Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Giants Drop Fourth Straight in 31-26 Loss to the Detroit Lions
The good news is that despite the Giants’ 31-26 loss to the Detroit Lions, Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones delivered his strongest performance since his Week 3 debut as an NFL starter.
Jones completed 28 of 41 pass attempts for 322 yards and four touchdown passes for a 124.2 rating.
Those numbers just slightly fell short of his Week 3 showing in which he went 23 of 36 for 336 yards and two passing touchdowns.
The Lions jumped to a 7-0 lead when former Giants linebacker Devon Kennard recovered a fumble by Jones, who had been creamed by Jarrad Davis in the first quarter.
Detroit capped their scoring within the first 15 minutes of the game on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Marvin Hall to make it 14-0.
Jomes and the Giants were able to erase most of that deficit in the second quarter on two touchdown passes to fellow rookie Darius Slayton, who caught back-to-back scores of 22- and 28-yards. A missed PAT by kicker Aldrick Rosas kept the Giants from tying the score at that point.
Down 17-13 at the half, after Lions kicker Matt Prater added a 52-yard field goal, the Lions broke things on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to Kenny Golladay, who finished with a Lions team-leading 23 receiving yards on six catches.
After tight end Evan Engram caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Jones to narrow the Lions lead to five, Golladay and Stafford connected again, this time on a 14-yard flea-flicker.
The Giants once again pulled to within five when Saquon Barley caught Jomes’ fourth touchdown pass of the day, this one from four yards out with 1:19 left in the game, but the Giants were unable to recover the onside kick to have a chance at potentially pulling this game out from the jaws of defeat.
The Giants’ pass defense continued to struggle. This week, New York allowed five big pass plays of 20 or more yards, two of which went for 40+ yards.
Whether it was miscommunications, missed tackles, or poor angles, the Giants pass defense gave up 342 passing yards to Stafford, making this the fourth game out of eight that the Giants have surrendered at least 300 yards through the air to the opponent.
The Giants return home for a Monday Night matchup on November 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, who had a Week 8 bye.
