Getty Jamaal Williams celebrates a score for the Lions in 2022.
The Detroit Lions are trying to become one of the hottest teams in the NFL, and if they were to get a win against the New York Giants in Week 11, it might cement their status as such.
With a 7-2 record thus far in New York and Detroit’s 3-6 record, nobody will mistake this as a blockbuster game. It does, however, represent a blockbuster opportunity for the Lions to score an upset win.
Many won’t be picking Detroit to get the job done, but interestingly enough, a pair of ESPN pundits like what they see from the Lions enough to think they will get the job done against the Giants.
Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano made their picks for this week, and Fowler had the Lions beating the Giants due to the fact that Detroit’s offense is dynamic enough to get the job done, especially after scoring a huge road win already.
“Detroit’s Week 10 win over Chicago — its first on the road since 2020 — should lift weight off the shoulders of Dan Campbell, whose offense ranks top 10 in the NFL in points (24.3) and yards (371.2) per game. The Giants’ 7-2 start is impressive, but they aren’t built to win a shootout,” Fowler wrote.
Funny enough, Graziano wrote that he agreed and was picking against the Giants, but admitted Fowler beat him to the punch. As a result, he picked a different game. Clearly, though, there’s a bit of a consensus that has developed with regards to this game.
The Lions come in as a severely underrated foe, so it will be interesting to see if they can pull it off. Clearly, some already think this will be the case.
Lions Offense Stepped up Week 10
If the offense does lead Detroit, that would be big news for the team considering they have run hot and cold lately.
During Week 9’s win, the Lions scored just 15 points. Last week, however, the Detroit offense doubled that, putting up 31 in Chicago. Detroit scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and saw their passing offense explode in key moments to get the job done on the road.
So far this season, the Lions have managed to score over 30 points four times. Defensively, if the team gets any kind of solid, consistent effort, they have been hard to beat. All of a sudden, the defense is starting to win them games, as evidence by what happened in the final two series in the last few games played.
Lions-Giants Series History
In terms of the recent history of the series, the Lions are on a two game winning streak head-to-head that dates back to the 2017 season. As a whole, the Lions have won three out of the last four against New York.
During the 2017 season, the Lions won on the road 24-10 on Monday Night Football, getting an inspired early season performance. It was the last time the team beat the Giants on the road after losing in 2016. In 2019, the Lions managed a 31-26 win over New York that wasn’t enough to save their sinking season. That was the last time the sides met.
As a whole, the Lions maintain a 24-21-1 advantage over New York head-to-head. One of the most interesting wins in the series was in 2000, when the Lions beat their future head coach Dan Campbell on the road 31-21.
This time around, the ESPN experts see the team scoring another huge win.