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Giants Eliminate Lions in Overtime

New York Football Giants The New York Giants eliminated the Detroit Lions from playoff contention, with a 23-20 overtime win at Ford Field on Sunday. It was the 28th come-from-behind victory of Eli Manning's career.

Manning needed lots of help from defense and special teams, because the Giants only gained 57 yards in the second half.

Nate Burleson described the Detroit Lions season after the loss:

We would hope, week-after-week, as a team, we'd figure it out and not fail in certain moments of the game.

Burleson could have been describing the Giants.

Giants Defense Played Well

Reggie Bush is averaging 4.7 yards a carry, but the Giants limited him to 34 yards on 12 carries. Calvin Johnson the leading NFL receiver with 1492 yards only caught three passes for 43 yards.

Will Hill overcame personal problems with a game-tying 38 yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.

Giants Offense Stalled

Giants blew a 13-3 lead at halftime, and only gained 57 yards in the second half. In overtime, Michael Cox returned a kickoff 56 yards to start the Giants winning drive. The drive nearly stalled, but Manning completed a 15 yard pass to Jerrel Jernigan on 4th and 7. Josh Brown kicked a 45-yard field goal for the victory.

Will Kevin Gilbride Retire?

I was hoping that the Giants would replace Eli Manning with Curtis Painter, to protect him in a meaningless game. But Manning started, and played well on the final drive. Nevertheless, Giants only converted two first downs in the second half. Hakeem Nicks dropped a perfectly thrown ball in the fourth quarter, that would have given them a chance to win in regulation.

I expected some offensive diversity and creativity after reading a Tweet by Ian Taubin AKA InReeseWeTrust. Taubin said:

According to a source close to the situation, Giants OC Kevin Gilbride is leaning towards retiring at the end of the season.

I hope Gilbride retires, but I have not been able to find any other reports that agree with Taubin.

Giants only converted 15 first downs for the game. Detroit had 24 first downs and held the ball ten minutes longer than the Giants.

Three More Injuries, One More Game

Andre Brown, Brandon Mosely and Adrien Robinson were injured.

Michael Cox is the only healthy running back. Bear Pascoe had his first career rushing attempt attempt against the Lions.

Let's hope that there are no injuries next week. Giants play the Redskins at 1 PM on Sunday.

Go Giants!