Packers vs. Giants – Game Day First Impressions, Unfiltered: NYG 38 GB 10

ALLGBP.com All Green Bay Packers All the Time

Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants:

My unfiltered game day running blog post of comments, observations and first impressions.

Inactive for Packers today: WR Ramses Barden, RB Da’Rel Scott, LB Mark Herzlich, OL Jim Cordle, DE Justin Trattou, DT Jimmy Kennedy, OL James Brewer

Inactive for Giants today: QB Graham Harrell, CB Davon House, LB Rob Francois, OL Herb Taylor, TE D.J. Williams, DE Howard Green, LB Vic So’oto

Game Notes:

The two most recent Super Bowl Champions meet this evening in a highly-anticipated showdown. Many people thought this would be the 2012 season opener, but the Giants ended up hosting the Dallas Cowboys.

While the Packers edged out a victory against the Giants during last season’s Week 13 game, they lost in an embarrassing fashion during the Divisonal Round playoff game. Aaron Rodgers said on his weekly show that he’s not playing for revenge, but some players might be, and most fans are relishing the idea.

The Giants are coming off of their bye week, and a fresh defensive line could be a problem for a recently reshuffled Packers offensive line. This will be the marquee match-up of the night.

———————————————

Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

 

Giants as Common Opponent: It’s definitely usually a big game when we get together. It’s an important game. I like the way our team has been playing and growing.

Dealing with Injuries: You have to give credit to the players. They’re doing everything we’re asking them to do and taking advantage of their opportunities. The coaching staff is doing well getting them prepared.

On Randall Cobb: Another excellent example of a secon- year player being exceptional. Have been planning concepts and wrinkles for him. A top-notch slot receiver who makes plays and positive yards when we put the ball in his hands.

On Casey Hayward: We really made a conscious effort to make sure we got younger players in and started. We didn’t want to go through what we went through last year. Casey is a hell of a football player and is doing a great job in the slot.

Greg Jennings and Clay Matthews: Greg is very close. He felt great and looked good on Thursday. If this was a playoff game, Greg would be out there. Clay is getting close, but we’ll have to see where he is this week.

Giants Coming off the Bye: It takes you back a little bit to the beginning of the season. They’ll probably give some unscouted looks we haven’t seen on film. We’ll be playing a refreshed team at home on a Sunday night.

Last Year’s Games: The game up here was a back-and-forth game. It was a tough, hard-fought game, especially in the trenches. We left some opportunities on the field, but it was an excellent road victory. The game at home, we just didn’t play fundamental football really well. We didn’t do all the little things you need to do to win championship football.

On the Giants Defensive Line: Their defensive line is their best position on the football team. They have depth, pass rush, and length. You can’t just take one player out of the game. They have three exceptional pass rushers and excellent complement players. We gotta beat them to the punch.

Trust in Mason Crosby: I have confidence in Mason. That’s my responsibility – to create the confidence for him to do his job. He’s had an excellent week of preparation. I’m not even blinking.

——————————————-

 

Packers vs. Giants – First Impressions – First Half:

Giants win the toss and elect to receive. Probably wouldn’t have changed anything if the Packers had won the toss.

Well designed screen play to Bradshaw, but Packers need to take better angles for the tackle. House saves the TD, but only temporarily.

Packers allow their first opening drive touchdown all season.

McCarthy said after last game he was upset he didn’t get Green more involved. Just got the first down.

Packers have now established the deep threat with the 61-yd. TD to Jordy Nelson.

Great coverage by Hayward, but he needs to haul in the INT.

Mike McCarthy could do a great John Candy impersonation with that mustache.

Crosby misses his first FG of the night, but its from 55 yards. Looked good at first, but sliced wide left. Worst part is the lost field position.

Misses by Eli and drops by receivers have been helping Packers so far.

Sad to say, but haven’t seen many defensed passes like that from Tramon this year.

Saw that pick coming in slow motion. Bad decision by Rodgers.

Packers defense scores a small victory by limiting Giants to a FG, but they really need to get a handle on the running game or it will result in tough times ahead.

Need to get back to the running game and not try to play catch up. They can’t just let the Giants defense take shots at Rodgers all day.

CJ Wilson injures knee and is questionable for return. That’s a major setback to a defense already suffering a lot.

Giants are going to test those young DBs all night.

Packers offense has been in a lot of long yardage situations. Not good against this defense.

I’m not sure why McCarthy goes with Green on 3rd-and-1 when Starks has been pushing the piles harder.

Rodgers fumble all on Newhouse. Way to quick to get the throw out. Is this the start of the implosion or the darkest point before the dawn?

