If the Detroit Lions are going to make the playoffs this year, they’re going to have to largely earn it themselves. After getting no help from the Rams or Packers this week, the Lions find themselves in a situation where even if they win their final three games and get to 11-6, there is no […] We waited months and months for the Detroit Lions to turn the corner of their mediocre season, but it appears that turn is not coming. The Lions saved their worst outing of the year for their most important one. In a gotta-have-it game, the Lions looked outmatched in every way. On offense, they were without a running game yet again, and Jared Goff looked disjoined from the passing game until it was too late. On defense, Detroit gave up three explosive touchdowns, having no answer for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rushing attack. Detroit nearly mounted a furious comeback, but they failed to punch the ball in late despite several opportunities in goal-to-go situations. The Lions are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but they are extreme long shots. They’ll need to win their two remaining games and need the Green Bay Packers to lose their final two games. Here’s how Detroit’s letdown home finale played out. First quarter The Steelers won the toss and deferred, giving the Lions the opportunity to score first. Instead, they went three-and-out. A second-down sack from Keeanu Benton put the Lions behind the sticks and a screen pass to Jahmyr Gibbs went nowhere. Pittsburgh would strike first after a methodical drive by Aaron Rodgers and company. Rodgers completed an 18-yard pass to Darnell Washington to convert a third-and-5. However, when they got into Lions territory, Detroit’s defense stiffened up. Aidan Hutchinson notched a second-down sack… ..and Alex Anzalone broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage to force a long field goal. Chris Boswell drilled the 59-yarder to make it 3-0 Steelers just under six minutes in. Detroit’s offense mounted a promising drive in response. Although, Gibbs fumbled on the opening play, resulting in a 4-yard loss, Kalif Raymond pulled them out of the hole with a 13-yard gain on third-and-long. Then Anthony Firkser made a pair of contested catches for 18 and 14 yards to get the Lions into the red zone. Unfortunately for Detroit, they completely stalled in goal-to-go situations. Detroit opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and Goff could not find an open receiver, resulting in a turnover on downs. The Lions defense had a chance to get off the field quick on a third-and-5, but Rodgers found Calvin Austin for an 8-yard gain that give the Steelers some breathing room. Second quarter Join the conversation! Sign up for a user account and get: Fewer ads Create community posts Comment on articles, community posts Rec comments, community posts New, improved notifications system! The Steelers would get more room with a Kenneth Gainwell 18-yard run, but that was it for the drive after a couple of incomplete passes from Rodgers. A punt and a penalty on the Steelers set the Lions up at their own 38-yard line. The Lions would get into field goal range after a 21-yard catch from Jameson Williams and a 20-yard gain from Amon-Ra St. Brown to convert on a third down. However, Detroit’s red zone struggles continued with a negative run, a Gibbs drop, and a third-and-long failure. Jake Bates did cap the drive with a 36-yard field goal to make it a 3-3 tie with 10 minutes left in the half. The three teams traded three-and-outs. Two for the Steelers, one for the Lions. But this sack from Hutchinson—his second of the game—helped swing field position in Detroit’s favor. Kalif Raymond returned the ensuing punt to the38-yard line, giving the Lions their best opportunity to take their first lead of the game. And they did just that. Goff started out the drive with 13-yard passes to both Isaac TeSlaa and Jahmyr Gibbs. A few plays later, Goff went back to LaPorta for a deep shot up the seam and the rookie receiver caught the ball in traffic for a nice 20-yard touchdown catch. 10-3 Lions. The Steelers had 1:55 left and two timeouts to cut into the Lions’ lead. Detroit’s defense had three third-and-10s to get off the field, but Rodgers completed an 11-yard pass to Pat Freiermuth, a 12-yard pass to Adam Thielen, and another 13-yarder to Thielen to move to the Lions’ side of the field. Then one of the more ridiculous plays you’ll ever see happened. Rodgers uncorked a deep shot to running back Kenneth Gainwell, who had been dragged down by linebacker Alex Anzalone. Gainwell caught the ball from on the ground, got up, and scampered in for a 45-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left. 10-10 tie. Third quarter The Steelers nearly took the early lead in the second half with a long drive. Rodgers completed two key passess—and 12-yarder to Metcalf and an 18-yarder to Thielen—to convert third downs. After 21-yard run from Jaylen Warren, the Lions caught a huge break. Jack Campbell punched the ball out of Darnell Washington’s hands and Campbell recovered for a red zone turnover. But Detroit’s offense would give the Steelers the lead. After two ineffective passing plays, the Steelers sent a blitz on third down and took down Goff for a safety. 