Stats That Mattered Most in Giants' Week 12 Loss

This might have been one of the most difficult “stats that mattered” pieces to write for the New York Giants this entire season because statistically, Big Blue dominated in some of the most obvious categories. 

They were massive in time of possession. They held the football for almost 10 minutes more than the Detroit Lions did. They ran 12 more plays than the Lions. Their 517 yards were more than the Lions' 494 yards. 

They held the edge in first downs, 25 to 23. The turnovers were even, with both quarterbacks throwing one. 

But, as always, you can point to one obvious stat that doomed the Giants to their fate, a statistic that has plagued them for a long time, well before this regime took over, the rushing numbers. 

Lions Rush for 236 yards.

The defense's Achilles' heel struck once again, undoing the entire team. It was not just the Lions running on the Giants; it was the fact that the rushing attack was a one-man show that kept hitting big plays at the most inopportune times for this team. 

The Giants knew the Lions were going to run it, and they seemed helpless to stop it. Detroit averaged 10 yards per carry. That is a Madden Football video game if you are playing on rookie settings, average. At best, it is a good Power Four program dominating an FCS opponent. 

When a team can average that much per carry, it usually signals that the desire to get the ball carrier on the ground has dissipated or that the talent gap between the back and the opposing defenders is so significant that it does not matter how bad they want to tackle him; they simply can't. 

The answer is likely somewhere in the middle. The effect it had on the team is definitely psychological. While some may be able to dismiss this dominance as nothing more than a couple of big runs that have skewed the numbers, that would not be the case. 

The team had 23 first downs, and nine came via the rushing attack. That means the average is likely an accurate depiction of the success they found in the run game. 

Sonic’s Explosive Runs

Jamyr Gibbs' stellar performance powered the run game. The man they refer to as “Sonic” proved to be just as pesky as the video game character against the Giants. 

He finished the game with 264 total yards and three touchdowns, but what he did to Big Blue on the ground was absolutely demoralizing. While the Giants ran the ball 39 times for 122 yards, Gibbs toted the ball only 15 times but amassed 219 yards and two touchdowns. 

His ridiculous 14.4 yards per carry was almost five times the 3.1 average of the Giants. Clearly, explosive plays were a significant factor in these numbers and always provided cold water for the upset-minded visitors from New York. 

If he had just consistently bulldozed the Giants, that would be one thing, but his massive performance was all thanks to big plays. 

Gibbs' first touchdown of the day, a three-yard pass from Jared Goff with two minutes remaining in the first half, was set up by his massive 49-yard run up the middle. Before that run, the longest run for Gibbs in the game was 10 yards; he had been held in check. 

The next time he would explode was early in the fourth quarter. He went off tackle to the right and took off for 49 yards. 

Then, in overtime on the first play of the series, he goes off the right side once again for a 69-yard touchdown that ultimately ends up being the game-winner. If you take those three plays away, he was held to 53 yards on 12 carries.