NEW YORK GIANTS 14 – DETROIT LIONS 3…
With both teams primarily playing back-ups, the New York Giants soundly defeated the Detroit Lions 14-3 on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants are 1-0 in the preseason.
Quarterback Drew Lock started the game for New York but was forced to leave near the end of the first quarter due to a hip injury. General Manager Joe Schoen said that the injury is not serious and Lock could have returned. Tommy DeVito played the remaining three quarters of the contest at quarterback. Neither signal caller lit it up, but DeVito performed markedly better than Lock, with the latter throwing a bad interception.
On the other hand, the ground game was productive with New York gaining 155 rushing yards. The offensive star of the game was running back Eric Gray, who scored both the Giants’ touchdowns, including a 48-yard run in the second quarter that put the Giants up for good. He later followed that up with a 1-yard score that gave the Giants a 14-3 halftime advantage. Gray finished the game with four carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns and four catches for 46 yards. Also contributing to the solid running attack was Dante Miller with 12 carries for 63 yards and Tyrone Tracy with five carries for 26 yards. For the most part, the second- and third-team offensive linemen did a more-than-adequate job in creating holes and providing decent pass protection.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Giants limited Detroit to 228 total net yards, with 118 net yards rushing and 110 net yards passing. The Lions were 5-of-17 on third down and 0-of-4 on fourth down. Giants’ defenders were credited with four sacks, eight tackles for losses, eight pass defenses, and one interception. Before he left the game with an ankle injury, inside linebacker Dyontae Johnson (4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for losses) stood out as did reserve edge players Boogie Basham (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 2 pass defenses), Benton Whitley (2 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defense), and Ovie Oghoufo (4 tackles, 1 fourth-down pass defense), A very young secondary also held up well with a number of players flashing including nickel corner Andru Phillips and safeties Tyler Nubin and Gervarrius Owens.
INJURY REPORT…
OT Evan Neal (ankle) and S Jalen Mills (calf) remain on injury lists and did not play. Neither did CB Cor’Dale Flott (quad), OC John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), WR Dennis Houston (hand), TE Jack Stoll (concussion), TE Lawrence Cager (hamstring), S Elijah Riley (concussion), and OLB Tomon Fox (hamstring).
QB Drew Lock (hip), ILB Dyontae Johnson (ankle),and DL Ryder Anderson (hand/wrist?) all left the game with injuries. General Manager Joe Schoen said Lock is “fine” and could have returned to the game. Johnson lobbied to come back into the game.
POST-GAME REACTION…
Video clips of post-game media sessions with Head Coach Brian Daboll and the following players are available at Giants.com:
- Head Coach Brian Daboll (Video)
- QB Tommy DeVito (Video)
- RB Eric Gray (Video)
- RB Dante Miller (Video)
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
Head Coach Brian Daboll will address the media by Zoom on Friday.