Are you ready for some football?
This week on Monday Night Football, our Detroit Lions (1-0) will invade MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants (1-0) in a game that could prove to be very important when all is said and done.
If the Lions want to move to 2-0 on the season, they will have to defeat a Giants team that will be desperate for a win after getting embarrassed by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
There is no question about it that this is an extremely important early-season game for both teams as the Lions will be staring down a matchup with the red-hot Atlanta Falcons at Ford Field in Week 3, while the Giants must avoid a 0-2 start as they will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles next week.
I do anticipate an extremely close game that will come down to the wire. Here are 5 bold predictions for tonight’s MNF matchup between the Lions and Giants.
1Lions rushing attack will struggle
Let’s face it. The Detroit Lions have not had a respectable rushing attack in a long time. Including the Week 2 games that have already taken place, the Lions currently rank No. 20 in the league in rushing yards per game as they had 82 yards in their Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants defense, on the other hand, ranks No. 27 in the NFL in rushing yards allowed after giving up 129 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
Though the Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys were able to run well against the Giants a week ago, that will not be the case for Ameer Abdullah and company in Week 2. New York had a great rushing defense in 2016 and that will show up again on MNF against the Lions.
BOLD PREDICTION: Lions will rush for less than 75 yards against the Giants.
2We at the hotel, motel, Golladay Inn
When the Detroit Lions used a third-round pick on wide receiver Kenny Golladay, many fans were left shaking their heads. After all, the team needed defensive line help and there were options available that would have looked nice in the Honolulu blue.
Fast forward to the present and Golladay is already a fan-favorite, especially after catching two big touchdowns in his first game in the NFL. With weapons like Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Eric Ebron, Ameer Abdullah, and Theo Riddick, you can bet that Golladay will see plenty of man to man defense on Monday night against the Giants.
BOLD PREDICTION: Kenny Golladay will grab his third TD of the season.
3Scoring will be scarce
Other than giving up 38 points to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round of NFL Playoffs last season, the New York Giants have not scored nor allowed 30 points or more since the 2015 regular season. In addition, the Lions have not hit the 30 point mark on the road since Week 1 of the 2016 season.
It’s also interesting to note that these two teams met in Week 15 of last season with the Giants winning 17-6. Both teams will have a tough time scoring in this one, including the Giants, who have not scored 20 points or more since Nov. 27, 2016, when they did so against the Cleveland Browns.
BOLD PREDICTION: Neither the Giants nor the Lions will score 20 points or more.
4Gettin’ Ziggy Wit It
After racking up 14.5 sacks in 2015, it seemed like Lions defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah was just getting started with what was sure to be an outstanding career as a sack artist. Unfortunately, that has not been the case as Ansah only recorded two sacks in an injury-plagued 2016 season.
Though he still does not seem to be 100% healthy, Ansah has shown signs that he still has it in him to put up some big sack numbers in Detroit. Last week against the Cowboys, Giants quarterback Eli Manning was sacked three times. This week will be more of the same and Ziggy will lead way.
BOLD PREDICTION: Ziggy Ansah will record two sacks against the Giants
5The game will come down to the wire
The Lions looked pretty good and the Giants looked REALLY bad in Week 1. That being said, I expect this to be a low-scoring game that goes down to the wire. Both offenses will struggle to move the ball as the defenses will dominate for the most part.
Matthew Stafford will throw a game-tying touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay late in the fourth quarter but Eli Manning and the Giants offense will have the ball last in front of their home fans.
BOLD PREDICTION: Giants kick a last-second field goal to win 16-13.
I predict Lions 24 – Giants 10. Hey…I was right…LOL.
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