12-10 Steelers. The Steelers promptly mounted an extremely long, draining drive. The drive, which ran 17 plays and bled nearly 10 minutes off the clock, included a third-and-9 conversion, and a pair of fourth down conversions, including this nifty tush-push fake: A couple of penalties in the red zone pushed the Steelers back, and Detroit got a third-and-goal stop to force a field goal attempt on the other side of the intermission. Fourth quarter Boswell made a 23-yard field goal to make it 15-10 Steelers on the first play of the fourth quarter. Detroit promptly went three-and-out on three incomplete passes, continuing
Lions vs. Steelers live score updates, highlights, injury news
Sunday Night Football: Patriots vs. Ravens
The NFL Week 16 slate of Sunday games will cap off with a Sunday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots (11-3) and the Baltimore Ravens (7-7) The Patriots lead the all-time series between these AFC teams, 9-3, but the Ravens have won two of their three most recent meetings. One of those wins […] The NFL Week 16 slate of Sunday games will cap off with a Sunday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots (11-3) and the Baltimore Ravens (7-7) The Patriots lead the all-time series between these AFC teams, 9-3, but the Ravens have won two of their three most recent meetings. One of those wins was the last time they faced off back in 2022, with the Ravens winning big in New England, 37-26. They did go head-to-head in the 2024 preseason, but that probably wasn’t a big help for their prep this week. Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game. New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens TV Schedule Game time: 8:20 PM EST Channel: NBC Date: Sunday, December 21, 2025 Location: M&T Bank Stadium | Baltimore, MD Announcers: Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark Online Streaming Odds via FanDuel New England Patriots: +3.5 (+156) Baltimore Ravens: -3.5 (-186) Over/under: 48.5 points SB Nation Blogs Patriots: www.PatsPulpit.com Ravens: www.BaltimoreBeatdown.com This is an open thread — discuss the game in the comments below! See More: Philadelphia Eagles discussion
NY Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings: 4 things we learned in Week 16 loss
At this point in the 2025 NFL season, there really isn’t much left to learn about this New York Giants team. They’re bad. As a former scientist, I do appreciate that ownership has tried to apply the scientific method to understand why. Two hypotheses were offered by fans and the Giants beat writers in mid-season. The Giants are bad because (a) the coaches are bad, or (b) the players (and hence the general manager) are bad. They couldn’t realistically fire the entire coaching staff in mid-season, but they did fire the two most frequent targets of fans’ and writers’ wrath, head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. They’ve now run the experiment for five weeks, taken the Petri dish out, and the results are in: The Giants still stink. So we now know it wasn’t (just) the coaches, although it’s possible that Mike Kafka and Charlie Bullen are as bad as Daboll and Bowen. No scientific experiment is perfect, but today we got another data point. What did we learn from the Giants’ 16-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings? Is Mike Kafka the second coming of Joe Judge? When Brian Daboll was still head coach, the Giants had some of their most successful offensive games this season after Jaxson Dart took over as starter. That more or less continued until Dart’s concussion in Chicago, during another blown fourth quarter lead, precipitated Daboll’s dismissal. Kafka, who supposedly had been given back the play calling this year, now had complete charge of the offense, and it looked good, even great at times, in his first two games as head coach with Jameis Winston at the helm. Since Dart returned, though, things haven’t been the same…except for the losing. Dart has played some of his worst ball since returning to the lineup against New England. Today was clearly the worst game of his Giants career, with only 33 yards passing on the day. Maybe the absence of designed runs has taken something important from his arsenal. Or maybe Kafka is coaching scared. Last week