DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford started for the Lions on Friday night against the New York Giants. He had Marvin Jones on one side of the field too, and Kenny Golladay on the other.

But there was no Golden Tate.

The Lions have been toying with two-receiver formations lately, something they ran just 18.1 percent of the time last year. They started in the look in their 30-17 loss against the Giants, and went on to run it seven times with the starters still in the game. They showed the look an eighth time, too, but tight end Michael Roberts was whistled for a false start.

And each time, Golladay was the preferred option over Tate.

Jones was targeted twice in those looks, but Stafford missed him both times. Theo Riddick caught a pass out of the backfield, while the rest of the plays were runs by Kerryon Johnson (twice), Ameer Abdullah and LeGarrette Blount.

"Sometimes in those two-wide-receiver sets, you can dictate a little bit defensively what they're going to be in and you want to try to look at those packages and how they do against those sort of coverages, or fronts or the run game against that sort of look," coach Matt Patricia explained after the game. "So it's definitely one where we're trying to identify what they do against maybe different personnel's that we use and then get a good evaluation how we're against those defenses or packages. That's certainly something we're trying to do in those cases.

"The receivers are rotated based on however the play count is, but there is with the personnel itself. That is something we're trying to look at."

So don't make too much out of Golladay playing over Tate?

"We're just trying to get the play counts out there, and we're going in and out of different personal groups, so we have it kind of sketched out that way," Patricia said.

There's probably something to that. Tate has caught at least 90 passes each of the last four seasons. The only receiver to do that other than Antonio Brown. And no receiver has broken more tackles or gained more yards after the catch in that span.

Simply put, Tate has been the league's most productive receiver with the ball in his hands the last four years. That's a fact. And he's going to continue to be a major component of this offense, along with Jones and Golladay.

But it's also fair to expect more out of Golladay this year, too. He caught just 28 passes last season, which had a lot to do with missing five games because of a hamstring injury, as well as some unrefinement to his game, especially in his route running. Playing behind two 1,000-yard receivers didn't help his production either.

The ability is there, though. At 6-foot-4, he is Detroit's biggest receiver, and he knows how to use it. Even as a No. 3 wideout who missed almost one-third of the season, he still led all rookies in 40-yard catches last year. He averaged 17.0 yards per catch, which would have ranked fourth in the league had he caught enough balls to qualify. He's so tough in the red zone, too, and figures to have an expanded role there this season.

He can just go get balls others can't. Especially Tate. For as good as Tate is, his game is in the short field. He's not at his best downfield. And Golladay could be really good there.

So while you shouldn't expect to see Golladay supplant Tate as the No. 2 receiver anytime soon, it's no surprise to see him in these types of formations either. He'll be used more this season than he was as a rookie, and that will inevitably eat into others' production, including -- and perhaps especially -- Tate. And while that will hurt Tate's fantasy owners, it will make Detroit's offense that much tougher to stop.