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Giants (10-7) vs Packers (15-1)
Last week the Packers were enjoying one of the benefits
that comes with finishing the season as the No. 1 seed - time off from playing
the game. The last time Aaron Rodgers played, he threw five touchdown passes for
the first time in his career and knocked the Chicago Bears out of the playoff
race. The Packers only loss this season came on a road trip to Kansas City (6-8
at the time). They'll be playing at home this week.
While the Packers were
relaxing, the Giants were playing the Falcons for the right to extend the season
and travel to Green Bay. The first quarter was scoreless as the teams felt each
other out but it became apparent that the Giants defense was not going to crack
and the offense got in gear. The final score was 24-2 in favor of the Giants.
Because of a safety, the Giants offense was responsible for all the scoring both
plus and minus in the game. Green
Bay Packers.
They rank first in scoring points in the NFL averaging 35 per game. The Giants
matched that in December when they played Green Bay but it wasn't enough to do
more than lose the game 38-35 as the Packers advanced to 12-0. The unbeaten streak
lasted one more game, but then ended at 13-1 when they went up against the Chiefs
and lost 19-14. Remarkably, their lowest scoring up to that point had been a 24-3
win over the Rams. So what has Green Bay been doing while the Giants have been
engaging in must win playoff caliber football? The team was off last week so that
makes you look back to the last time they came off a bye week back in November
and beat San Diego 45-38. At the extremes, that was a few points off the mark
of their highest scoring all season, but also it's the second most they've given
up. Packers
offense.
Will there be 'rust' is
the big question. For the last game of the season they rested Aaron Rodgers and
many of the starters, and now they have had an additional week off. Rodgers hasn't
faced a pass rush since playing against Chicago on December 25, and he even left
that game early because his 5 touchdown passes had them far enough ahead. The
Giants were able to pressure Rodgers in their last game and they came away with
2 sacks and an interception. They couldn't afford to blitz much, not being a hundred
percent up front and having weak areas in the secondary. Besides, Rodgers makes
you pay when you miss. His passer rating against
the blitz (131.4) is the league's second-highest since 1993. Only Peyton Manning
in 2004 was better (136.8).
The Giants
would certainly welcome Aaron Rodgers showing some rust and playing in sub-par
weather conditions that wouldn't necessarily favor quarterbacks throwing the ball.
Their rushing game ranks low - 27th in the league, but they haven't needed it
to maintain ball control. Ball control means more to this offense than just making
first downs, as they rarely turn the ball over. Rodgers has thrown just six interceptions
and the offense has lost just three fumbles. The only other turnovers were three
by rookie Randall Cobb on returns. Why continue to use Cobb? He's seventh in the
league in punt returns, second in kickoff returns, and has scored a touchdown
return on both. Packers
defense.
As bad as the Giants are in pass
defense (29th - 255 yards per game), the Packers are even worse. They are dead-last
in the NFL in pass defense, giving up 299.8 yards per game. This season, the 4,798
passing yards they gave up went into the record books as the most in NFL history.
While the Giants gave up 58 big-play passes (20 or more yards), the Packers allowed
71. They gave up 520 yards and 5 touchdowns while pulling in 2 interceptions in
their last regular season game against the Lions, a 45-41 Packer win. You can
only wonder how much worse things could be if the team didn't share a powerful
offense which makes opponents abandon the running game and heave passes in an
attempt to catch up.
With that benefit, this defense actually leads the league
in interceptions with 31, and they rank 14th defending against the run, giving
up an average 111.8 yards and rank 19th in allowing 22.4 points per game. In case
you're wondering, in the last game the Giants ran for 100 yards and Eli Manning
passed for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns against one interception by linebacker Clay
Matthews. He can be real troublesome and veteran corner Charles Woodson (7 interceptions)
likes to make plays.
Giants
offense.
Against the Packers last month,
Eli Manning exploited their secondary and completed some big passes downfield.
They put 35 points up but still lost the game and guess what? Kansas City won
their game against the Packers with just 19 points off 4 four field goals and
1 touchdown. The Chiefs defense certainly did their job, and the offense did theirs
as well, controlling the ball for over 12 minutes more than Green Bay. It's nice
to think back to last week and envision Brandon Jacobs running downfield for 34
yards, 9 yards, 14 yards, 15 yards, and Ahmad Bradshaw taking one for 30, but
that's not how it started. On the Giants first four possessions all they had managed
was 3 punts and a safety, 'controlling' the ball for roughly six and a half minutes
while giving up 2 points.
On their next possession of the second quarter they
had run two plays and the way things were going had no thoughts of running the
ball on a 3rd-and-2. Manning couldn't find a good target, saw an opening and made
like Tim Tebow (sort of) and scrambled for 14 yards. That woke up the offense,
and if Manning hadn't accomplished that first down, they wouldn't have been able
to continue a drive that ate up seven and a half minutes, and resulted in their
first touchdown and the go ahead lead. Eli
Manning has taken an offense with the NFL's worst running game to the playoffs.
It's usually all on his arm, but the Packers have already beaten the Giants in
a shoot-out game. The Packers have lost one game to ball control and the Giants
can use a continued good showing from their running backs to do the same. The
Chiefs ran the ball 39 times in their win. Giants
defense.
Can this defense do a much better
job the second time around? Can they do what the Chiefs did a few weeks ago and
hold the Packers to 14 points? Well, it would help if they had similar circumstances.
The Packers were the traveling team and they were without wide receiver Greg Jennings
and running back James Starks. Did that justify Aaron Rodgers completing only
6 of his 17 passes for 59 yards in the first half? Probably not. It had to do
with the Chiefs defensive scheme of making Rodgers uncomfortable in the pocket
with stunts and edge pressure while disrupting his receivers coming off the line.
Last time the Giants kept pressure on Aaron Rodgers and they sacked him three
times, but he still completed 28 of his 46 passes for 369 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Rodgers went 7-for-12 on third downs and was easily able to complete passes of
24, 27 and 18 yards to set up a 31-yard field goal to win the game with less than
a minute left. The Giants have shown they can put up as many points as time allows
against Green Bay and it's all up to the defense to stop them. They are at their
best health of the season and it's their game to win or lose. Overall.
This is a game the Giants can win. They are
holding steady on offense and are on a big upswing on defense. The Packers have
been coasting along with soft protection from their offensive front line and poor
defense, knowing that they can rely on Aaron Rodgers and his receivers to do it
all. The Packers have had to deal with an unfortunate
non football related issue this week and everyone understands that. We'll focus
on the fact that since the Packers lost their unbeaten streak to Kansas City,
they've come back to easily beat the downtrodden Chicago Bears and then rested
many starters against Detroit before having a week off. We're hoping the saying
holds true "You snooze, you lose."
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Notes.
Giants, like the Packers, have 16 players on
their roster from the 2007 championship game. Giants
in the last 3 games are 3-0 giving up 30 total points. Packers
in the last 3 games are 2-1 giving up 81 total points. Packers
are 5-1 in games immediately following the bye week since McCarthy took over.
The
five victories were by an average margin of 15.4 points. Packers
have won 13 straight games played at home. Packers
are averaging 40.1 points per game at home. Packers
will play the first postseason game at Lambeau Field since the Giants' 23-20 overtime
win in 2007. Packers have scored 560
points this season, the highest total for any one team.
Next Game
Jan 22 - If the Giants win
against the winner of the New Orleans at San
Francisco game.
Giants
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