I was upset at how often he called running plays on 2nd and 10 after incomplete passes. Today Kafka just bypassed first down passes completely for a while. Kafka called runs on the Giants’ first four offensive plays. The first two worked for big gains, but the next two didn’t. Kafka finally called passes on two consecutive plays, neither of which worked, but both of which were canceled by Minnesota penalties. Given new life at the Vikings’ 16 yard line, Kafka called three consecutive runs that only got them to 4th and goal at the 5 yard line. THEN, rather than kick the field goal to get back to a 3-3 tie, he decided to have Dart pass…which resulted in a sack and change of possession. This is terrible play calling. You’re telling your QB that you have no faith in him. It brought back memories of the final two games of the Joe Judge Experience, when he refused to let Mike Glennon pass at all after the first quarter in Chicago, and then had Jake Fromm not even attempt to get first downs deep in his own territory. I get it – Brian Flores runs a difficult defense to diagnose, and you’re risking disastrous turnovers if he’s confusing your rookie QB. But Flores was blitzing Dart about 70% of the time, and play callers are supposed to have hot reads for the QB to throw to in order to blunt the effect of the pressure. If you don’t let your QB experience that, you’re stifling his development. If you’re using 12 personnel and then almost always running out of it rather than passing, you’re tying your QB’s hands. You’re not in good hands with the Giants’ receiving corps The counter to my point above is that minus Malik Nabers, the Giants’ receivers are a really unreliable group. On the rare occasions that Dart did try to pass, he was undercut by his receivers’ inability to corral the ball. Darius Slayton bobbled and lost another pass that would have been a first down. Wan’DaleRobinson, among the more sure-handed of the Giants’ receivers, let a pass hit him in the face mask and be bobbled before he got hit and it fell incomplete. Admittedly it was a pass that Dart floated rather than putting velocity on so Robinson could gather it in well before contact, but it was still a drop. Finally, Theo Johnson once again could not bring in a pass that he should have been able to go get, letting it bounce off his hands for an interception. The pass rush is looking up Granted, the Vikings’ OL is not the best, but the Giants got good pressure on J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer today. The beneath-the-surface story of today’s game was that the QB the Giants chose not to draft last year faced the QB they chose to trade up for this year. McCarthy, after a rough start to his career, had played great the previous two games, making the Viking offense suddenly look like a juggernaut. Today, The Giants sacked McCarthy three times and Brosmer once and held the two of them together to 160 yards passing. Brian Burns had two more sacks, continuing his excellent season, and Abdul Carter was active again, with another sack on a beautiful inside spin, his signature move, plus several other pressures. In addition, Chauncey Golston, who has been injured for much of his first Giants season and invisible when he’s been out there, got his first sack and was generally active when he was in the game. Maybe it was the pass rush, maybe it was the inexperienced QBs, but today was the first day that I thought the Giants’ secondary played well this season. Paulson Adebo had his first interception as a Giant. Jevon Holland had what should have been a pick-6, but it was called back because Abdul Carter lined up in the neutral
NY Giants NFL Draft order 2026: Where New York stands after Week 16
Another week, another loss, and the New York Giants still hold the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Giants lost in embarrassing fashion to the Minnesota Vikings, and in doing so both preserved their possession of the first pick in the draft and put their offensive needs on full display. At the same time, the Tennessee Titans upset the Kansas City Chiefs, giving the Giants a bit of breathing room in the Top 10. Of course, the Giants’ loss and Titans’ win also sets up next week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders to (potentially) be for the first overall pick. Updated NFL Draft order New York Giants (2-13) Las Vegas Raiders (2-12)* Cleveland Browns (3-12) Tennessee Titans (3-12) New York Jets (3-12) Arizona Cardinals (3-11)* Washington Commanders (4-11) New Orleans Saints (5-10) Cincinnati Bengals (5-10) Los Angeles Rams via Atlanta Falcons (5-9)* *The draft order will be updated following the 4:30 games The Giants’ defense played well (albeit against an injured Vikings’ offense), however New York’s passing game