Giants 31 Packers 10

 

Packers vs. Giants – First Impressions – Second Half:

Finley saves what could have been a devastating play. Aaron Rodgers simply has no time in the pocket to do anything.

This game boils down to the play at the line, and the Giants are winning all of the battles.

Why aren’t they running with Starks more? Green simply cannot escape the tackles and push the pile well. Use him more for passing.

Packers are getting thrown on in their base defense a lot. Giants doing a good job getting favorable match ups and giving Eli time to throw.

The only silver lining to this performance is that it could be the Packers playing for revenge in the postseason instead of the Giants. Other than that, not many positives to take away.

Can’t overlook the effect of injuries on this team. Ask any other team to perform with 8+ starters out and see how well they do.

Aaron Rodgers just can’t stay comfortable in the pocket (or lack thereof). Has had to scramble around pressure all day.

The Giants were at home, coming off a bye, and looking to prove themselves. These things happen, as much as it hurts to watch.

Going for the touchdown instead of the field goal at the goal line shows the lack of sportsmanship by the Giants. Packers won’t forget that, nor will fans.

Giants 38 Packers 10

——————

Chad Toporski, a Wisconsin native and current Pittsburgh resident, is a writer for AllGreenBayPackers.com. You can follow Chad on twitter at @ChadToporski

——————

30 thoughts on “Packers vs. Giants – Game Day First Impressions, Unfiltered: NYG 38 GB 10

  1. The only good thing – it wasn’t a playoff game. Still time to regroup. We should still make the playoffs, but that was about as ugly as it gets….

  2. When the Packers are emotional, they play like they did against the Texans. When they are over-confident, they play like they did against the Giants.

    People, this is why i don’t care whether they win or lose in these games. Because the very fact that they are susceptible to this kind of garbage should be enough to concern everyone. I can’t be the only one who sees that!

    This. is. a. COACHING. issue!

    Under the McCarthy Rodgers era, they either win the Super bowl, or lose in some kind of a bang. And what we just witnessed is consistent proof that this will continue happen. When the Packers go to the playoffs, which they will, it will all depend on whether or not they feel as though their backs are against the wall. What I’m afraid of, is that they won’t care enough until it is too late, just like they always have.

    Case in point – if they’re riding high, they’re completely susceptible. If they’re at the point of no return, then they play like hell. My frustration as a fan – why haven’t they realized this yet??? Why haven’t they figured “hey, it seems as though we’re overconfident sometimes. Maybe we ought to play like everything’s on the line a little more often”.

    That is my frustration, as a fan. Emphasizes on the word “FAN”.

    1. overconfidence? against the defending superbowl champs? do you really think EDS thought playing against justin tuck and JPP would be a cake walk? their OL was overmatched. Lang is a guard not a tackle. He can hold his own against lesser opponents, but he was exposed and EDS is not a starter quality player. Two players on a five person line that are incapable of playing their positions was the problem, not over confidence.

      also, there are only two outcomes to a game. winning or losing. it does not matter if you lose by 3 or 23. a loss is still a loss. i do not know what losing with a bang means.

      1. Look, I’m too opinionated to sum my feelings into a few sentences, but I’ll try. All I can say is that I don’t feel like this team is as hungry as it was in 2010 when it won the Super Bowl. We dealt with 15 players on IR, so injuries are not an excuse, not even for the offensive line.

        If you have a better explanation as to why the Packers dominated the Texans, yet lost to the Giants in a nightmare like fashion, I’d like to hear it.

  3. We are not seeing good football this year, other than Houston game. The defensive line…keeps yielding 4-5 yard runs…even when looks like there is penetration and could get a loss yardage play. On the other hand, the O- line can rarely get a 4-5 yarder. the Vaunted Receiver Corps isn’t getting open. Why? It comes down to coaches not having the team ready to play… and poor play sequencing. The team just isn’t ready to play, and that is apparent by the very slow starts. Cant get in a rythm. No excuse on injuries…blah, blah. I’ve lost confidence in MM, and time for change.

    1. wow. and i thought i was a reactionary fan. people want to fire MM after losing to the defending superbowl champs? this team is going to make the playoffs and get healthier. lets wait and see what happens in the playoffs.

  4. The reason the Packers got crushed in this game is simple, they got killed in the trenches. The Packs crappy Oline was no match for the Giants D front. The giants Oline is better then the packs D front, especially with out Mathews, Bishop, Perry, etc…. The Pack will get in the playoffs, but won’t get far because of this reason. The niners will also win In the trenches on both sides of the ball against the Pack. It doesn’t matter how many skilled weapons on O, or how good the QB is, if you can’t block, forget it. It doesn’t matter how good the secondary is, if you cant get pressure against a good Oline, forget it. The Pack has nowhere to go for help this late in the season. Clay will help on D , but the Oline is what it is. No adequate depth was added early in the season and now one injury has hurt this unit.

