NFC Wild Card: Giants vs. Packers

Revenge? Nah. But Green Bay will be tested for the first time in a while (c’mon Packer fans, beating mediocre teams in Houston, Minnesota, and Chicago while playing a Seattle squad away in Seattle while facing an overachieving Detroit team isn’t necessarily a major gauntlet) so this game will be very interesting.

These same two teams played at Lambeau Field in October, with the Packers edging NY 23-16 thanks to 81 yards on the ground from Eddie Lacy and 108 yards receiving from Randall Cobb.

The wild card round of the playoffs finish up when the New York Giants travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers. Giants are hoping to change that.

Rodgers’ rope from the right hash marks similarly put Ben McAdoo’s first Giants team on the ropes.

The Giants also lost because, as has been the case all season, they couldn’t generate enough offense.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has a 98.2 postseason passer rating, fifth best in National Football League history. Still, Giants players took the field for warmups shirtless.

Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb on a 42-yard pass with just six seconds remaining in the half, giving the Packers a 14-6 lead. Overall though in postseason football, it is the Packers that come out on top, leading 4-3 in Playoff encounters between themselves and the Giants. Miami has played the “next man up” game all season, but coming into the postseason – where the team has 40 players on their roster who have never made it to the playoffs before – the next man up has to take a giant step up in an environment a lot of them have never seen before.

To add insult to injury for the Giants defense, Packers fullback Aaron Ripkowski added a 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Their second offensive possession also ended with 7 points, as you guessed it, Antonio Brown caught his second touchdown of the game. This 9 play, 70 yard drive was capped off by a Damien Williams 4 yard touchdown reception. The offense is 24th in total yards while the defense is 29th.

Still, Ajayi, who rushed for 206 yards when these teams played in October, said “it’s not all about me” and the running game. If cornerback Byron Maxwell is going to miss the game due to an ankle injury, they could promote Bene Benwikere from the practice squad. The Giants led, 6-0, two first-quarter drops by Beckham and Shepard kept the lead from being much larger.

Odell Beckham Jr. wanted to make a statement in his first playoff game. “The rest of the receivers were 5-for-6”. Green Bay will face yet another stout defense in NY, but could expose their 23rd ranked pass defense.

Rodgers and company looked good against the Lions last week when they clinched the NFC North and he became the first passer in Packers history to pass for 300 yards and four TDs in consecutive weeks.

Rodgers promptly cashed in to Adams.

Some analysis looking at plays the New York Giants have made in the past anticipate blitzes against the Packers quarterback because the Giants’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is apparently fully dependent on his corners. Part of that burden falls on the Giants’ secondary, forced to stick with receivers as Rodgers makes time by throwing on the run. On the third down before the Hail Mary, Rodgers unwisely threw to tight end Jared Cook over the middle with no timeouts. Aaron Rodgers has been on fire and if McCarthy has learned from his shitty playcalling over the last few seasons, the Pack should roll. The question for Big Blue is whether quarterback Eli Manning can shake off his mediocre season and play up to the form he displayed in his two previous championship runs.