After their 10-point halftime lead eroded on Sunday, the Giants rode a late defensive touchdown by Will Hill into overtime, where Josh Brown eventually made a 45-yard field goal to seal the victory in Detroit.
With the Giants improving to 6-9 on the season after their 23-20 overtime win against the Lions, here is what they're saying around the league about Big Blue:
- *The Giants turned the ball over twice. The Lions turned the ball over three times. That makes it the fourth game this season in which the Giants have had a positive turnover differential. They are 4-0 in those games, 1-2 in games in which it's even and 1-7 when they turn the ball over more than their opponent does. That's your Giants season in a nutshell, right there. *
- The Giants revealed some offensive tweaks, rolling out more throw-back screens and quick-hitting plays to change the pace. The Lions secondary was ripe to exploit, as injuries forced them to start reserves Jonte Green and Bill Bentley at corner. [Jerrel] Jernigan proved to be a key factor, with 80 yards receiving on six catches and the Giants lone offensive touchdown. With Victor Cruz lost for the season with a knee injury, the Giants needed another reliable receiver.
- Eli Manning had to be protected by the fourth right guard the Giants needed this season, had to make a throw to a tiny receiver who hadn't done much of anything in three years and had to hand the ball off to a tight end because there wasn't any running back on the field. And before any of this, coach Tom Coughlin on Sunday had to decide to roll the dice and go for broke, keeping his offense on the field on fourth-and-7 from the Giants' 42-yard line, which might not have been especially prudent but seemed to make sense in this head-scratcher of a season. All of these strange and unusual series of events preceded Josh Brown nailing a 45-yard field goal with 7:32 remaining in overtime to lift the Giants to a 23-20 victory over the Lions inside Ford Field.
- Just when you thought the Giants might have packed it in for 2013, they came alive. Facing the playoff-hungry Detroit Lions with injuries piling up and one more Eli Manning interception almost wrecking things, the Giants easily could have fallen apart. Not this time. This time, Tom Coughlin's banged-up team found a way to outlast the Lions, 23-20, in overtime.
Tom Rock | Newsday
- *The win improved the Giants' record to 6-9, meaning they can finish no worse than the 6-10 record posted by the 2004 team, their worst (and first) season under Coughlin. More importantly, it gave the Giants a chance to feel good about something in a season in which they've had few opportunities for that. "It'll be a good memory," Eli Manning said. "There haven't been a lot of those this season, for sure."
