Credit: BOBBY O’HARA/ PureSportsNY
Giants Offense vs Lions Defense
With the constant struggle on offense and the lagging injury of Odell Beckham, New York will have a tough game on Monday Night. The Giants have relied on the run throughout the preseason and there is plenty of reason they should continue, but when it comes to the opener they will face a strong D-line that will do its very best to stop the Giants run game. Tom Coughlin is aware of the challenge up front.
“They’re a very, very good defensive front. They’re aggressive, they’re penetrators and powerful. They cause significant problems as you prepare. We just have to get ourselves ready and get our football team in a position that we want to be in.”
The Lions are strong on the line, but not so much in the secondary where they lost defensive team players in CB Chris Houston and S Louis Delmas. The secondary has looked like it’s shown improvement this offseason, but they will have to prove it. This could provide hope for the Giants to finally open up the pass game. If the Giants can capitalize on the weak Detriot secondary it could put the game in their favor and give them something positive to build off going forward.
Of course that is tricky when there is a new defensive coordinator in the mix on Detroit that has not called any plays in the NFL yet. Teryl Austin enters his first season with the Detroit Lions as the team’s defensive coordinator after spending the previous three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach. Coach Coughlin was asked about the difficulties of that situation.
“I think it’s always going to be an issue when you don’t have a lot to go by. You pick your spots in the preseason games and study basically the ones that are in there, or notice anything different or unusual pressure or a coverage or an adjustment to a coverage. Other than that, we’ve got to go play and play our game, be prepared to adjust no matter what happens,” said Coughlin.
Credit: BOBBY O’HARA/PureSportsNY
Eli Manning who is coming off a season he’d like to forget knows how much Lions pass rusher,Ndamukong Suh, will do his very best to keep Eli in sight. He talked about the threat that Suh provides for the Lions and how the Giants need to keep a close eye on his whereabouts.
“He’s a good player and he does a good job of being disruptive in the run game and the pass game. You’ve got to keep an eye on him and know where he is and hopefully you can have a couple of guys on him sometimes. If not, our guys are going to have to step up and do a good job.”
To do that the Giants always questionable offensive line will have to show up big to pick up the blitz packages and keep Eli standing. The Giants added some players on the line and are continuing to get healthy, but the key won’t just be the line holding up. The key to beating the Lions pass rush is getting the ball out quick. Expect some quick slants and quick outs to the running backs in this game. Eli is feeling better about the shape of the offensive line and is looking forward to playing on Monday Night Football.
“Well, that’s special. For the networks to think we are deserving to open up on Monday Night Football in primetime is special. We’ll hopefully take advantage of that opportunity and go out there and play well.”
By: Bobby O’Hara/PureSportsNY