The Giants were less impressive on Sunday than in their past two games, but they were able to wring out a 28-20 victory over the Lions all the same.
The game probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Shaun Hill left before halftime with a broken forearm, the Lions committed 11 penalties for 91 yards -- including a personal foul on defensive end Cliff Avril that allowed the Giants to pass up a field goal and score a touchdown -- and couldn’t run the ball worth a lick, but they were driving in the final minute before Antrel Rolle picked off Drew Stanton to ice the victory.
Give them credit for staying in the fight, especially after the scary injury to Zack Follett, but we’d love to figure out what the Giants were thinking when they came up with their game plan in the second half. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs combined for 168 yards on the ground, yet the Giants, for the second straight week, were happy to do anything but grind out the clock.
After going up 21-10 in the third quarter, the Giants called six passes against three runs (for 16 yards) before punting and then called another pass on third-and-two while holding onto a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter. That was incomplete, as was a third-and-four pass on their next posession. Finally, the Giants handed the ball back to the Lions for their last gasp with a one-yard completion to Mario Manningham on third-and-long.
Strange choices, but they weren’t enough to overcome the excellent ground game and another strong effort by the resurgent Giant defense. Now it’s on to Dallas and a start to the NFC East portion of the schedule.