For much of Sunday, it was an absolutely dreadful performance from the Detroit Lions. The offense felt disjointed, and the defense couldn’t get off the field on key downs.
But thanks to a huge game from Jahmyr Gibbs and a couple of key plays late in the game, the Lions overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Giants in overtime. Gibbs finished with 219 yards rushing on just 15 carries, including his blazing 69-yard, game-winning touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in overtime.
First quarter
The Lions won the toss and deferred, giving the ball to the Giants offense to start the game.
The Giants hit on a big play to start the game, with Jameis Winston finding Darius Slayton for 23 yards. Then the Giants pulled out their bag of tricks on a third-and-2 with a double pass to Wan’Dale Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 Giants lead out of the gate.
The Lions were able to get the ball moving a bit to start the drive with a heavy dose of Jahmyr Gibbs—four rushes for 22 yards. But when the Lions got into a third-and-7 in Giants territory, Jared Goff took a sack that pushed them out of field goal range, and they were forced to punt. Lions punter Jack Fox successfully pinned the Giants at their 8-yard line.
New York promptly went three-and-out with two rushes for a single yard and a pass that fell incomplete. The Giants’ punt went off the side of his foot and the Lions took over at their own 47-yard line.
The Lions failed to do anything with the good field position, though. Gibbs was tackled behind the line of scrimmage on a first-down end around, and St. Brown dropped a second-and-long pass. Goff checked it down on third down, and Detroit, once again, pinned the Giants deep with a punt by Jack Fox.
This time, the Giants drove all the way down the field to extend their lead, largely with the hands of Wan’Dale Robinson. The Giants receiver converted a third-and-6 with a 13-yard catch, then followed it up with a 40-yard catch over the middle of the field.
Another 15-yard catch from Robinson got them into the red zone, but the Lions defense stiffened up from there to force a field goal. It was 10-0 Giants at the end of the first quarter—and Robinson already had 106 receiving yards.
Second quarter
The Lions offense got off to a promising start with a play-action pass to Brock Wright for 20 yards. A few plays later, Amon-Ra St. Brown got Detroit into scoring position with an 18-yard catch and later drawing the team’s first defensive pass interference penalty of the year in the end zone. The Lions nearly blew the opportunity with an intentional grounding penalty that made it third-and-goal from the 11-yard line, but a screen to St. Brown found the end zone to make it 10-7, Giants.
The Giants opened with a play-action pass that caught the Lions in a busted coverage, and Winston found Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a 42-yard gain.
Detroit was able to get the Giants into a third-and-8 in the red zone, but Winston hit receiver Isaiah Hodgins on a 12-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-7 Giants with 8:21 left in the second quarter.
The Lions couldn’t answer. After a pair of Jameson Williams drops near midfield, Goff took another third-down sack and Detroit punted it away for the third time in the first half. But the Lions defense got the ball right back with a three-and-out following three runs from New York.
Detroit would strike quickly from there: Gibbs hit on a 49-yard run down to the Giants’ 3-yard line.
Goff then found Gibbs for a 3-yard touchdown grab to make it 17-14 Giants with 2:16 remaining in the half.
With 2:11 left, the Giants were able to get into scoring position with two big plays: a 24-yard pass interference penalty on Rock-Ya Sin, and a 26-yard grab from Robinson. The Lions were able to hold the Giants to a field goal, making it 20-14 Giants with 38 seconds left.
A Kalif Raymond kick return to the 43-yard line gave Detroit an opportunity to cut into the lead with 31 seconds still on the clock and two timeouts left. A big throw to Raymond for 29 yards quickly put the Lions in field goal range, and Jake Bates made it from 37 yards out to make it 20-17 Giants at the end of the half.
Third quarter
Detroit opened the half with an opportunity to take their first lead of the game. The drive started out promisingly with a pair of runs for 14 and a St. Brown catch for 17. But a negative play on first down to Gibbs on a bobbled catch put Detroit behind the sticks. A nifty screen pass to Jameson Williams that went for 36 yards was negated when Graham Glasgow was too far downfield before the pass, leading to a penalty. Detroit punted, again, and they pinned the Giants at their own 7-yard line.
New York was able to get out of their own zone with a couple of plays, including a 24-yard pass to tight end Theo Johnson over Alex Anzalone. But the Giants stalled at midfield and punted back to Detroit, pinning them at their own 10-yard line.
The Lions quickly got into Giants territory with throws of 30 and 20 yards to St. Brown.
Detroit converted a third-and-4 with a toss to David Montgomery to get into the red zone, but disaster struck from there. On third-and-11, a pass went off St. Brown’s hands and was picked off by safety Jevon Holland.
Kalif Raymond suffered an injury during the drive and went directly into the locker room. He was listed as questionable to return with an ankle injury, but later downgraded to out.
The Giants avoided a three-and-out with a huge 20-yard pickup to Tracy Jr. to move near midfield at the end of the third quarter.
Fourth quarter
The Giants went back to their bag of tricks to go up two scores again. An end-around pass to Jameis Winston went for a 33-yard touchdown and a 27-17 Giants lead with 12:16 remaining.
With the game in danger of slipping away, the Detroit Lions struck quickly on a three-play drive. Goff found St. Brown for 27 yards, and two plays later, Gibbs broke a few tackles for a spectacular 49-yard touchdown. 27-24, Giants.
The Lions defense finally got a big play in the game, with Winston getting picked off by Lions safety Thomas Harper.
But the Lions quickly squandered the opportunity after Jameson Williams dropped a third-down target. Detroit went three-and-out and pinned the Giants deep.
Detroit’s defense had several opportunities to get off the field, but couldn’t early. The first came on a third-and-10 deep in their own zone. Pressure got to Winston, but his prayer was answered by Isaiah Hodgins.
A few plays later, the Lions were called for pass interference on third-and-6, giving the Giants another fresh set of downs to burn more clock. Then, on third-and-17, Winston escaped a near sack and found Johnson for a huge 39-yard gain.
The Lions defense would have one more opportunity to save a chance to win the game—and fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line—and they got the stop they needed. Rock Ya-Sin got a pass defensed, giving the ball back to Detroit down just three points.
So the Lions took over at their own 6-yard line with 2:54 left and one timeout—a field goal would tie it, a touchdown would win it. Detroit drove to midfield with a trio of passes to St. Brown for 26 yards. But Detroit stalled and had to attempt a 59-yard field goal to tie it. Bates drilled it, setting a new career long and tying the game all at once: 27-27 tie.
With 28 seconds left and three timeouts, the Giants still had a chance to end it in regulation. After the kickoff, the Giants had it at their own 32-yard line with 24 seconds. But after a fantastic pass breakup from Amik Robertson and a hands-to-the-face penalty on the offense, the Giants opted to play for overtime instead.
Overtime
The Giants won the overtime coin toss and opted to give the ball to the Lions first to see what they need to do on their offensive drive. Well, the Lions gave them that answer on the first play, with Jahmyr Gibbs going 69 yards for a touchdown and Detroit’s first lead of the game. 34-27, Lions.
The Giants kept the game alive with a fourth-and-10 conversion via a Winston scramble for 11 yards. Then, Winston hit Theo Johnson for 14 yards to midfield. The Lions had another chance to end the game on a fourth-and-5 from the 27-yard line. Aidan Hutchinson finally got to Winston for the game-winning sack.
FINAL: 34-27 LIONS
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