Lions vs. Giants Week 8 Scouting Report: Youth movement in New York

After three straight losses, the Detroit Lions are desperate for a win. How can they get it done against a rebuilding New York Giants team?

It’s hard trying to break a 3-game losing streak in the NFL. It’s even harder to do while trying to retool a crumbling run defense and jump-start a sluggish rushing offense. The Detroit Lions will have to do all of that on Sunday while adjusting to life without two key starters.

The Lions host the New York Giants this Sunday and will do so without starting running back Kerryon Johnson and starting safety Quandre Diggs. Johnson was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with a knee injury, and Diggs was surprisingly traded to the Seattle Seahawks along with a future seventh-round draft pick for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft. Johnson is ineligible to return to game action until Week 16.

The Giants have handed the reigns to a pair of young offensive players, in rookie first-round quarterback Daniel Jones and explosive running back Saquon Barkley. The results have been rocky, as the team comes to Detroit with a 2-5 record. Still, the youth movement has been engaged in New York (well, New Jersey technically) and the Lions will get a first-hand look at the future – and the present – of the Giants’ offense.

So what do the Lions need to do to stop the skid and reenter NFC relevancy? Here, and each week, we’ll scout each team’s offense, defense, and special teams units, how they match up against each other and offer two players to watch from each squad.