Big Blue View
The New York Giants will try to put a stop to their five-game skid when they travel to take on the Detroit Lions in Week 12.
This will be the Giants’ third game in three weeks against the NFC North, and it will likely be their second-toughest defensive test in what has already been a brutal schedule.
The Lions’ defense is 10th in points allowed (21.6 per game), 10th in rushing EPA allowed (14th in success rate allowed), eighth in passing EPA allowed (fourth in passing success rate), and sixth in overall EPA allowed (fourth in total success rate allowed).
The Giants have been getting just about everything they can from an offense featuring a rookie quarterback and without their best weapons. But will that be enough against a tough Lions’ defense?
Perhaps the best thing to come from the Giants’ 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers was them rediscovering their running game. True, they averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, but that doesn’t come close to telling the whole story.
They ran the ball 38 times, picking up 142 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, each of which is among the Giants’ best marks of the season. It was an impressive performance considering rookie sensation Jaxson Dart was out of the lineup with a concussion.
It was doubly impressive considering the Packers have the NFL’s second-best run defense behind only the Denver Broncos. The Packers boast the ninth-best Run Stop Win Rate and prior to Sunday the Packers had only given up five rushing touchdowns while allowing an average of 92 yards per game.
The question now is whether the Giants can carry that forward to this week against the Lions.
We should probably expect the Giants to try to make running the ball the foundation of their offense against Detroit. Interim head coach Mike Kafka made a point of focusing on the run game, going after the strength of the Packers’ defense to establish a physical and aggressive attitude. He’ll likely do so again against Lions, who pride themselves on their own physicality. We also know that Kafka makes a point of trying to attack opponents’ tendencies, and the Lions’ run defense is weaker than their pass defense, making the running game that much more attractive.
The Giants made good use of Counter runs against the Packers and we should expect that to continue into this week. They frequently used pulling blockers to establish a numbers advantage on the play side while also working OC John Michael Schmitz to the second level. While the Lions’ run defense is formidable, their defensive line has been among the worst in the NFL when it comes to winning at the line of scrimmage, rankin 30th in Run Stop Win Rate.
A defender can earn a win by doing any of the following: beating his blocker so he’s in better position to stop the runner; disrupting the pocket or running lane by pushing his blocker...
