The Detroit Lions are slumping and coming off a Monday Night game against the Ravens in which Baltimore beat them without scoring a touchdown. Fortunately, today they’re facing a New York Giants team that has already has no playoff hopes and has struggled on offense all season. Today’s Lions game could thus be the slump-buster Detroit needs as it seeks to win out and have Green Bay and Chicago lose. You can watch Giants vs Lions online free live streaming using one of several different tools.
Detroit’s slump has coincided in part with the play of quarterback Matthew Stafford, who’s dropped off considerably during the second half of the season. Behind Stafford’s excellent first-half play, the Lions looked like a team that would easily make the playoffs. At one point Stafford had a top-10 QBR, and his season-long numbers are still good (324-559 for 4,211 yards and 28 touchdowns). Yet here the Lions are in today’s Giants game, dangerously close to elimination as they need both to win their next two games and have some help from other teams in their division.
The Giants’ woes, meanwhile, may not really begin and end with quarterback Eli Manning, but they sure feel like it. Manning has been a shadow of his former Super Bowl-winning self. Some of it has been poor accuracy, but a large part of it has been playing behind a line that started out bad and quickly became worse when it lost two starters and placed a rookie at right tackle. Manning hasn’t had help from the backfield or tight end positions either, as Ahmad Bradshaw and Martellus Bennett both left in the offseason.
Manning isn’t likely to recover today as you watch Giants vs Lions online free. Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, long the NFL’s bad boy, is one of the best D lineman in the league. The Lions have been great at applying pressure, but when Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley are locked-up in the middle, other teams have hit either a tight end or running back to make up yardage. In today’s Giants game Manning and company don’t have that luxury. If you thought Manning had troubles earlier in the season, wait until you see the grass stains on his jersey after today’s Lions game.
The Lions offense should fare far better. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson dropped a couple of big passes last week against Baltimore, something Megatron isn’t known to do. Cornerback Rashean Mathis and the Giants secondary could have difficulty guarding the best and perhaps most-motivated Lion. Again, this could be a slump-buster for the Lions and particularly Stafford, who needs to get back on track if the Lions hope to make the playoffs.
You can watch Giants vs Lions online free on DirecTV’s website if you subscribe to their NFL Sunday Ticket with MAX. The MAX broadcast package requires an additional subscription fee, but if you pay it you’ll be able to watch the live streaming version free of any NFL game, including today’s 4:05pm EST / 1:05pm PST Week 16 NFL game between the New York Giants and Detroit Lions.