was virtually nonexistent. That was thanks to a highly conservative gameplan called in fear of Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy defense, a depleted offensive line, and some terrible play from the Giants’ receivers. The Giants’ offensive line and pass catchers conspired to make Dart’s life miserable. Too often, the pass protection broke down in the face of Flores’ blitzes either resulting in hits on Dart or ineffective scrambles. And when the pass protection held up long enough to give Dart time, his pass catchers were unable to get open — or hang onto the ball when he was able to find them. This game further reinforces the Giants’ pressing need for multiple receivers who can be reliable targets for the Giants’ young quarterback, as well as young linemen who can provide long term stability for the offensive front. The good news is that talented underclassmen receivers like Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), Makai Lemon (USC), Chris Brazzell (Tennessee), and Ja’Kobi Lane (USC), and linemen like Olaivavega Ioane (OG, Penn State) and Caleb Lomu (OT, Utah) are declaring for the draft. Holding the first overall pick would give the Giants the opportunity to trade down and fill multiple positions with talented players, getting some much-needed help for Dart. See More: New York Giants Draft
NY Giants vs. Vikings postgame analysis, player statistics, position grades
The New York Giants’ offense struggled to do anything against a ferocious Brian Flores defense. New York had 141 total yards with just 33 passing yards. Disaster befell the Giants’ passing attack, as Jaxson Dart looked confused and battered against a defense that sent several unblocked free rushers into the pocket. Dart’s neophyte nature, combined with butter-fingered receivers and a hurt offensive line, led to an inept offensive performance. The Giants’ defense scored a touchdown and forced multiple turnovers — another pick-six (Jevon Holland)that was negated by an Abdul Carter offside penalty. The defense was solid against a struggling offense, but similar issues persisted under Charlie Bullen; the defensive personnel couldn’t consistently tackle, and they surrendered long third-down conversions. New York’s defense did score points, though, and sacked the Vikings’ quarterbacks four times. Here are the grades from the game: Quarterback The Giants averaged -6 yards per pass play until the two-minute warning – that is atrocious! Mike Kafka leaned on the rushing attack for a few reasons; for starters, it was successful. New York had 76 rushing yards on 16 attempts in the first half. Secondly, the Giants were without Jon Runyan Jr. and, eventually and unfortunately, Andrew Thomas (starting in the second quarter). Dart was getting hit by unblocked blitzers from Brian Flores. It wasn’t until the two-minute warning in the first half that Jaxson Dart completed a pass; he was sacked three times up until that point and was 0/3. Dart nearly threw his second interception on the first play of the two-minute drive, with the Giants down 13-3; Tyron Tracy Jr. was called for a hold. Dart nearly threw a pick two plays later as well. Dart finished 7/13 for 33 passing yards with an interception. He was sacked five times and looked very uncomfortable all game. His receivers provided little help, with several dropped passes throughout the game, but it’s hard not to give Dart an F, even though his circumstances were abysmal. Grade: F Running Back The Giants leaned on the rushing attack. The Giants averaged 4.8 yards per carry in a first half where their passing attack was non-existent; they finished with 4.1 yards per carry. Tyrone Tracy Jr. had 71 yards on 16 carries, but 33 of them came on the first two carries of the game. Devin Singletary had 47 yards on 11 carries. Mike Kafka understandably wanted to run the football against the Vikings’ aggressive approach, which makes sense after watching the Giants’ attempts to throw the football. Still, it wasn’t nearly enough. Grade: B- Wide Receiver The Giants’ passing attack was essentially non-existent for much of the game. Darius Slayton dropped a dime of an in-breaker with less than four minutes in the game, down three points on a second-and-nine. Unfortunately, this isn’t surprising for Slayton. Wan’Dale Robinson allowed a throw to hit him in the helmet up the seam; even though the throw was a bit late, it was catchable. The tight ends are grouped here, specifically Theo Johnson, but these receivers need to do a better job of hanging onto the football. Grade: F Tight End Theo Johnson was frustrating again, after having a few solid games over the last five weeks. Johnson had two costly drops, one that fell into the arms of Byron Murphy Jr. The Giants were able to generate some push at the