The New York Giants are traveling to Detroit and will square off with the Lions in the Monday Night Football season opener for 2014. The Giants beat the Lions at Ford Field last year, but that was when both teams' playoff chances were nonexistent. This game has much different implications.
First comes the obvious concern - Calvin Johnson. The best wide receiver in the NFL will face a Giants pass defense that ranked 10th in the league last year and gave up just 223 passing yards per game. The team did well against Detroit in 2013, limiting Matthew Stafford to 222 yards in the air on 25-of-42 passing, and Calvin Johnson to just three receptions for 43 yards during their Week 16 matchup.
The Giants will play cornerback Prince Amukamara on the right side, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the left side and Walter Thurmond in the slot. Rodgers-Cromartie insinuated that the defense likely won't need to double-team Johnson and that the cornerbacks will stick to their usual assignments. After all, they'll have to worry about the other weapons Detroit has, including Reggie Bush and Golden Tate. However, the secondary could end up having a long day if the Giants front four can't get any pressure on Stafford. Johnson is completely healthy after battling nagging injuries last year, so the Giants need to make sure they don't give Stafford too much time in the pocket.
Another concern is the noise level at Ford Field. Going into their Week 16 matchup last year, the Lions were just 7-7 and needed a miracle to make the playoffs, so the fans weren't as invested as they're going to be on the Monday Night Football opener. As we saw last night in Seattle, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers administered a no-huddle offense with a silent count and a lot of hand signals for audibles. Luckily for the Giants, their offseason acquisition of center J.D. Walton will likely provide a big advantage for the offense, but how will the rest of the essentially new offensive line hold up?
"Walton has been running silent snaps for years, but now he's doing it in a different environment with a pair of guards that have rotated all preseason and one tight end that has never taken a professional offensive snap," writes Conor Orr of the Newark Star-Ledger. "If the rest of the line is late off the ball, a potent pass rush headlined by Ndamukong Suh will have a field day. A few false starts will generate some frustration in a hurry."
Eli Manning and the Giants have ran a no-huddle offense with much success in the past and new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo has faced the Lions' defense for years while he was the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. The Giants haven't revealed much of McAdoo's new offensive scheme, but if the passing is as effective as he believes it will be, Manning could have a big night against a weak Detroit secondary if he can manage the noise.
Check out the preview for the Giants-Lions Monday night matchup here.
