The Detroit Lions held off a surprising effort from the New York Giants to win 34-27 on Sunday at Ford Field. Detroit scored what would serve as the game-winning touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in overtime, when electrifying Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs got loose for a 69-yard score (Gibbs had 15 carries for 219 yards and two touchdowns on the day).
Giants radio analyst Carl Banks was livid over defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence not being on the field for the play and sounded off on the WFAN broadcast.
“What is the rotation?” Banks began, alongside play-by-play announcer Bob Papa. “You got guys not as good as your best guys. You don’t rotate when you need to close a game, Bob. I’m sorry. All the other stuff is noise to me now. The missed tackles, par for the course. The fact that you don’t have your best players on the field when you need to close out a game is all that said. It says everything to me.”
“The missed tackles happen every week,” Banks, a former star Giants linebacker, continued. “It’s whatever. Right? It’s whatever. But I cannot watch the best player on your football team watch the game, because you decided the rotation was better! Then you come into overtime, after basically 10 minutes of real time, because you’re running commercials and all this other stuff, and you send your defense, and he’s not there for the first series of overtime. And what happens? A big run!”
“Right up the middle,” Papa said.
“I don’t get it!” Banks said. “Folks, I don’t. I mean, all the other stuff is just going to be noise to me.”
After the game, Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka told the media that Lawrence wasn’t on the field to start overtime because “He got a little nicked” and the Giants were trying to limit his snaps.
Lawrence, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, confirmed to the media that he was “nicked up” but doesn’t have a serious injury. He played 51 percent of snaps.
It’s been an extremely frustrating season for the Giants, who are 2-10 despite playing many games down to the wire against good teams. On Sunday, they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, and it’s the third straight game that they’ve blown a fourth-quarter lead on the road.
The Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Nov. 10, but that certainly hasn’t stopped people from questioning decisions from the coaching staff.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.