point of attack, initially, and their 12 and 13-personnel packages were effective when blocking. Still, their impact on the passing game was negative, with Johnson’s two drops on his only two targets. Daniel Bellinger had a catch that was negated by a penalty. Grade: D+ Offensive Line The Giants were without Jon Runyan Jr., and Andrew Thomas left the game early in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Aaron Stinnie and Marcus Mbow, respectively, replaced the two starters and Jaxson Dart seemed uncomfortable attempting to figure out Brian Flores’ defense. There were several unblocked defenders and a lot of pressure on Dart. John Michael Schmitz left the game in the second half as well, putting Austin Schlottmann in the game. There was a lot of pressure on Dart, who was sacked five times in the game. Grade: D Defensive Line Dexter Lawrence created interior pressure, and Roy Robertson-Harris had a few plays around the line of scrimmage. However, the defense became butter to the Vikings’ warm knife when it mattered most at the end of the game. Aaron Jones Sr. rushed for a first down on third-and-eight that would have allowed the Giants’ inept offense to either tie or win the game. I appreciate that Lawrence pressured the Vikings’ quarterbacks, but it’s still not enough to overcome the many issues on this team. Grade: C- EDGE Brian Burns resuscitated the cadaver of the New York Giants – give him a defibrillator! With less than 30 seconds left in the first half – after a run play – the Vikings call a screen, and J.J. McCarthy held onto the football way too long and got annihilated by Burns. Tyler Nubin scooped up the free football and scored, limiting the Vikings’ lead to just three points, with New York set to receive out of halftime. One of the most consistently positive parts of the Giants’ terrible 2025 season is the impact of Brian Burns. Abdul Carter had a costly offside that negated another pick six, that one by Jevon Holland, but Carter did assist Chauncy Golston with a sack on the subsequent play. Carter then recorded an impressive spin move sack in the A-Gap. Grade: A Linebacker Bobby Okereke had a few high-level linebacker plays; a few STOPs near the line of scrimmage that showcased his vision and an excellent red zone PBU against Justin Jefferson in the first half. Okereke also matched Jones to the flat and made an important third-and-three stop that held the Vikings to a field goal with 4:18 left in the game. I did not notice much else from other linebackers. Grade: B- Cornerback Paulson
NFL Week 16 Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 45, Mkami Dolphins 21
Joe Burrow bounced back from his first career shutout by throwing for 309 yards and four touchdowns as the Bengals turned a tight first half into a 45-21 rout of the Dolphins, scoring 28 points off four straight turnovers. Chase Brown scored three touchdowns in the third quarter alone, while Miami unraveled in the second half behind rookie starter Quinn Ewers despite a strong early showing.
Raiders vs. Texans: How to watch, TV schedule, streaming and more
The Las Vegas Raiders are playing their second straight road game (their final trip of the regular season) as they visit the Houston Texans on Sunday. Here’s what you need to know about the game: Game info: Records: The Raiders are 2-12, the Texans are 9-5. The Raiders have lost eight games in a row. The […] The Las Vegas Raiders are playing their second straight road game (their final trip of the regular season) as they visit the Houston Texans on Sunday. Here’s what you need to know about the game: Game info: Records: The Raiders are 2-12, the Texans are 9-5. The Raiders have lost eight games in a row. The Texans have won six games in a row. TV Schedule Date: Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 Time: 125 p.m. PT Channel: CBS. Announcers: Andrew Catalon, Charles Davis, Jason McCourty, AJ Ross. Location: NGR Stadium, Houston, Texas. Radio: KOMP 92.3 FM and KRLV “Raider Nation Radio” 920 AM Watch on mobile: Live game streams are available on the following platforms for those in-market*: Raiders + Allegiant Stadium App (iOS and Android devices) Raiders.com on iOS mobile devices (Safari browser only via this direct link) Weather: It’s always nice in NGR Stadium. Betting: Texans – 14.5-, 37.5 O/U at FanDuel Sportsbook. Follow Silver and Black Pride on social media! Twitter – @SilverBlakPride Facebook – Silver and Black Pride Opponent Blog: Battle Red Blog. Join the conversation! Sign up for a user account and get: Fewer ads Create community posts Comment on articles, community posts Rec comments, community posts New, improved notifications system! See More: Las Vegas Raiders Game Information
X-Rays Negative on J.J. McCarthy’s Hand
