New York: Matthew Stafford threw for two touchdowns as the Detroit Lions maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 24-10 win over the New York Giants at the MetLife Stadium on Monday.
Stafford, who became the NFL’s highest paid player in the off-season after inking an improved five-year contract, finished with only 122 passing yards from 15 of 21 attempts.
Detroit rookie Jamal Agnew provided the most spectacular play of the game, weaving 80 metres upfield for a superb punt return touchdown to seal victory in the fourth quarter.
For the Giants, quarterback Eli Manning was given a torrid time, with the rampant Lions defense exploiting a porous offensive line to register five sacks.
Ghana-born defensive end Ezekiel Ansah terrorised Manning all night, sacking the Giants quarterback no fewer than three times.
The defeat leaves the Giants at the foot of the NFC East while the Lions meanwhile head the NFC North from Minnesota, Green Bay and Chicago.
Detroit had taken the lead when Stafford connected with Marvin Jones with a 24-metre pass for the game’s opening touchdown.
The Giants hit back early in the second quarter however when Manning found Evan Engram with an 16-metre pass to cap an eight-play 70-metre drive.
But the Lions then punished a Manning interception with a five-play drive that ended with Eric Ebron gathering a seven-yard pass for the touchdown.
Veteran kicker Matt Prater then unleashed a monstrous 50-metre field goal that bounced off the crossbar and over to put Detroit 17-7 up at the break.
Aldrick Rosas cut the deficit with a third quarter field goal but Agnew’s superb punt return in the fourth quarter left Detroit in control at 24-10
Results and standings in the National Football League after Monday’s game:
A US judge, on Monday, rejected an appeal by the NFL seeking to overturn an injunction obtained by Ezekiel Elliott which has allowed the Dallas Cowboys running back to delay his six-game suspension.
Elliott has been left free to play ever since obtaining the injunction against his suspension for a domestic violence case. The NFL challenged the injunction in federal court in Texas but saw its request for a stay denied, official records showed.
The league will now take its case to an appeals court in New Orleans.
Eliott, 22, was suspended by the league over accusations he assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
The punishment was handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell on August 11 after a 13-month league investigation.
But the running back, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, was never arrested or charged by police in the incident.
Result
New York 10 Detroit 24
