The New York Giants (2-5) head out to the Motown to face the Detroit Lions (2-3-1) this Sunday in game between two franchises that could find themselves on the outside looking in come the postseason.
Here are six things for you to know courtesy of the Giants and Lions media guides.
The Lions and the rivalry
The Detroit Lions’ franchise began in Portsmouth, Ohio and were known as the Spartans. They were sold and moved to Detroit in 1934 and renamed the Lions. They have won the NFL Championship four times (1935, ’52, ’53, ’57) and are the only pre-merger NFL team to never appear in the Super Bowl.
Since the 1970 merger, the Lions have qualified for 12 postseason berths and have compiled a sorry 1-12 record. They have played in just one NFC Championship Game, a 41-10 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Redskins.
The Lions have had only five Hall of Famers plays for them since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger: running back Barry Sanders (1989-98), tight end Charlie Sanders (1968-77), defensive back Dick Lebeau (1959-72), defensive back Lem Barney (1967-77) and defensive lineman Curley Culp (1980-81).
Sunday will be the 45th regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Giants’ all-time record against the Lions is 21-22-1 with a road record of 9-13-1. That does not include the only postseason meeting, which was the 1935 NFL Championship, won by the Lions at the University of Detroit Stadium.
Their jerseys are often mistaken as “powder blue.” The team actually lists them as “Honolulu blue.” The Lions have called Ford Field home since 2002 and the Ford family has owned the club since 1963.
Fun fact….legendary R&B singer Marvin Gaye tried out for the Lions in 1970 and was cut early on in camp. Lions’ legends Mel Farr and Lem Barney sing background on Gaye’s seminal No. hit, “What’s Going On.”
The matchup
The Giants have the NFL’s 24th-ranked offense (23rd passing, 17th rushing), averaging 18.9 points and 328.6 yards per game. They have a turnover ratio of minus-10. Only the Miami Dolphins (-11) are worse.
Stat to know: The Giants are averaging 2.1 fumbles per game, second only to Minnesota (2.4) this season.
The Lions have the NFL’s eighth-ranked offense (6th passing, 18th rushing), averaging 24.8 point and 380.3 yards per game. They have a turnover ratio of +4.
Stat to know: Punter Sam Martin has 155 career punts inside the 20-yard line, passing John Jett (154) for the second most punts inside the 20-yard line in Lions history.
Who’s who on these Lions
Matt Patricia is the head coach with two veteran coordinators — Darrell Bevell (offensive) and Paul Pasqualoni (defense). Patricia was hired as the Lions’ head coach for the beginning of the 2018 season after serving as an assistant for the New England Patriots for 2004-17. He was the DC from 2012 on. Bevell has been coaching in the NFL since 2000. He has been an offensive coordinator twice before — in Minnesota and Seattle. Pasqualoni has a distinguished 35-year coaching career highlighted by his head coaching stint at Syracuse from 1991-2004.
The Lions’ quarterback is Matthew Stafford, who has 1.751 yards passing with 13 TD and a 101.7 quarterback rating. Kerryon Johnson has been their leading rusher with 308 yards. Their leading receiver is Marvin Jones Jr. with 30 receptions for 308 yards.
Lions TE T.J. Hockenson, WR Danny Amendola, WR Kenny Golladay and Jones have all produced 100-yard receiving performances this season.
On defense, safety Tracy Walker leads the team with 50 tackles through six games, the most a Lions defensive back has ever produced in the first six games of the season. Former Giants linebacker Devon Kennard leads the Lions in sacks with three.
The latest
The Giants signed former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Deone Bucannon and promoted linebacker Devante Downs from their practice squad. Tight end Garrett Dickerson and linebackers Tuzar Skipper and Keion Adams were waived.
The Lions placed their leading rusher, Kerryon Johnson on injured reserve this week with a knee injury and traded safety Quandre Diggs to Seattle in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round pick and seventh rounder in 2021.
Matt Patricia’s defense isn’t very good statistically
Matt Patricia may have been a defensive guru under Bill Belichick in New England but he hasn’t been able to capture that form in Detroit.
The Lions are 24th in interceptions (3) and 27th in sacks (10).
The Lions’ defense doesn’t rank higher than 26th in any major statistical category. They are 26th in points allowed (26.7), 31st in total defense (428.7), 30th against the pass (289.5) and 28th against the run (139.2).
Some impressive things of note
The Lions have only gone three-and-out on nine of their 71 possessions this season, which accounts for only 12.7 percent of their drives. Their nine three-and-outs and 12.7 three-and-out percentage ranks 4th in the NFL this season.
The Lions are averaging 7.23 net yards per pass this season, the seventh-highest total in the NFL through Week 7.
Lions QB Matthew Stafford has engineered 34 game-winning drives when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter or overtime, the second-most in the NFL in that span. In that same period, he’s had 28 fourth quarter comebacks, the most in the NFL over the past 11 seasons.
