A quiet day for Aidan Hutchinson ended with the crowd roaring. With the Lions needing a stop in overtime to seal a win over the Giants that was too close for comfort, Hutchinson sacked Jameis Winston on fourth down to finish the job.
The assist went to defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who plowed the Giants right guard into Winston's lap while Hutchinson rushed around the edge on right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. When Winston had to step up to avoid McNeill's pressure, Hutchinson shed his block and tracked Winston down.
"Alim had a great bull rush on it, which led Jameis to step up right into me," Hutchinson said. "That’s what happens when guys are covering, our whole D-line is rushing hard and eventually you reap those rewards."
Hutchinson delivered another clutch play with the Giants facing 3rd and goal from the two-yard line late in the fourth quarter, leading by three. Rushing off the left edge against Andrew Thomas, Hutchinson teamed up with Derrick Barnes to drop Devin Singletary for a four-yard loss before the defense got a stop on fourth down to keep the Lions within a field goal.
Those were Hutchinson's best moments. He was otherwise kept in check on a day he played 77 defensive snaps, second most of his career. Eluemunor, in particular, was not impressed with Detroit's star defensive end.
"How do I say this respectfully: He did not do a damn thing all fu*king game," said Eluemunor, via The Athletic. "He strikes me as the type of guy that would try to celebrate that one play, but for most of the day I was on an island with him and he didn’t do anything. Obviously I’m pissed about the last play, but at the same time, there’s not much you can do. They know what you’re going to do and he still tries to give me his best move and I run him by the quarterback and he just manages to run back upfield and get the sack."
Hutchinson, to be fair, finished with six quarterback hits in the box score, and faced lots of double-teams and chips from the Giants' offense. It was not a banner day for anyone on the Lions' defense, but Hutchinson made a couple plays when Detroit really needed them.
"That’s why we have the guys that we have, because they are resilient," said Dan Campbell. "Even when we’re off just a little bit, when we need it most those guys can resort back to their training. Just stay in the moment, and, 'Man, you’re about to get my best rep.' It’s competitive, they believe they can will it to happen, and they make plays. It’s no different than what Hutch did at the end of the game, man. That’s a huge fourth down when we needed it. That’s our guys, man. I trust our guys."