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Giants look to end second-half funk, visit Lions

Nov 18, 2007 - 11:26 AM NY Giants (6-3) at Detroit (6-3) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

DETROIT (Ticker) -- The New York Giants attempt to solve their second-half season woes when they visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

The Giants come into this contest off Sunday's difficult 31-20 loss to NFC East rival Dallas (8-1). Trailing the Cowboys by virtually three games in the division now, New York turns its focus to the NFC wild card race.

A win against Detroit - the current co-leaders with the Giants among wild card contenders - would go a long way to improving New York's playoff standing, but securing wins this time of year has not been a team strength in recent campaigns.

Including Sunday's loss, New York is 8-17 in in Weeks Nine through 16 during the last four seasons with coach Tom Coughlin at the helm.

The Giants had been rolling prior to Sunday's loss to Dallas, having won six consecutive games after opening the year with losses to the Cowboys and Green Bay (8-1).

New York's defense had a lot to do with the six-game win streak, allowing 79 points during that span - one less than it surrendered in the first two games.

And while the Giants bottled up Dallas' rushing attack Sunday, allowing just 82 yards, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw four touchdown passes.

Don't expect that fact to be lost on Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna, who is eighth in the NFL with 2,294 passing yards this season.

The veteran has plenty of options at his disposal in wide receivers Roy Williams (team-leading five touchdown receptions), Shaun McDonald, Mike Furrey and rookie Calvin Johnson.

The Lions likely will be relying heavily on their passing game after rushing for minus-18 yards - the worst total in the NFL since 1946 - in Sunday's 31-21 loss at Arizona.

With that lost, which ended a three-game win streak, Detroit fell two games behind Green Bay in the NFC North and has plenty of work ahead if it hopes to make up any ground.

While the Lions are 4-0 at home and plays three of their next four games at Ford Field, those three games are against the teams with the best records in the NFC - the Giants, Packers and Cowboys. Additionally, Detroit plays at San Diego (5-4) in December and closes the regular season with a trip to Green Bay.

Making their first regular-season trip to Ford Field, the Giants trail the Lions 17-20-1 in the all-time series and have dropped the last two meetings.