    Agree or disagree, this is the harsh truth of this team. They struggled against Detroits D front (after a rested bye) and they failed miserably against the Giants.

    1. Sadly, you are all too accurate with this assessment and it is too late to affect a change on this front. If you don’t win in the trenches then you cannot control the game

    2. Rodgers still somehow has managed to post better numbers this season than in 2010.. His TD % is higher, and his INT % is lower; his completion % is higher. Rodgers has the same number of touchdowns in 2012- right now, with 5 games left- as he did in 2010.

      That said, he has been sacked as many times thus far this year as in all of 2010 as well (37 this year to 31 in 2010).

      The OL is definitely hurting right now, but the Giants have the ability to take over games with their front four. The Packers defensive front 7 isn’t bad, they’ve played pretty well this year.

      I think the Packers laid a huge egg. Am I concerned? Yes, but I am not panicking or throwing out the possibility of a deep play off run. This is the first time the Packers were all out embarrassed in years. Stuff can happen.. I figured out early on this season that it was going to be a hit-or-miss season, game to game. Too many young players to be consistent this season.

      Also for what it’s worth, it seemed many of the “collapses” of the O line last night were coverage sacks- a good number of times the pocket folded after the ball should have been long out of Rodgers’ hand. I don’t know what was going on down field (I hate modern football telecasts), but clearly, guys were NOT getting open.

  5. Pack looked completely lost tonight in all areas and appeared to have little, if any, intensity. According to MM they had a great week of practice though. Thanks Mike.

  6. What’s with all of the 5-step drops and 4WR verts?

    Has McCarthy heard of a the 3-step drop?
    What about the 1-step drop that ol’ #4 used to do?
    Quick slants? Screens? Wheel-routes? Where are they?!

    It was an absolutely abysmal performance by the Packers but by Mike McCarthy in particular. He’s got embarrassed by the Giants back-to-back now.

    Hey Mike: Watch the 2009 Wild Card game against the Cardinals and copy everything Kurt Warner and co. did. It worked beautifully.

    Greg and Cedric coming back will help a bunch but with this O-Line, the future doesn’t look very bright in 2012…

  7. Try to start positive here: We all knew the defense would have its struggles this year. The defense is young and full of playmakers that will learn from this. I still think this d can be top ten in years to come. Another draft year will do this team good.

    Negatives: The o-line is showing no signs of improvement. No sacks allowed against the Giants would have been unreasonable but five? A-Rod rarely has time to throw.
    It seems like the wide receivers consistently fail to get open. I wonder how much of this has to do with the lack of a running game.
    The season isn’t over and the Pack control their fate. Go Pack

    1. It’s over if the Pack continue to play like this, and would you really be surprised if that ends up being the case?

    2. Good points about the defense, I think the lack of pressure from the D-Line is the most troubling thing.

      Also Tramon Williams looked like Jarrett Bush out there. No I’m not exaggerating. He looked AWFUL.

      It’s unfortunate Walden and Jones chose this game to play poorly. On the blitzes it looked like Jones rode a snail into the pocket he was that late. That big screen was on Walden. Really miss Clay’s smarts there.

      It’ll be interesting if Zombo can get up to speed, he made a couple plays as did Moses.

      1. I have been saying for a while that I think by next year Williams will no longer be the #1 cornerback. Williams was embarrassed vs. Detroit and his missed tackles vs. the Giants was ridiculous. Tramon seems to be the only corner who struggles to stay with his man. Go Pack

  8. People need to just admit the obvious. I love the Packers but lets stop the excuses. The Packers have a all world QB, a few good receivers, Clay Matthews and not much more. The O-line is pathetic. The D-line is pathetic. The LB’s we really don’t know because were missing Bishop, D.J. Smith, and Perry. Tramon Williams has become a joke since he signed that contract during/after 2010. Both Safety’s are bad. Burnett was back to pointing at everyone else. We have NO running game and have signed a TE to (thank god it’s only two)a 15 million dollar deal who can’t catch. Last week against Detroit the Packers were lucky. Stafford missed a ton of throws. Missed, not passes defensed.The middle of the field in ALWAYS wide open. The Giants knew it, saw it and for most part didn’t miss. The Packers beat a bunch of scrubs in winning streak except for Houston. The really sad part is we have absolutely no one else to put out on offensive line. Our defense is littered with UDFA players no one else wanted. I know I’m going to get hammered for this but common, face facts. The Packers have been hammered by two of the heavyweights in the NFC. This is not a great team built by Ted Thompson. This is a team with a All World QB, a bunched of missed draft picks, a great linebacker who’s hurt, and a bunch of ok players here and there.

