They didn’t have their All-Pro nose tackle on the field for the first play of overtime, and the Detroit Lions ran right where Dexter Lawrence II would’ve been to score the winning touchdown in Week 12 and drop the New York Giants to 2-10 and leave interim head coach Mike Kakfa to explain the curious use of personnel.
Kafka needed to clarify why Lawrence, arguably the most physically dominant interior defensive lineman in the NFL, wasn’t in the lineup with the game on the line. Why big No. 97 wasn’t there to stop Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs to race 69 yards to the end zone and condemn Big Blue to a 34-27 defeat at Ford Field.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, November 23, Kafka explained how “Lawrence had a ‘little nick.’ He’s been ‘battling.’ It flared up in the fourth quarter. The Giants were trying to use him judiciously throughout the game,” per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Lawrence backed up Kafka’s explanation, revealing his injury, which is “nothing serious,” flared up “in the first quarter so they were trying to preserve him for third downs,” according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
It makes sense to manage Lawrence’s injury status carefully, but the Giants needed their best players on the field when it mattered. Lawrence not being out there will only increase the noise about how the three-time Pro Bowler is playing well below his usually high standards this season.
Dexter Lawrence Absence Left the Giants Vulnerable
Not having Lawrence over the ball made running between the tackles too tempting for the Lions to pass up. They were soon rewarded handsomely for attacking the Lawrence-shaped void at the heart of the Giants’ front seven when Gibbs broke clear for the game-winner.
As Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News put it, position coach “Andre Patterson’s Giants defensive line parts like the Red Sea.” To make matters worse, the same thing happened when Lawrence was also on the sideline when Gibbs scored from 49 yards on 2nd-and-1 in the fourth quarter, per Duggan.
Those runs are yet more examples of a supposedly loaded defensive front failing to live up to the hype this season. Part of the problem has been Lawrence performing a lot less like his usual game-wrecking self. So much so, franchise great Carl Banks called out the 28-year-old.
Lawrence soon hit back with ferocity, while Patterson quickly leapt to the player’s defence, but the coach’s words rang hollow because Lawrence isn’t disrupting offenses as often. The problem extends to the overall defense, a unit that let down a Giants offense called expertly by Kafka in Detroit.
Mike Kafka Rejuvenated Giants’ Offense
Kafka’s intention to still call plays after replacing Brian Daboll in the top job looked like a smart move when his offense amassed big plays and points against the Lions. The Giants threw for 395 yards and ran for 122, per ESPN.
Overall numbers were excellent, but Kafka also manufactured some outstanding individual performances. Most notably, wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson breaking the 100-yard mark in the first quarter.
Kafka even brought some successful trickery back to the offense, when Robinson’s fellow wideout Gunner Olszewski threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Jameis Winston.
The offense clicked, but a defense vulnerable in clutch moments meant the Giants once again failed to hold a double-digit lead. They’re still waiting on star names like Lawrence and 2025 NFL draft third-overall pick Abdul Carter to deliver when it counts.
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