Lions vs. Giants final score: New York crushes Detroit’s playoff dream with 23-20 OT win
By Josh Hill
The Detroit Lions have been on the wrong side of things far too often late in the season and it has their playoff hopes in dire jeopardy. After looking like they were going to cruise to an NFC North title a few weeks ago, the Lions now need to not only win out but need losses from the Packers and Bears to make the postseason.
But as Lions fans have learned in weeks past, forget the outside help that is needed, the Lions need to take care of their end of the deal first before anyone considers anything. That was the case this week as the Lions welcomed in another cold weather East Coast team and proceeded to let them walk all over Ford Field.
Not only was this a cold weather team playing inside, it was the New York Giants — a team that makes pop warner squads look like Hall of Fame legend squads. Detroit showed some fight near the end of the game though as after going down 13-3 at the half to Eli manning and the Giants, Detroit came out and scored 17 unanswered points including a safety and a two-point conversion.
But in true Lions fashion, they allowed New York back in the game and some how summoned the ghost of Eli Manning’s clutch past. This made for an interesting final four minutes of the game which saw both teams punt a few times before it was determined that overtime would be needed to settle a winner.
Right away in overtime, the Lions defense came out with a roar as Nick Fairley forced an Andre Brown fumble which gave the Lions the ball with a chance to win the game with a mere field goal. But that didn’t happen as Matthew Stafford’s showed how late game incompetence and threw away a chance to get the Lions the win. Eli Manning responded with a game winning drive and crushed the Lions playoff dreams.
Detroit has not one but themselves to blame for the loss and no one to blame but themselves for the collapse they suffered. Detroit was in a position to win the division on their own terms and they just didn’t live up to the calling, something that will likely cause heads to roll in the offseason.