It appears that the Minnesota Vikings may have avoided the worst-case scenario with their young quarterback, but his status for their next game is still cloudy at best as things stand right now. During his post-game press conference following the Vikings’ 16-13 victory over the New York Giants, head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that […] It appears that the Minnesota Vikings may have avoided the worst-case scenario with their young quarterback, but his status for their next game is still cloudy at best as things stand right now. During his post-game press conference following the Vikings’ 16-13 victory over the New York Giants, head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that x-rays on J.J. McCarthy’s throwing hand came back negative, but at the present time that’s the only information anybody has. “Apparently it happened before his touchdown run. I asked him if he was alright and he said he was. Then, when he went out for the next drive, that’s when he seemed to have some discomfort there. So we’ll evaluate it and make sure we find out what’s going on there.” . . . “The only information I have at this point is that X-rays were negative. But obviously, the hand, there’s a lot going on there, so I don’t wanna speculate one way or the other. Just crossing our fingers that we’ll have him back out there.” The touchdown run put the Vikings ahead by a score of 13-3 late in the second quarter. After the Vikings’ defense generated a three-and-out, McCarthy got crushed by Brian Burns on what looked like a wide receiver screen, causing a fumble that was scooped up by Tyler Nubin and returned for the Giants’ only touchdown of the afternoon to make it 13-10 right before halftime. McCarthy then came out of the game in favor of Max Brosmer, who played the entire second half after McCarthy was ruled out. Prior to the injury, McCarthy had completed 9-of-14 passes for 108 yards and an interception, but there were key drops by several receivers, including what would have been a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison on the first drive of the afternoon. The interception went off the hands of Jalen Nailor as well. Thankfully for McCarthy, it appears that he avoided any sort of broken bone in his hand, as something like that would have certainly ended his season with just two games remaining. His status for the Vikings’ game on Christmas Day against Detroit at U.S. Bank Stadium is in doubt, but we’ll start getting some answers sooner rather than later. With the game being played on Thursday, both the Vikings and the Lions will have to submit their first injury reports of the week on Monday afternoon, so we’ll see what the Vikings have to say about McCarthy’s initial status at that point. See More:
Lions, Steelers inactives, injury news: Graham Glasgow ruled OUT
The Detroit Lions (8-6) and Pittsburgh Steelers (8-6) have declared their inactives ahead of their Week 16 matchup. All eyes are on the Lions’ offensive line, as five of their 11 linemen are dealing with injuries, including three starters. While Taylor Decker (shoulder) and Christian Mahogany (fibula) have been cleared to play, Graham Glasgow (knee) has […] The Detroit Lions (8-6) and Pittsburgh Steelers (8-6) have declared their inactives ahead of their Week 16 matchup. All eyes are on the Lions’ offensive line, as five of their 11 linemen are dealing with injuries, including three starters. While Taylor Decker (shoulder) and Christian Mahogany (fibula) have been cleared to play, Graham Glasgow (knee) has been ruled out. Glasgow was estimated to have been able to practice on Wednesday during the Lions’ walkthrough, but he showed up as a non-participant on Thursday and Friday, was assigned a questionable designation, and was not cleared in time for this game. Join the conversation! Sign up for a user account and get: Fewer ads Create community posts Comment on articles, community posts Rec comments, community posts New, improved notifications system! With Glasgow out—as well as his backup Trystan Colon (wrist)—the Lions have two options to step into the starting role. The Lions could also turn to Michael Niese, who served as the Lions’ backup center last season. But the name to keep an eye on is second-year center Kingsley Eguakun, who was elevated for this game. While a roster elevation doesn’t guarantee him playing time, he opened the season as the Lions’ top reserve at center, and coaches are excited about his upside, so this is familiar territory for him. If you missed any of the team’s roster transactions this week or need a refresher on our updated depth chart, with position-by-position rankings as well as a visual overview, we’ve got you covered. We also delivered a plethora of game previews leading up to this game, including breaking