Getty Matthew Stafford fires a preseason pass against the Giants.
The Detroit Lions will continue to push through their slate, and will get another visit to Ford Field this week from the New York Giants.
Detroit has sustained two straight crushing losses in the NFC North at the hands of the top two teams in the division, but now turn their attention to the Giants, who have been more down than up this season in terms of consistency themselves thus far in 2019.
Entering into the contest, the Lions are seen to be seven point favorites against the Giants according to Vegas Insider. That line has shifted backward a bit from Detroit as 7.5 point favorites. The Giants are a 2-5 team who has struggled yet been competitive in most games. Detroit does have some obvious advantages over New York in this contest head to head, namely the fact they have a consistent offense and the Giants have struggled on defense to start the season.
Past Results
Detroit and New York are no strangers to competing on the gridiron lately. Despite a preseason contest in 2018, the Lions and Giants last met during the regular season was in 2017, with Detroit handing New York a humbling 24-10 defeat on their home turf at Met Life Stadium on Monday Night Football. Prior to that, the Lions had lost three out of four to New York, but the last time the teams met at Ford Field, the Giants were drilled 35-14 in the 2014 home opener for Detroit. That was yet another primetime game on Monday Night Football.
As a whole, the Lions have a narrow 23-21-1 advantage head to head all time, which paints the picture of a back and forth matchup through the years historically. Interestingly enough, Detroit has been worse at home, with a 1-4 record against the Giants on home field since 1996. Obviously, the Lions have to find a way to reverse that for this coming matchup at Ford Field considering its overall importance to both teams.
A Significant Battle
This game won’t be a prime time affair like a few of the others have been, but it will be no less important to both sides. The Giants have been playing up and down football behind their rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, who’s taken more than a few lumps so far this season. Detroit, at 2-3-1, can claw back into the playoff race with a home win, and make a statement about the direction they could be heading as their schedule eases up a bit in coming weeks.
New York is 2-5 and looking for any bit of good feeling following a tough start to the year, but the Giants have had some pluck in recent weeks, staying in the game despite their pedestrian record. If the Lions aren’t careful, they could be surprised by the tandem of Jones and tough runner Saquon Barkley, one of the more impressive players in the league regardless of team.
The line is probably right on to start the week, and the Lions being touchdown favorites feels right, even as they struggled head to head to close games against the top two teams in their division. A big win here, however, could quickly get things back on the proper track for 2019.
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