The Giants keep losing the big ones.
Yes, they lost to the Rams last week, but they are 7-3, and still lead the NFC East. The Giants three losses came against the Redskins, Titans and Rams. Giants fans will forgive them for losing to the two teams who played each other in last year's Superbowl, and share a combined 16- 4 record for this year, but they will have to beat the 6-4 Redskins to prove that they can march into the playoffs with even a chance of getting past game one. The Lions and Cardinals are next up before Washington, and it's time for the Giants to roll out the offense. They scored 24 points against the Rams, which usually doesn't mean much, but the Rams defense is on an upswing since Bud Carson came out of retirement to lend a hand. After all the heat the senior citizens in Palm Beach Florida have been taking over this whole Presidential election thing, it's good to know that a 70 year old man can coach a team to an improved defense. Giants fans, don't be sore losers on the Rams loss, just give Buddy a well deserved hand, if not your voter registration card.

The Lions and turnovers.
Turnovers are a big thing for the Detroit Lions. They are very good at them. The Lions defense leads the NFC with 28 takeaways (18 INTs and 10 fumbles), for a plus-10 turnover ratio. Don't think that head coach Jim Fassel isn't concerned. This week in practice, he had his players work out with about 30 new footballs. All of them were filled to the rock hard 13-pound pressure limit. My fingers hurt just thinking about it. There's nothing you remember more about catching a football as a kid than catching it wrong for the first time, except maybe all the times after that too. Anyway, as the temperature drops and winter dampness sets in, it's hard to hang on to the ball, and Jim Fassel's Giants are 3-18 when they lose the turnover battle.
Detroit is second in the NFL with 18 interceptions (Dolphins have 19), and eight different players on the Lions have them. The two leaders are former Bills free safety Kurt Schulz, tied for the NFL lead with 6, and cornerback Bryant Westbrook with 5. Kerry Collins has given up 9 interceptions, and 6 have have come in the Giants 3 losses, including the 2 last week against the Rams.

The new head coach.
Gary Moeller is one for one as the new head coach of the Lions. He took over for Bobby Ross who resigned Nov. 6 following the team's 23-8 loss to the Dolphins. In that game, Ross got to see his quarterback Charlie Batch get knocked out of the game with a mild concussion, while his return specialist Desmond Howard sat out the loss with a sore neck. Desmond's, replacement Terry Fair, fumbled away the opening kick of the second half, all too much for a fan, let alone a head coach.
What happens when a team suddenly loses the head coach? Some of the players say that Ross was intense, and they feel that the atmosphere is better now. All-Pro wide receiver Herman Moore, who was not one of Buddy's favorites, went on to catch 5 passes for 76 yards last week, and that was his best outing this season and last. While the coaching change didn't drive them to blast opposing quarterback Danny Kanell and his Falcons out of the stadium, they kept the pressure on and won the game for their new head coach, 13-10.
Coach Moeller, who spent three years in charge of the linebackers, found out in that game just what his team can and can not do.

They can't pass.
The Lions offensive coordinator, Sylvester Croom, has been taking heat for running a complicated offense. The offensive line has been hurt and shuffled quite a bit, and that hasn't helped. They will even be changing the line once again from last week to this because of injuries that will keep right tackle Aaron Gibson and center Eric Beverly out. Wide receiver and go-to deep threat Germane Crowell is sidelined, and Lions quarterback Charlie Batch, the lowest rated passer in the NFC, was almost booed out of the game last week.
Batch was knocked out of the game against Miami with a mild concussion and has been sacked 32 times, but the Lions hope to buy Batch more time and improve their passing game by working out of the shotgun formation against the Giants. They need to improve on going 3-of-16 on third down conversions, where Batch was 1-of-8 on passes on third downs last week, and will try to mix things up with screen passes and draw plays to slow the Giants pass rush, and quick dump-offs to exploit the Giants secondary.

They can run.
Running back James Stewart has rushed for 727 yards, and that includes 100-plus yard games against the Bucs and Vikings. Detroit needs to get the running game going and that will be tough to do against the Giants, who are the 2nd best defense in the NFL against the run. The Giants can hurt themselves here if they get too eager going quarterback hunting and fall for the play action that turns Stewart loose.

They can do special teams.
Detroit's Desmond Howard is a big problem. He ranks fourth in the NFL in punt returns. The Giants, just this last week, allowed returns of 33 and 39 yards to Az-Zahir Hakim of the Rams. Given the way the coverage team covers punt returns, Giants Kicker Brad Maynard's role is most important here. Head coach Jim Fassel said, "What we need is hang time, proper distance, and then we need placement of the ball. I think Brad has made tremendous strides this year when he drives the ball toward the boundary. He's done a very good job with that."
Detroit's Jason Hanson is one of the best kickers in the NFL. Ron Dixon had been the return man, but in his absence Bashir Levingston has taken over. Hanson with his experience gets the edge here.
For the Giants, kicker Brad Daluiso is healthy now, and he had a good outing against the Rams. It seems the Giants will keep Jarret Holmes around on the inactive list just in case Daluiso's physical problems return. Holmes is also a prospect if Brad decides not to re-sign at the end of the season. It's also no secret that the Redskins have already gone through three kickers this season, and maybe Jaret Holmes is just too good to release and dangle in front them.

