On Monday night, the Detroit Lions went into MetLife Stadium and dismantled the New York Giants by a final score of 24-10. With the win, the Lions are off to a 2-0 start as they now set their sights on the red-hot Atlanta Falcons. Before looking ahead to that game, let’s take a look back at Monday’s game and see what we learned.
Here are three takeaways from the Lions win on Monday Night Football against the Giants:
1Matthew Stafford is worth the money
Matthew Stafford proved his worth against the Giants in the Meadowlands on Monday Night. He went 12/17 for 107 yards and two touchdown passes in the first half. Although he did not have as strong of a second half, he still finished 15/21 with 122 yards, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 117.6. He is definitely showing that he is worth every penny we paid for him.
2The defense is for real
Although they gave up a touchdown to a wide-open Evan Engram in the first quarter, the Lions defense bounced back and played one heck of a game. They forced a turnover and made Eli Manning uncomfortable in the pocket. They had four sacks and one interception in the first half alone. Ziggy Ansah played a solid game after being listed as questionable before the game, he had three sacks and five solo tackles in Monday’s game. The Lions defense made great plays in short-yardage situations and tackled great all night long.
3The run game still needs some work
For the 54th consecutive game, the Detroit Lions did not have a 100-yard rusher in a game. No matter what the Lions did, they simply could not get the run game going, though it may look like they did when you look at the final stats. They were constantly stopped at or behind the line on almost every run play (with the obvious exception of a few of those plays). Detroit needs someone who can run between the tackles and convert those short yardage plays because Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick simply cannot get it done. The answer to that problem could be Zach Zenner, but he will need to earn some playing time before that happens.
