Lions vs. Giants 2017 live updates: Scores, highlights, and results from ‘Monday Night Football’

The Giants will try to bounce back from a dismal Week 1 performance.

The New York Giants are on primetime for the second week in a row when they host the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN). They’ll hope to have a much better performance than their Week 1 stinker against the Dallas Cowboys, with Odell Beckham Jr. set to make his season debut.

Beckham sat out the season opener after spraining his ankle in the preseason. The Giants’ offense withered and died without him on the field, managing just 233 total yards in a 19-3 loss. The offensive line continues to be a major weak spot, letting Eli Manning get sacked three times while the running game was nonexistent. Paul Perkins and Orleans Darkwa combined for just 30 yards on 10 carries. Brandon Marshall was a non-factor with one catch on four targets.

The Lions also have problems with their run game, but it didn’t matter much in their 35-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Matthew Stafford picked up his fourth-quarter heroics again, hitting Kenny Golladay on two touchdown passes that pulled the Lions ahead. Stafford finished the day with four touchdowns and 292 yards on 29-of-41 passing.

Detroit’s offense looks like it’ll be a high-scoring machine again, even with the backfield struggling. Ameer Abdullah was held to 30 yards on 15 carries, getting no room against the Cardinals’ front seven. Stafford will likely have to air it out again, but he’ll have a much tougher matchup with the Giants’ defense.

New York held Dak Prescott to 268 yards and didn’t let Ezekiel Elliott find the end zone. The defense did everything it had to, making the offensive collapse even more frustrating. Beckham being back should help, but if Manning doesn’t show signs of life then the Giants’ season could go south in a hurry. Teams that start off 0-2 have an extremely slim chance of making the playoffs, so the Giants should have an increased sense of urgency in their home opener.

Pregame reading

• The Giants’ Week 1 loss reaffirmed the obvious: They can’t win without Beckham.

“OBJ is gonna play” will be the Giants’ new slogan soon enough, if not this week then before too long. Manning will get his favorite target back, and Marshall, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, etc. should be able to get open more easily.

But Beckham’s presence won’t fix the offensive line. And that should be a legitimate concern for the Giants right now.

• Big Blue View looks at the matchup between the Lions’ running backs and Giants’ linebackers:

The Lions running backs are a different animal than the Cowboys. Abdullah and especially Riddick are open space players who take dump offs and keep the chains moving. Riddick last year had 53 catches and five touchdowns in only 10 games. Riddick challenges the edges and makes plays in the run game. Pro Football Focus calls Riddick the best receiving back in the league. Riddick is also a weapon of choice in the red zone for offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. Riddick adds a dimension to the Lions offense that was missing last year when the Giants defense stifled the Lions in New York.

• Pride of Detroit makes a case for Stafford being the best QB in the clutch:

However, 2016 proved that Stafford’s excellence in the final two minutes of the game can lead to serious wins. Not only did Stafford and the Lions have eight fourth quarter comebacks last season, but six of those included a go-ahead or game-tying score in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime.

There is a changing of the guard happening at quarterback. And while the national media may not see it yet, we do. Progress is slow, and people are still just becoming aware of Stafford’s ability in the fourth quarter, but they’ll eventually become keen to the type of player he is in high pressure situations.

• In their Week 2 preview, Pride of Detroit highlighted rookie linebacker Jarrad Davis as a player to watch:

While Davis continued his preseason struggles in coverage, he was a monster tackler against the Cardinals. His nine solo tackles was five more than anyone else on the team. If you’re going to run the ball against the Lions, you’re going to have to go through him from on now.