golladay, Nick Gates
Losers
Adoree’ Jackson: Jackson left the game in the first half with a knee injury he sustained retuning a punt for three yards. He was ruled out before halftime. The fans’ biggest fear about having a key starter returning punts was realized.
Coaching staff: For several reasons, but mainly for the decision to allow Jackson to return punts. Fans remember the Jason Sehorn saga and many had feared this outcome.
The defense: Detroit pushed the Giants all over the field and the poor tackling didn’t help. The defense, which had been clutch all year, was caught flatfooted numerous times and could not stop running back Jamaal Williams in the red zone at all. The Lions went 6-for-13 on third downs, 4-for-5 in the redone and 4-for-4 in goal-to-goal situations. Giants had no sacks and just three QB hits on the day.
Saquon Barkley : The Lions came into this game basically a sieve on defense against the run and Barkley and the Giants could find no room to run. He finished with 22 yards on 15 carries. He is no longer the NFL’s leading rusher.
Others: Shane Lemieux, Mark Glowinski, Jon Feliciano, Micah McFadden
Mixed reviews
Daniel Jones: His two interceptions were killers but his stat line looks okay otherwise. Threw for 341 yards and ran for 50 more, including two total touchdowns. Not saying the Giants win if he plays a clean game because a lot went wrong across the board in this one. The silver lining is that the coaches learned DJ is, indeed, capable of throwing back-shoulder fades and pushing the ball downfield.
The offensive line: Did not open the holes for the running game and had some communication issues but that could attributed to all the shuffling they had to do with the injuries.
Others: Julian Love, Dexter Lawrence, Rodarius Williams
