Giants.com brings you an instant postgame recap of Sunday's game:
AT A GLANCE
NFC East? Check. NFC North? Check. Coming off the big win over Dallas, the Giants took down another division leader on Sunday when they defeated the Lions, 17-6, in their 2016 home finale at MetLife Stadium. With the win, the Giants improved to 10-4 and held onto the first Wild Card spot.
UP NEXT
When the schedule was announced in April, everyone knew the Giants' season would likely come down to the back-to-back road games in the NFC East over the final two weeks. Eight months later, that's still true. Big Blue has a quick turnaround for a Thursday night game in Philadelphia before playing at Washington in the finale.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE OFFENSE
Justin Pugh, who missed the previous five games because of a knee injury, returned to the starting lineup at left guard. Three different players started in his absence, most recently Marshall Newhouse… The Giants, who averaged 78.7 yards on the ground coming into Sunday, rushed for 68 yards in the first half alone and finished the game with 114 on 32 carries…WR Victor Cruz, who had just one catch for 4 yards in his previous two outings, hauled in a 29-yard reception on the opening drive that resulted in a 6-yard touchdown from QB Eli Manning to WR Sterling Shepard. It was the rookie's seventh touchdown of the season…Manning completed his first 11 passes – a career-high -- and finished 20 of 28 for 201 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. That followed three straight games with fewer than 200 yards for the QB. He also became the seventh player in NFL history to reach 4,000 career completions…WR Odell Beckham Jr. caught six passes for 64 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown that gave the Giants an 11-point lead with 5:47 left in the game.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE DEFENSE
The Giants entered Week 15 with the No. 1 defense in the red zone and kept the Lions out of the end zone in their three trips inside the 20…Big Blue gave up a 67-yard reception to WR Golden Tate shortly after CB Janoris Jenkins left in the second quarter with a back injury. However, CB Leon Hall forced a fumble on the next play and DE Olivier Vernon recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback…DT Johnathan Hankins and DE Olivier Vernon combined for the only sack of the afternoon…After holding Dallas to seven points last week, the Giants have allowed just 13 points in the last two games…CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie all but sealed the game with his third interception of the season with 1:58 remaining in the game.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SPECIAL TEAMS
A healthy Dwayne Harris resumed his return duties…K Robbie Gould made his lone field goal attempt from 47 yards, his longest as a member of the Giants…P Brad Wing, the reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, had a punt deflected late in the first half. But the unit redeemed itself, twice pinning Detroit inside the 5 in the second half…Beckham had another punt-return touchdown called back due to an illegal blocking penalty. He also had one negated in Cleveland.
INACTIVES
NYG: DE Jason Pierre-Paul (core muscle), QB Ryan Nassib (elbow), WR Tavarres King, S Nat Berhe (concussion), LB Deontae Skinner, OT Will Beatty, DT Robert Thomas.
DET: C Travis Swanson (concussion), WR TJ Jones, QB Jake Rudock, RB Theo Riddick (wrist), OT Cornelius Lucas, DE Corey Lemonier, DT Stefan Charles.
GIANTS GAME CAPTAINS
DT Damon Harrison, CB Janoris Jenkins, and WR Dwayne Harris were the game captains. QB Eli Manning, LB Jonathan Casillas, and LS Zak DeOssie are season-long captains.
INJURY REPORT
NYG:CB Janoris Jenkins (back).
DET: CB Darius Slay (hamstring).