down the Steelers coaching staff and scheme, Erik’s Keys to Victory (Honolulu Blueprint), Jeremy’s On Paper game preview, Ryan explores 5 questions with a Steelers’ writer, Al gives us this games best statistical matchups, while Brandon makes a bold prediction, and the POD staff makes their pick-em predictions. With two players elevated for this game, the Lions’ roster sits at 55 players on the game-day roster, and with 48 eligible to play, Detroit needs to declare seven players inactive for today’s matchup. Lions inactives: WR Dominic Lovett OL Graham Glasgow (knee) OL Trystan Colon (wrist) OL Kayode Awosika (foot) DL Mekhi Wingo DL Tyler Lacy S Jalen Mills Steelers inactives: LG Isaac Seumalo (triceps) — Ruled OUT on Friday EDGE T.J. Watt (lung) — Ruled OUT on Friday EDGE Nick Herbig (hamstring) — Downgraded to OUT on Saturday CB James Pierre (calf) — Ruled OUT on Friday QB Will Howard (3rd QB) RB Kaleb Johnson WR Roman Wilson See More:
NY Giants-Vikings winners, losers: Big day for Brian Burns, not for offense
The New York Giants lost again on Sunday. of course. That is nine straight and the Giants are 2-13. Let’s review in our unique ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style. Kudos to … Brian Burns — Burns continued the best season of his career with two sacks on Sunday. One of those was a first-half strip/sack of J.J. McCarthy that led to the Giants’ only touchdown, a scoop and score by Tyler Nubin. Tyler Nubin — The second-year safety was the Giants’ best offensive player on Sunday, with his 27-yard scoop and score of the Burns strip/sack. He also had a pass defensed. Tyrone Tracy — The second-year running back got 31 yards on his first two carries of the game, then continued to grind against a tough Minnesota defense. He finished with 16 carries for 71 yards, 4.4 yards per carry. Ben Sauls — The rookie placekicker knocked the opening kickoff out of bounds on his first NFL play. He rebounded by handling the MetLife Stadium winds to kick 27- and 39-yard field goals. Bobby Okereke — It is dangerous to base an impression simply on the number of tackles made, but Okereke had 13 tackles and a pass defensed and seemed to play one of his better games of the season. Wet Willies to … Theo Johnson — Two first-half drops, one that turned into an interception that set up a Minnesota touchdown. Pass blocking — Yes, the Giants had a makeshift line with Andrew Thomas and John Michael Schmitz going down with injuries, and Jon Runyan with his wife awaiting the birth of a child. Still, the pass blocking rarely gave Jaxson Dart a chance to stand in the pocket and figure out what he was looking at. Aaron Stinnie — It isn’t easy to sit on the bench most of the year and then play in Week 16. But, Stinnie is a veteran offensive lineman and being ready when called upon is his job. Stinnie committed three penalties. Not good. Jaxson Dart — This was truly the first game in which Dart looked like a rookie. He was overmatched by Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores, and the Giants knew it. They used an exceptionally conservative game plan to try and nurse the quarterback through, and they nearly got a victory out of it. It was clear that Dart wasn’t sure what he was seeing at times. He was also under duress due to the Vikings’ pass rush, or the makeshift Giants’ offensive line’s inability to stifle it. Dexter Lawrence — Lawrence had two penalties, a defensive holding and a neutral zone infraction, on Minnesota’s game-winning drive. His only other contributions to the stat sheet were a tackle for loss, a QB hit and a pass defensed. To win games your best players have to come up big when it matters, just like Justin Jefferson did for the Vikings. Lawrence did not. Giants’ receivers — Man, do they miss Malik Nabers. And, man, do they need more than just Nabers’ return next season. The pass blocking wasn’t good, obviously. It wasn’t helped by the receivers inability to get open or catch the ball. The two drops by Johnson we already talked about. Veteran receiver Darius Slayton dropped a ball on the Giants’ final drive that would have been a gain of about 20 yards and given New York a first down in Minnesota territory. As a staff, we’re arguing about whether the floater down the middle to Wan’Dale Robinson was a drop. I say no because Dart hung him out to dry with a poor throw. Chris and Tony say yes. Either way, the work by the receivers left a lot to be desired. Kwillies to … Abdul Carter — Carter had a sack for a third straight game. He also added a tackle for loss and four quarterback hits. His neutral zone infraction that nullified a 96-yard pick six by Jevon Holland, though, was a crusher. I simply never understand how guys at the line of scrimmage can line up offside. Unforgivable. See More: