Early look at the Detroit Lions 2017 opponents: New York Giants
By Ash Thompson
The Detroit Lions get their shot at redemption for a late-2016 failure early in 2017. How do the Lions match up with the New York Giants in week two?
The Detroit Lions have three primetime games this season, the first of them coming in week two at the New York Giants. Week two will conclude for the NFL with an ESPN Monday Night Football matchup between the two 2016 NFC wildcard teams. The last time the two met the Lions were unable to bring home a victory. It was the beginning of the end for the Lions. This game was the first of the Lions four straight losses to conclude the 2016 season.
The motivation for the Lions is obvious, last season left a bad taste in players, coaches, and fans mouths. A revenge game early in the year, in prime-time no less, would be just what the doctor ordered in terms of turning the page on 2016.
Such a victory would also do wonders for getting the team off to a good start. That is something they have failed to do in each of the last two seasons. The 2015 1-7 start cost an entire front office their jobs, and the 1-3 start to last season was the forgotten factor in the Lions dropping the division title to the Packers in the final game of the year.
The Lions were missing both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick in the late season game. Starting Center Travis Swanson was also out. The result was that the Lions were without a running game. The team averaged 2.9 yards per carry on the day. Because of this inability to move the ball on the ground, the Lions ended up in bad down and distance combinations.
The Giants were one of the best teams in the NFL at taking advantage of bad down and distance scenarios. Their complex blitz packages, fierce pass rush, and deep secondary proved too great a task for the Detroit Lions offense. Luckily this game will not be played by the same players on the same day as the previous match up. Here is a look at the Lions week two match up.