After falling to the Green Bay Packers at home last Sunday, the New York Giants will hit the road while keeping their focus within the NFC North division as they battle with the Detroit Lions in Week 12.
For a second straight week, the Giants will be without their young quarterback, Jaxson Dart, who wasn’t able to fully clear the league’s concussion protocol until in advance of the trip to Detroit.
That will leave the Giants' offense under the direction of Jameis Winston again, who nearly brought them to a come-from-behind drive in the fourth quarter before falling to Green Bay on an awry throw that became a game-ending interception to seal their 27-20 defeat.
Now, the Giants are sitting at 2-9 while riding a five-game losing skid and still holding zero wins on the road as they enter the Lions’ den. Detroit will be a much feistier opponent, coming hungry to steal an important win and capable of dominating on both sides of the ball.
If the Giants are going to want to escape Ford Field with that elusive road victory, they will need to be as close to perfect in a lot of different ways on the gridiron this weekend. These are our three biggest keys to getting the job done and slaying the Lions to put the losing streak to rest.
New York Giants outside linebackers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter
Nov 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis (2) throws a touchdown pass against New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
It’s been an interesting few weeks for several members of the Giants’ defensive front, who have largely not played up to their offseason expectations across the league.
Over the span of their losing skid, one of the biggest factors that has come into question has been the lack of a strong presence in the backfield by the crew of edge rushers who haven’t been getting to the opposing quarterback at anywhere near a competitive rate.
The Giants enter Week 12 ranked 17th in team pass-rush win rate, which is pretty good, but beyond the initial pressures, only one player, Brian Burns (13 sacks), has finished his opportunities with more than 2.5 sacks this season.
The second-most is held by Kayvon Thibodeaux (2.5), with some of the other major players holding less than one takedown on their resume.
This has led players like Dexter Lawrence II (0.5 sacks) and Abdul Carter (0.5 sacks), who were expected to be top contributors to the Giants’ pass rush, to be called out by former legends and the media who believe they aren’t giving their best effort or demanding it from their opponents when they cross face at the line of scrimmage.
Carter, the No. 3 overall pick, has borne the brunt of the most recent conversations surrounding his play as he was the most active edge rusher at the college level in 2024 with 12 sacks and an impressive 22.6% win rate. His effort on and off the field has drawn some heat, as he now has the same pressure rate as Burns this year but is waiting to get more hands on the ball carrier.
Despite the barrage of public criticism, the Giants’ defense has not done enough to quell the noise, recording just one game with more than 2 sacks. They hold 23 total on the season for an average of 2.1 sacks per contest, and that is not enough production for a unit that needs more pressure to help out the weaknesses of the secondary.
Luckily, the upcoming duel with the Lions offers New York’s party of edge rushers a good opportunity to change the negative attention that’s been placed on them. Despite their elite-scoring offense, the Lions have been among the league’s worst pass-blocking teams, with a 56% pass-block win rate that ranks No. 26.
The difference for Detroit’s offense has been the speed at which quarterback Jared Goff can get the ball out to his arsenal of playmakers, as he averages a 2.60-second time to throw on his 335 dropbacks this season. That efficiency has kept his pressure-to-sack rate down to 17.1% in the same span and allowed the Lions to keep their offense moving without many disruptions.
However, Goff might feel as comfortable throwing the football this week as both of his offensive tackles, Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell, have been dealing with injuries in the lead-up to Sunday’s game. The duo of tackles has played to a nearly clean sheet, allowing only one sack between them, and Sewell ranks second-best among players in his position with at least 343 reps in pressures allowed.
If these two offensive linemen don’t enter the game feeling their best, the Giants ought to send a lot of pressure on the edges and test the resolve of the Lions’ pass protection from the jump. Doing so and accumulating some sacks to slow down what is the league’s fourth most-productive offense could shift the narrative on the direction of the defensive front heading into the future.
The Giants had hoped it would be their calling card in 2025, and it certainly needs to be against the electrifying Lions offense unless they want to get run out of the stadium in a rout.
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs
Nov 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) rushes the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Beyond creating some valuable pressure on the defensive end, the Giants will also have a lot to worry about when it comes to the Lions’ rushing game, headlined by the relentless motors of their two running backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
The rushing element is a major reason the Lions have taken the field with the fifth-highest total yards in the NFL through Week 12. They average 130.3 yards per game on the ground and rank 10th in yards per carry (4.6), with both metrics ranking second in franchise history over the last five seasons.
Among the two aforementioned ball carriers, Gibbs has arguably been the more dangerous threat with the pigskin in his hands. The 23-year-old running back leads the team with 140 carries for 732 yards and eight touchdowns, and has been producing at an average of 73.2 yards in ten contests, which sits 10th among his position group.
