The New York Giants and Detroit Lions will kick off their 2023 preseason on Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
Both of these teams were a pleasant surprise last season with the Giants going 9-7-1 and the Lions going 9-8 despite their preseason win totals being set at 6.5 wins apiece. They’ll both be looking to continue that positive momentum into this season with several young stars on each side.
Typically, the first preseason game of the year for NFL teams will not feature any of the established starters. However, both of these teams have some young players that will be fighting for playing time and the coaching staffs will want to see them in game action.
I analyze the point spread and total and give my best NFL picks and predictions for the Giants vs. Lions below.
Giants vs Lions odds
Giants vs Lions predictions
Being the first preseason game means several established starters will sit out. However, both teams have plenty of young guys that will be looking to get their feet wet in NFL game action. There are also several position battles that will lead to competitive and exciting football.
On the Detroit Lions’ side, they plan to sit several starters including Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, and David Montgomery. These two teams practiced against each other twice this week and head coach Dan Campbell believes many of the starters got enough similar work in an environment that is more controlled than a preseason game.
However, newly-signed Teddy Bridgewater should be the starting quarterback with Nate Sudfeld and Adrian Martinez also seeing some game action.We’ll also likely see Jameson Williams, who’s suspended for the first six weeks of the regular season. Defensively, we’ll certainly not see Aidan Hutchinson as well as veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone.
On the New York Giants side, we likely will not see much — if any — of Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Darren Waller, and several of the defensive starters. We’ll see a lot of Tyrod Taylor at quarterback as there are several wide receiver battles. New York likely has the deepest wide receiver room in the league.
Wan’Dale Robinson is unlikely to play due to injury, but veterans Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton will be fighting for roster spots to go along with regular-season playing time. Rookie Jalin Hyatt will also be looking to show out to find a spot in the rotation. All things considered, we’re going to see more from the Giants’ offense than that of the Lions.
For that reason, I like the Giants to get out to a strong start. If we see a full half of Taylor and the main group of wide receivers, they’ll be able to put up points against mostly the second unit on defense for the Lions.
My best bet: Giants first half -1.5 (-108 at DraftKings)
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