Lions, Giants know it's a 'big' game

Josh Slagter | By Josh Slagter |
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on November 18, 2007 at 12:24 AM, updated November 20, 2007 at 2:08 PM

DETROIT -- Regardless of how you want to describe today's game between the 6-3 Detroit Lions and 6-3 New York Giants - whether you want to call it a playoff-type game or not - the bottom line is that it's going to factor into the playoff picture one way or the other.

"We've both got the same record and we're both second in our division so right now we're both fighting for the wild card,'' Lions receiver Shaun McDonald said. "We've both got to keep winning to keep pace with the teams ahead of us.''


Time -- 1 p.m.
TV -- Fox
Where -- Ford Field, Detroit
Records -- Detroit 6-3, New York 6-3
Line -- Giants by 2.5
Summary -- This game should start slowly with each team trying to find a running game for balance, but both quarterbacks should be able to attack the opposing secondary. New York's Plaxico Burress is limited by a sore ankle, but he should do some damage downfield and in the red zone. Meanwhile, the Lions still are trying to get Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson loose with deep patterns. Even with both teams possessing good pass-rushing defensive lines, this game could end in a shootout.
Kowalski's pick -- Lions 34, Giants 31

The Lions are two games behind the 8-1 Green Bay Packers, who the Lions will face on Thanksgiving Day. The Giants are two games behind the 8-1 Dallas Cowboys and don't play them again this season.

Lions quarterback Jon Kitna acknowledges that it's not a do-or-die game today, but its importance can't be overstated.

"I think we have to have a playoff mentality right now,'' said Kitna, adding that Detroit has to stay on its current course. "You need to win these games right now. There's a lot of season left and we've been looking at it all year as three-game stretches, trying to win two out of three and we've done that so far. We've got a three-game stretch starting (today).''

Meanwhile, Giants coach Tom Coughlin doesn't believe this game will approach anything like the playoffs for his club. It's a big game, yes, but it doesn't rise to the level of playoff intensity.

"I look at every game as the next game is the most important game. We're really not talking about playoffs or anything of that nature at this point in time,'' Coughlin said. "Naturally this is another big game -- the Detroit Lions (have) the same exact record in the conference. It's a very big game."

"I don't really think we're looking at it from the aspect that it's a playoff game. We're just looking at it as getting a win,'' said Giants receiver Plaxico Burress.

This game isn't just important in terms of the playoff picture, but for purposes of momentum as well. The Lions had won three straight games before they were dismantled 31-21 last week by the Arizona Cardinals and they need to get back on the right track.

"They pretty much took a whooping last weekend,'' Burress said. "When you get beat the way they did last week you're going to come out fired up. I'm pretty sure their coaches have challenged them, called them out on defense to play hard and don't let what happened to them last week ever happen again.''

The Giants, meanwhile, got a little "whooped'' themselves and need to stop a skid of their own. New York had won six straight games before they were manhandled 31-20 by the Dallas Cowboys last week. The Giants don't want a repeat of what happened to them last year -- they opened up at 6-2 but then lost four straight and stumbled to an 8-8 record. They still squeezed into the playoffs, but had to go on the road to Philadelphia in the first round and got beat.

Despite their bad loss to Arizona last week, Lions coach Rod Marinelli didn't want his team thinking negative thoughts. As he does every Wednesday, Marinelli put up a large screen of the NFL standings in a team meeting.

"I show them. Let's look at reality. There's perception and then there's reality,'' Marinelli said. "The perception is, 'This is going wrong, this is going wrong.' The reality is that this is where you're at; this is what you've earned. Now, this is where we have to go. It's always good because, with perception, that's somebody else's opinion. Reality is documented.''

It's also a reality that the Lions don't have a lot of players who have participated in a heated playoff chase. Marinelli, a playoff-tested coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, told his team that November and December are "months to remember.''

"I like this time of the year,'' Marinelli said. "I like it. That's all I can tell you, and they know it. So we've worked hard, and late in November and December, that's when they'll remember. We've worked hard to be in this position.''