The Giants missing man on offense.
No, it's not running back Joe Montgomery, last year's leading rusher for the Giants, although that's usually the right answer. We're talking about Pete Mitchell, last year's standout tight end with 58 catches for 520 yards, the most passes of his career. It was the 3rd highest total ever by a Giants receiver, behind only tight end Mark Bavaro, who has the top two seasons. Pete was supposed to be a big part of the Giants offense this year, but has only 10 catches for 83 yards. A sprained knee made him miss some of training camp and he was out the first few games of the season. Used to doing without Pete's services, and going with four-receiver sets using wide receivers such as Ron Dixon and Joe Jurevicius, it seems now that the Giants have been slow to incorporate him back into their gameplans.
Offensive coordinator Sean Payton said that there were four plays designed for Pete against the Browns on Nov. 5, but those plays failed before the ball got to him. Pete had 3 catches for 33 yards last game against the Rams, but with only six games left, and with the Giants using Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne for a big share of their offense, Pete will fall far short of last year's mark. Three of the Giants top four receivers began the week on the injury list as questionable. Ron Dixon has a foot sprain and Amani Toomer and Joe Jurevicius both suffered concussions from last game. Although Toomer and Jurevicius went through practice and appear ready to play, maybe the Giants will find more for Pete to do this week. He will be a free agent after this season, and you start to wonder if the Giants are getting accustomed to doing without him.
Pete Mitchell's old roommate can lend him a hand this week. Stephen Boyd is a linebacker who plays for the Lions, and he is very good at what he does. Boyd has led the Lions in tackles for three seasons in a row and is on the way to his fourth, leading the team this year with 107 tackles. From what things look like in practice this week, the Giants plan to make this game a breakout one for rookie Ron Dayne. If Pro Bowler Stephen Boyd and his buddies are successful in shutting down the running game, there will be more chances for Pete Mitchell, but sorry Pete Mitchell fans, no one here is rooting for that.

One of those games.
This is one of those games the Giants are "expected" to win, and so far this season they have followed the script. The Giants are not down from losing to the Rams last week. As Jim Fassel says, "We lost three football games this year to the two Super Bowl teams and the team everybody said was going to the Super Bowl and win it this year." Then talking about the Rams game, "Nobody in this room ever put us in their category. Nobody ever picked us to win the Super Bowl. Everybody was picking us to try and crawl out of the cellar. We're 7-3. We're ahead in our division right now. All we've got to do is get back on track and win."
Winning this game against Detroit helps because Detroit should be one of the teams the Giants would be up against for a wildcard. Detroit's passing game is hurting and so they will probably try to grind it out on the ground. That benefits the Giants who defend against the run much better than they do the pass anyway, although they did fairly well against the Rams last week. The Rams had been converting 50 percent of their third downs and the Giants held them to 3-of-13. Also, one of their goals was to prevent the Rams from making big plays, and their longest gain from scrimmage was 34 yards.
The Giants on offense, with their banged up receivers going against Detroit's tough corners, and eager to intercept safeties, will have a problem passing. The Giants will especially have to hang onto the ball against Detroit in all phases of the game (even special teams), and they will also try to grind it out using hopefully sure-handed Ron Dayne.

Injuries: GIANTS: OUT: G Glenn Parker (calf). DOUBTFUL: WR Ron Dixon (foot); RB Joe Montgomery (thigh). QUESTIONABLE: LB Brandon Short (ankle). PROBABLE: WR Joe Jurevicius (concussion); WR Amani Toomer (concussion).
DETROIT: OUT: WR Germane Crowell (foot). DOUBTFUL: T Aaron Gibson (shoulder). QUESTIONABLE: LB Clint Kriewaldt (neck); RB Brock Olivo (hamstring); S Ron Rice (knee); TE David Sloan (hamstring/back). PROBABLE: T Ray Roberts (Achilles).

Notes

Lions are 28th in total offense, 22nd in rushing, 27th in passing.
Lions are 16th in total defense, 24th against the rush, 13th against the pass.

Lions have begun an NFL-high 8 possessions inside their opponents 20 yard line, but came away with only 4 field goals.

Giants are 11th in total offense, 2nd in rushing, 17th in passing.
Giants are 8th in total defense, 2nd against the rush, 21st against the pass.

Next Game
Nov 26, Giants at Arizona, 8PM ESPN

For those very organized fans.
If you use a Palm Pilot and want to keep the Giants schedule, and actually, the whole NFL schedule on it, there is a free download available here at PFL.

Last Week's review, Rams 38, Giants 24

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