    1. I don’t understand all this talk of how atrocious the D line is.

      I think perhaps some people have confused this season with some other one.

      Or perhaps they aren’t familiar with our scheme.

      Our D-line has played well this season as a whole, they’ve done exactly what they are supposed to do. CJ Wilson, Pickett, and yes, even Raji, have held up their end of the donkey this season in base. BTW, our run defense is ranked 11th in the league for those of you harping on how bad our run D is. In our sub packages, Daniels and Neal have stepped in and created pressure. Worthy hasn’t been an impact player, but then, he is a rookie Dlineman- they rarely do much until year 2-3.

      LB play has been better than ever this season. The Packers are the number three pressure defense in the league(35 total sacks). Tramon hasn’t been dominant like he was in 2010, but he’s been, for the most part, sound. Yes, there have been lapses. But Hayward and HOuse have been very good.

      Burnett is having a very good year. Jennings and McMillian are learning on the job, getting better every week.

      Good lord, what do you want? There’s room for improvement, sure. But the D is not in shambles by any stretch of the imagination.

      We got whooped by the New York Giants. Shit happens.

      1. Thank you for being the voice of reason, Oppy.

        They didn’t have a good game at all against the run on Sunday. Some nice plays, but overall too porous. Unfortunately, people quickly forgot how well they’d been doing up til then.

  9. You all do realize the Giants lost 13-31 to the Bengals two weeks ago, right? Good teams have bad days. Not the end of the world.

    1. agreed. when the OL is bad this team will always look like they cannot beat anyone. they have a couple weeks to figure out the front.

      1. I really hope they figure it out. What concerns me is the number of times Rodgers has been sacked over the last several seasons. It’s not a once in while thing. For the sake of our QB I hope they get it figured out!

  10. As a New Jersey resident for 28 years, I have watched all of the New York Giants games and have always felt that Eli Manning is NOT an elite QB. Comparing Eli to Aaron is so different. However, last night once again showed that if you can give your QB some time, in this league he will pick the defense apart. Watching the Packers run the ball again and again then passing on third and long with little efficiency while Eli converted so many third downs with a short to mid pass was frustrating, especially when we have the ELITE QB. Frustrating that MM allowed AR to pass only 25 times, 12 in the second half when they were down by three plus scores. Aside from Nelson and Cobb, do we have any other receivers? Driver? Jones? And before yesterday’s game, I am so tired of hearing that without the Seattle and Indy game the Packers would be 9-1. The Packers are just not that good this year.

    1. The sad thing was the Packers were often in third-and-manageable situations, not third and long, and they still couldn’t move the chains.

      Long, ugly night.

  11. LETS REGROUP. AR did not get hurt that’s the most important thing.I don’t know of any coach in history that would look good with both lines playing so poorly. Let’s make the playoffs and then anything can happen.I don’t have too much faith in the Oline improving that much at this time however,with Jennings and Mathews back anything is possible. You can argue that they are two of the top four players on the Packers, right up there with Rogers and Cobb.

  12. We will nothing if they don’t get the middle of this defense fixed. Why do we not keep a safety shading to the middle? Aj Hawj is the worst linebacker on this team. I watch him time and time again take one the FB instead of trying to get to the RB. We need to give Manning some reps. And Jennings is terrible. He will make a play if he is their but is not fast enough to make up for mistakes. That touchdown that Nicks caught you have to know the ball is coming out hot the safety should be playing up a little moe. We need let McMillian start and get all of the reps. I like that hit on Bennett We need a physical safety back there. Our coaching staff needs to get over playing favorites. I hate that. And maybe next time instead of hitting the IR button so early on important palyers (ex. Bulaga,Perry) bc you think you have other players that you can plug in and will be just as good (Walden, Lang) give them time. We could have used them in the playoffs
    .

  13. McCarthy said in his post-game that he called a bad game against the Giants,and that wasn’t the first time he has said that this year.He lacks imagination in his play calling!Football 101 says when facing a great pass rush is to throw some sceen passes,use some misdirection.Mac seems to be so stubborn that he won’t admit to his teams short commings[poor offencive line play]that he is making huge errors in playcalling.
    Therfore I would propose that Ted try to hire Mike Holmgren back to GreenBay.Holmgren was a great coach and his offences were imaginative,and he always seemed to use the other teams strengths against them.He wasn’ a good GM but he wouldn’t have to be with Ted here.I believe that we would have won the 2nd Superbowl if he wouldn’t have said that he was leaving,which was a major distraction!
    What say you all?

Comments are closed.