Standing at 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds, Gibbs sets himself apart with excellent shiftiness in the trenches and a burst of speed at the sight of open space. Both of those traits make it difficult to bring him down, as evidenced by his 415 yards after contact and 36 missed tackles, both of which rank among the top 15 for running backs this season.
Just two weeks ago, Gibbs racked up his best outing of the year against a very similar caliber of defense in the Washington Commanders when he tallied 142 yards and two touchdowns while accumulating 100 of those yards after contact and forcing seven missed tackles.
The Commanders are just two slots above the Giants in tackling grade thus far, and that should raise some alarms when New York enters Sunday holding a total of 56 missed tackles and has allowed their last five opponents to collect at least 128 yards on the ground and earn a defensive EPA as low as -17.66 in that span.
While Detroit only sits 24th in the league in run block win rate this fall, they’ve also done a solid job of opening up holes for Gibbs up the middle and to the right side, where New York has struggled to limit teams. Gibbs has taken almost 35% of his attempts in that direction for 313 yards and two touchdowns with an average carry as high as 7.6 yards and as much as 85 yards after contact.
That does not bode well for the Giants if those trends continue, as they have given up 101 carries to the middle right and right edge this year, with the latter being the most in the NFL. On the other hand, their lack of a strong presence at the line of scrimmage has allowed opponents to average 10.7 yards per attempt, which ranks between 18th and 24th in the league.
When the Giants can’t put a little more pressure on the opposing run game, it allows their opponent to establish control of the game, wear down the defense’s will by the time they reach the red zone, and limit how feasible it is for the offense to make a push when they are playing from behind.
For the 30th-ranked run defense in football, that needs to change on Sunday if the Giants don’t want to see their offense sitting for long periods on the sidelines and a ton of endzone celebrations from Gibbs and company, who have helped the Lions own the fifth-best redzone scoring percentage.
Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinso
Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) signals teammates as he runs onto the field for a play against Minnesota Vikings during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, November 2, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
On the flip side, the Giants' offense has a lot to do right to increase their chances of marching towards a win. One of those key factors is limiting the impact of the Lions’ best defensive weapon, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, has been one of the ultimate forces in the pass-rushing realm since he entered the pro level three years ago. In that span, the 25-year-old has graded within the top 10 edge rushers three times, and one of those seasons came in an injury-shortened stint last fall when he only played in five games for the Lions due to a fractured tibia and fibula.
This season, Hutchinson is making the case for one of his best campaigns to date as he pursues his second 100-pressure season in the last three years. He has played in all of Detroit’s 10 games this fall and holds 62 total pressures that include 7.5 sacks, 42 hurries, five forced fumbles, and two pass deflections, all of which combine for the second-best pass rushing resume among his fellow defensive linemen.
Hutchinson might not get to the quarterback on every snap. Still, his aggressiveness play a role in his style, which can sometimes be a lot for most opposing offensive linemen to handle, and that is largely why he boasts a 10.6% pressure rate and 24.1% win rate due to how often the Lions want him to crash down on the quarterback and force him into errant throws that can become turnovers on the other end.
The Lions are all about making life as difficult as possible for the opposing offense to operate, and utilizing Hutchinson’s skillset of bend and power is one way that they have stifled a few of the highest-performing huddles in the league this season. He was certainly critical in their four-game stretch from Weeks 3 through 7 when he racked up five of his sacks and forced a turnover in four straight games.
It’ll be an interesting matchup between Hutchinson and Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas, who has been putting together another one of his stellar pass-blocking campaigns as a pro. Even with having to battle back from a Lisfranc injury suffered last season, Thomas hasn’t missed a beat as he has allowed just 10 total pressures and one sack in 577 offensive snaps, which ranks fourth in the tackle position.
Thomas has been charged with facing some of the game’s best edge rushers over the last few weeks of the Giants’ arduous slate, but has found ways to continue leaving with an impressive day's work. He has not given up more than four pressures in a single game and finally took responsibility for his first sack last Sunday against Green Bay when Jameis Winston was sacked three times in the loss.
The Giants’ offensive front enters Sunday ranked 13th inpass block win rate and has shown immense strides in giving their quarterback the time to execute the offensive game plan. It has been on display with the Giants scoring at least 20 points in their last six contests and hanging in the middle of the pack in the major passing metrics.
If Thomas and company can thwart the Lions’ pass rushing attack led by Hutchinson and keep Winston upright this weekend, it won’t just be a feast for the home team that is looking for a good old-fashioned beatdown to get Detroit back in the win column.
dark. SIGN UP. NYGOSI Newsletter Link. Get OnSI’s Free New York Giants Newsletter
What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and likeus on Facebook. Visit ourYouTube channelfor the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag?You can do so here.