WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE OFFENSE

Jameis Winston started his second consecutive game in place of rookie Jaxson Dart, who remains in the concussion protocol. Russell Wilson once again served as the backup.

Dart, the No. 25 overall draft pick, was a limited non-contact participant in practice this week. He did not practice the week before in the immediate wake of suffering the concussion against the Bears.

“My only concern was just making sure Jaxson’s healthy and right,” Mike Kafka said heading into his second game as interim head coach. “Again, we have a lot of trust in the doctors. We have a lot of trust in that process, going through the concussion process. I know myself, I’ve had a couple concussions over the course of my career and you just want to feel comfortable and good. So, I think having that trust and understanding that everyone’s just looking out for your best interest is important and we are certainly doing that with Jaxson.

“Wherever he ends up getting to in this concussion protocol, which is, again, this very vague term that, again, as a coach, I’m not a medical professional, so I’m not going to speak on the process, but I trust it. Some of our best people in the medicine world are in it, and they’re giving him great opinions and making sure everybody who has to go through this process is in the right shape.”

Darius Slayton returned from a hamstring injury and hauled in a 23-yard pass on the first play of the game. Then the Giants got tricky on a 39-yard touchdown to Wan’Dale Robinson for the first points of the afternoon. The play started with a toss to Devin Singletary to the right side, and the running back then threw the ball back to Winston before he launched it into the end zone.

It was another fast start for the Giants, who entered Week 12 tied for third in the NFL with 38 points on their first possession of the game.

Robinson had 106 yards on four catches in the first quarter alone, marking the third 100-yard game of his career. It was the second-most by a Giants player in the first quarter since at least 1991. Plaxico Burress had 107 receiving yards in the first quarter of a home game against the Rams on Oct. 2, 2005. Robinson also took a big hit from safety Brian Branch, who was penalized for unnecessary roughness, which helped set up a field goal and a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Robinson finished with a career-high 156 yards on nine catches.

Last week, wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins led the team in catches and receiving yards three days after signing back with the Giants. A week after that, he caught his first touchdown since Dec. 11, 2023.

The Giants averaged 23.6 yards per reception in the first half, including a 42-yard catch-and-run by running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Tracy, a converted wide receiver in college, had a career-high 68 receiving yards in addition to 20 carries for 62 yards.

The Giants opened up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter with another trick play. Winston handed the ball off to wide receiver Gunner Olszewski on what looked to be a reverse, but the wide receiver stopped and passed back to Winston down the left sideline. The Heisman Trophy winner threw a stiff arm and took it the rest of the way for a 33-yard touchdown and a 27-17 lead with 12:16 remaining in the game.

Winston completed 18 of 36 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns. He threw an interception on the first play of an ensuing drive after the Lions had cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter.

Neither team went for it on fourth down until the Giants kept the offense on the field with 2:59 remaining in regulation while holding a three-point lead inside the Lions 10-yard line. Winston was unable to connect in the end zone with tight end Theo Johnson, who had a 39-yard reception and drew an additional pass interference penalty earlier in the drive.

Entering Week 12, the Giants have gone for it on fourth down 25 times this season, second-most in the NFL. The Lions were tied for third with 23 attempts.