Giants lose to the Lions 35-14.
Eli Manning was 18 of 33 for 163 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.
Rashad Jennings rushed for 46 yards on 16 carries and 1 TD and had 4 catches for 50 yards.
Andre Williams rushed for 9 yards on 5 carries.
Jerrel Jernigan rushed for -2 yards on 1 carry and caught 4 passes for 25 yards.
Larry Donnell caught 5 passes for 56 yards and 1 TD.
Victor Cruz caught 2 passes for 24 yards.
Daniel Fells caught 1 pass for 7 yards.
Rueben Randle caught 2 passes for 1 yard.
Robert Ayers had 1 sack.

Game Notes:
"I didn't know what to expect after watching the Giants in preseason. They weren't very good, but I figured Eli Manning and his crew were working on so many new things. Not much of anything came together for them in this game. It was almost a continuation of last season, where they fell apart on a number of plays.
By the end of the first quarter the Giants were down 14-0, Jason Pierre-Paul had headed off to the locker room and Steve Weatherford was hurt. The only thing the Giants had going for them was good field position to start off the second quarter. That was in part due to just having that roughing the kicker call on Weatherford. With the ball on the Lions 35 yard line tight end Larry Donnell caught a pass for 3 yards, and Rashad Jennings broke out with a nice 14 yard run. A pass interference call put the Giants on the 1 yard line.
The offense was still there after three failed plays and went for it on fourth down. Manning connected with a touchdown pass to tight end Larry Donnell. I was glad to see JPP on the field and to see Weatherford returning for punt duties. The Lions missed on their field goal attempt so the score was just 14-7 with them leading at the half. The Giants had a chance to regroup and hopefully come out strong in the third quarter.
That didn't happen and they were intercepted twice in the third quarter and weren't able to score again until the fourth. Meanwhile the Lions added two field goals and two touchdowns to win the game 35-14. As I said, I was hoping the preseason I saw was just a rough work in progress and that the finished product would look way much better. Hopefully they'll give us something to cheer for sitting in the stands next week when we see them play the Cardinals."

Game Notes:
"The Giants showed today that they're not close to having it all together. They played as if they were still somewhere in preseason and even though the Lions had their problems, like many teams in the first game of the season, they had direction and good execution. The Giants gained only 53 yards on the ground and finished with a total of 197. That's not going to cut it. Rashad Jennings 14 yard run was the best run of the game and had one touchdown, but still with that he and Andre Williams each averaged less than 3 yards a carry. The offensive line didn't afford them much opportunity and did even less for Eli Manning who was almost always under the gun.
Manning threw two interceptions and once again it looked like he wasn't on the same page as his receivers including go-to guy Victor Cruz who was targeted six times and caught two, and maybe could have caught a few more that he missed. Jerrel Jernigan pulled in four of seven. It turned out that running back Jennings, catching four of the five tossed his way, was Manning's most reliable receiver of the day. You don't want to overlook tight end Larry Donnell who caught five of eight for 56 yards and one touchdown to become the top receiver in both yards and receptions.
On defense the Giants figured they could put their new addition, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, on the Lions top notch receiver Calvin Johnson and that would be that. It didn't work out that way and Johnson had two touchdowns in the first quarter and finished with 164 yards. Prince Amukamara played great coverage, even carefully nudging Johnson out of bounds on one play instead of allowing him the catch. They were good at stopping the run, but with their offensive teammates serving up two interceptions, going 3 of 13 on third downs, they were kept on the field 12 minutes longer than the Lions defense.
You almost want to say that the Giants unevenness looks like a continuation of last season, but that would be an insult to the 'struggling 2013' who at least managed a win against this same Lions team at the end of the season. The Giants showed they are not ready for primetime in more ways than one. Now they have to get it together for Arizona on Sunday."

Giants Victor Cruz has gone 11 consecutive games without a touchdown catch.

Giants Larry Donnell got his first NFL touchdown.

Giants are 22-34-1 in Monday night games.

Lions Calvin Johnson's 98 receiving yards are the most he's ever had in a 1st quarter.

Lions Calvin Johnson had his first game where he's caught multiple TDs in a 1st quarter.

Lions Calvin Johnson's 67-yard touchdown catch was the longest allowed by the Giants in the regular season since Dec. 11, 2011.

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