Detroit Lions report card for week 2 win over the New York Giants
By Rick Galda
In week 2 of the 2017 NFL season, the Detroit Lions moved to 2-0 with a win over the New York Giants. Here is how the positional groups grade out.
Week 2 saw the 1-0 Detroit Lions facing off against the 0-1 New York Giants. The Lions jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The 24-10 final failed to tell the tale as the Lions were very good defensively and were very efficient offensively, albeit conservative in the second half. Here are the grades for the Lions’ win over the Giants.
Defense
Defensive Line
The defensive line looked aggressive and revitalized. It is difficult to determine how good they are as the Giants offensive is scary bad and missed key pieces. It was good to see Ezekiel Ansah getting off the block and pressuring the Giants backfield. With 3 sacks and a forced fumble he looked like the promising defensive end from 2 years ago.
Grade: B+
Linebackers
The linebackers are a work in progress. Rookie Jarrad Davis looks like a promising prospect who has already taken on lots of responsibility within the defense and has the potential to be a playmaker week to week. There are still some big coverage flaws in this unit, especially when it comes to athletic pass catching tight ends. This will need to improve or it will be exposed continually throughout the season.
Grade: C+
Secondary
The secondary made a lot of nice plays Monday night. Quandre Diggs and Darius Slay were aggressive in coverage and made several plays each that were critical to the victory. Glover Quin is steadfast at safety and always seems to be tipping the ball on passes over the middle. The consistent tackling this group demonstrated was impressive. The secondary was just as impressive as the D-Line.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
Matt Prater just does not miss 50+ yard field goals. Even when he tries. It is just impressive. Jeff Locke did a nice job subbing for the injured Sam Martin. The special teams play of the day easily belonged to Jamal Agnew, however. On a play that looked like a poor decision, Agnew had one of the most jaw dropping returns in recent memory for the Lions. He looked confident in himself, shifty, and displayed the type of vision and raw speed the Lions have lacked at punt returner for years.
Grade: A
Offense
Offensive Line
This unit looks better than it did last year. The additions of T.J. Lang and Ricky Wagner have solidified the right side of the line. The problem lies on the left side. Greg Robinson is not a starting Left Tackle in this league. He leaves the backfield exposed to often and is very susceptible to speed and power rushers. The Lions need Taylor Decker to get healthy. He may be the most crucial piece to their continued offensive success this year.
Grade: B-
Running Backs
The rushing yards for the Lions this week were better than we are used to seeing. If you just look at the stat sheet it is misleading. Matthew Stafford broke off a few critical runs that padded the rushing stats and moved the chains. Ameer Abdullah‘s final line looks great averaging over 5 yards a carry, however he broke off two long runs that padded the average. In general, it was 2-3 yards and a puff of dirt. This is something that will benefit from a healthy Decker, and is less of a concern as long as the running backs stay healthy.
Grade: B-
Wide Receivers
The wide receivers were not impressive this week, but they were not bad. If the definition of adequate could be summarized in football terms, they were that. The group did not drop the ball, they did not make many plays either. Part of the low output for the receivers was game plan, and for once the Lions were not playing from behind. This allowed the Lions to run the ball most of the second half. However, it would be nice to see the wide receivers pressing the coverage more often, they never seem to really be free unless Stafford throws them open.
Grade: C
Tight Ends
Eric Ebron. No drops. A nice touchdown catch where he had to elevate. This is improvement at this position. He may never develop into a blocker or that top five tight end in the league that his draft position warranted, but Monday’s performance is something that the Lions can work with.
Grade: B+
Quarterback
This is one of the best games Stafford has played with an utterly unimpressive stat line. Low yardage per attempt. Low total Yardage. What matters is the Lions won, and he was a quarterback in complete control of his offense. Stafford audibled out of passes to run based on blitz packages and kept his team ahead while throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions.These are the type of games that do not fill a stat page, but are the ones that get you to the playoffs.
Grade: B
Next: Lions game balls for week 2
Coaching
Jim Caldwell is far from the best coach in the NFL, however he has built a staff with solid coordinators and his players trust him. If the Lions can play from ahead like they did on Monday Caldwell’s shortcomings in time management will not be an issue. The Lions became conservative on offense in the second half, but never really faced a real threat. It was not pretty, but it was a win by double digits. That is impressive in the NFL.
Grade: A-