Giants vs. Lions: 5 questions with Pride of Detroit

It is time for our weekly ‘5 questions’ segment, and with the New York Giants hosting the Detroit Lions this week that means we turn to SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit. Mike Payton answers our queries.

Ed: What do you think of Dan Campbell? He has a connection to the Giants and I always thought he deserved a real shot to be a head coach. Do you think he will be around in Detroit for a while, or is the sand in the hour glass already running out?

Mike: Campbell has been impressive so far. The record does not really reflect that, but at this point in the Lions rebuild, it doesn’t need to. The big thing this team wants to do is try to build the franchise into a long term winning franchise. They want to build through the draft and build up the youth on their team. So far they’ve done that quite well and Campbell deserves a ton of credit for it. He’s really brought a culture to this team that’s really never been seen before.

Ed: At the start of the season, many thought the Lions were a team on the rise. Then they started 1-6. Now, they have two straight victories. How do you assess the season so far? Do they still feel like a team on the rise?

Mike: Absolutely. Despite the Lions’ losses, they’ve been in every game except one. Their youth and experience has shown early and often, but the improvements have been there every week. What really hurt the Lions early on was that they pulled arguably one of the hardest early schedules in the league. If the season ended today, six of their first seven opponents would be headed to the playoffs. If the Commanders keep winning, that could make seven. It’s been a rough ride.

Again though, you’ve seen the improvements as the weeks go on. You’ve definitely seen them in the last two games. The Lions had the worst defense in the league coming out of their bye week, but that defense has improved and it’s helped the team win it’s last two games by getting big stops at the end of the game and forcing turnovers.

Ed: If you could take one player off the Giants’ roster NOT NAMED Saquon Barkley and put him into Detroit’s lineup, who would it be? Why?

Mike: Aidan Hutchinson has been great so far and I have no complaints, but having Kayvon on the other side of him would be pretty cool. Hutchinson really has to work out there since he’s not getting the most help from the rest of his linemates. Adding Kayvon could open his world up more and allow him to not get doubled teamed so much.

Ed: Who are some of the under-the-radar players for Detroit that Giants fans should know something about?

Mike: Rookie Kerby Joseph had a big game against the Packers two weeks ago and picked up NFL defensive player of the week honors for it. He came back down to Earth against the Bears, but otherwise, he’s been a solid rookie safety this year. Another player is receiver Tom Kennedy. He’s the kind of player that sneaks up on you. He won’t see a ton of targets and then before you know it, he’s catching the most important 40 yard pass of the game. With Chark potentially coming back for this game, his usage might drop a little, but don’t be surprised to see Kennedy do something on Sunday.

Ed: If you are game-planning FOR THE GIANTS against the Lions, how do you attack them on both offense and defense?

Mike: Offensively, I would use Daniel Jones legs. The Lions have a really hard time stopping mobile quarterbacks. Justin Fields ran all over this team last week. Other than that, I would attack their young secondary. Defensively, the Giants need to stop the run and put pressure on Jared Goff. Whenever Goff is facing pressure, he tends to get erratic and a turnover gets pretty possible from there.

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