Lions' Aidan Hutchinson claps back at Giants OT rip: 'We won the game'

Aidan Hutchinson had a simple retort to New York Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor's claim that Hutchinson "did not do a damn thing" until the final play of the Detroit Lions' 34-27 overtime victory Sunday.

Scoreboard.

Hutchinson insisted he did not see comments Eluemunor made to The Athletic after the game, but said he was apprised of them by teammates.

Asked for his response, Hutchinson said, "I think people will have their opinions about how things went and that is what it is. We won the game and I ended the game with a sack and I don’t care when the sack comes, as long as it’s there, and we get the win, it’s great."

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Hutchinson had six tackles and was credited with a franchise-record six quarterback hits Sunday, including one on the game's final play when he sacked Giants quarterback Jameis Winston for a 4-yard loss on fourth-and-5 in Lions territory to seal the victory.

Eluemunor said Hutchinson "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."

"How do I say this respectfully: He did not do a damn thing all [expletive] game," Eluemunor said.

Hutchinson lined up primarily as the Lions' left defensive end Sunday, but most of his production came against blockers other than Eluemunor, the Giants' right tackle, according to a Free Press review of Hutchinson's 38 pass-rush snaps from the game.

Eluemunor was the primary blocker against Hutchinson on 17 plays, and the Giants gave him chip or nudge help only a handful of times. Hutchinson had one quarterback hit against Eluemunor before the game's final play, when Alim McNeill got pressure up the middle and Hutchinson sacked Winston from behind as he stepped up in the pocket.

"Obviously I’m pissed about the last play, but at the same time, there’s not much you can do," Eluemunor said. "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, who leads the Lions with 8½ sacks through 11 games and is tied with Micah Parsons for the NFL lead with 60 quarterback pressures, said he got a kick out of Eluemunor's comments but was "moving on" to this week's game against the Green Bay Packers (1 p.m. Thursday, Fox).

"It is what it is, man," he said. "He can speak his mind however he wants, but we got the win, and we’re moving onto the Packers."

Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions Aidan Hutchinson Giants OT's diss: 'We won the game'