NFL Week 1: Are You Ready For Some Football?
MON, SEP 8 TIME (ET)
Welcome to page three of your weekend NFL preview. It’s time for some coverage of the Giants game on Monday Night Football:
Who: NY Giants at Detroit
When: 7:10 PM
What Channel: ESPN
Ford Field
Line: Bovada
GMENHQ Pick: Giants (Don’t ever bet on your team)
Now, that being said, understand this a MUST win game for the Giants. Obviously, GMEN HQ isn’t going to pick against the team, but your boys in BLUE have a tough task against the Lions and Megatron. The Giants and Lions have played 41 times in their NFL histories, and the series sits at 20-21-1 in the Lions favor — once again making it seem like the Lions have the edge. However, the G-Men have won 11 of the last 15 games against Detroit. How did the series get so even? Because for 40 years, between 1934 and 1974, the Giants and Lions met 17 times and the Giants only won five games.
The first game in this rivalry dates back to 1930, which is significant because that’s when the Lions started. In 1925, the Mara’s bought the Giants for $500, in the late twenties a player by the name of Benny Friedman was tearing up Detroit on a team called the Wolverines. This made the Mara’s scramble to get his services, the Wolverines wouldn’t trade Friedman, so the Mara’s bought the entire Detroit Wolverines just so they could sign Benny Friedman.
So when you’re watching the Lions, understand they might not even be the Lions if it weren’t for the Giants. Therefore, Giants win.
Now, with that nonsense out of the way… At GMEN HQ, we recently added a new writer, his name is Anthony Valerio (@anthonyvalerio0) and he has some advice for Giants Nation about Monday Night’s Game:
"Lions vs (-5 1/2) Giants: Big Blue travels to Detroit to take on a hungry Detroit Lions team that has their eyes set on making the playoffs this season. I believe the Lions defensive front will overwhelm a Giants offensive line that is still working out the kinks of being in a new offense and has already been hit by injury. That will lead to a lackluster offensive showing for the Giants leading to a 24-14 Lions victory."
Who: San Diego at Arizona
When: 10:20 PM
What Channel: ESPN
U of Phoenix Stadium
Line: Bovada
GMENHQ Pick: Chargers
When the Cards and Chargers play, there is a collective groan from around the globe. No one cares about this game and we wouldn’t suggest betting on it. Also, we’re pretty sure Philip Rivers has a peg leg. All jokes aside, here is what Anthony had to say about this matchup:
"Cardinals vs (-3 1/2) Chargers: San Diego will take a trip to Arizona to face a Cardinals team that exceeded expectations on both sides of the ball last season, especially on defense. The Chargers will have a hard time running the ball against one of last season’ stop run defenses and will have to rely on a heavy passing attack against a young but talented Cardinals secondary. I believe Phillip Rivers will turn the ball over and Carson Palmer will find the holes in the Chargers defense leading to a 28-10 Cardinals romp over the Chargers."
Monday Night Fantasy Football
With our staff writer Zac Andrews (@z44ndrews ), he came prepared with the New York Giants fantasy football information for NFL Week 1. Check it out:
"In theory, it seems like Jennings would have a favorable match-up catching passes against a weak Lions LB corps. But in practice, we can’t even be sure how much he will be used like that considering the Giants’ passing attack has no rhythm yet. I think the only safe NYG fantasy play this week would be Cruz because he should be their highest volume WR. For me, Jennings and Cruz, like most weeks this season, will be the only safe plays, and their production is completely contingent on whether this Giants’ OL can negate or lessen the effect of Suh and Fairley pushing the pocket. Ben McAdoo has been featuring a lot of outside zone runs in the pre-seasons, but you can’t filter RBs to the sidelines all game. If Eli can get enough time for the passing attack to gain rhythm, both Jennings and Cruz should produce effectively. They both can function as safety-blankets for Eli, but are also each a threat to break big plays. Boom or Bust Randle is going to be a boom-or-bust fantasy play this week. Cruz says that Randle and Eli will be good, but it still remains to be seen. The optimism about Randle is how frequently he got red zone looks during preseason. If the Giants manage to push the ball into the Lions 20, I would almost be surprised if Randle DIDN’T get a endzone target. Andre Williams, despite being awesome and destructive, remains a sleeper for this game. Expect the Giants to allow him to share the load with Jennings and potentially get some goal line and short yardage work, but remember he is still a rookie. That said, Williams lack of experience doesn’t help him against a team stacked with DTs and low on cover LBs. This will be Williams first extended action against a full team of NFL starters. He has potential, but your fantasy roster may be better served this week with a better known asset."
At GMEN HQ, we’d like to thank all our readers for joining GMEN HQ, and all of our writers for helping put this preview together.
Now — it’s time for some football. Are you ready for the New York Giants to beat down the Detroit Lions on Prime Time? That’s a good question, but it’s not “the” question, “the” question is Giants Nation…