The Past: The two teams that always seem to cause the Packers trouble in the past couple years are the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. Packers fans obviously remember Brett Favre’s last pass as a Packer going to a Corey Webster in the NFC Championship game in 2008; Packers fans will also remember the Giants manhandling the Packers in the 2011 playoffs when quarterback Aaron Rodgers was surprising only average while the defense finally collapsed and lost the game for the team.
However the last meeting between these two teams was perhaps the most lopsided; the Giants won 38-10 in 2012 season again embarrassing the Packers. Outside of one spectacular 61 yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson, Rodgers was largely ineffective, going 13 for 24 for 158 yards and an interception. The running game didn’t do the offense many favors either, totaling 82 yards with a 3.7 ypc split between Alex Green, James Starks and John Kuhn. The defense stuck to their “bend but don’t break” philosophy, but missing both Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews, allowed 3 Eli Manning touchdowns while the Giants running game ground the Packers down with 31 carries for 147 yards from Ahmad Bradshaw and Andre Brown.
With the loss, the Packers fell to 2nd place in the NFC North while the Giants snapped a two game losing streak and got back into the NFC East playoff race. However a loss to the resurgent Redskins (headed by rookie sensation Robert Griffin III) the next week followed by a loss against Baltimore in week 16 eliminated them the NFC East crown and a loss by the Lions to the Bears at the end of the regular season eliminated them from the playoffs all together.
During the offseason, multiple changes were made including the release of starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw and the notable drafting of right tackle Justin Pugh, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins and quarterback Ryan Nassib. Overall, the 2013 draft class has been disappointing of late, Pugh ranks 56th out of 76 eligible tackles, Hankins has played 74 snaps the entire season while Nassib still hasn’t supplanted Curtis Painter (yes, that Curtis Painter) as the backup quarterback.
The Present: Both the Packers and Giants have regressed this season, but for different reasons. Injuries, especially at the quarterback position are close to tanking the season for the Packers but the Giants have unexplainably been bad, losing their first 6 games consecutively; Eli Manning appears to have regressed somewhat, throwing 16 interceptions to only 11 touchdowns so far this season. Some of that has to be blamed on losing primary receiver Hakeem Nicks, who appears to be at the end of his career, but perhaps more importantly was the loss of a viable running game.
Andre Brown made his first appearance last week after suffering a broken leg while starter David Wilson has been placed on IR with a neck injury. The Giants have resorted to calling back “old friend” Brandon Jacobs as well as sign maligned running back Peyton Hillis. One theory as to why the offense has regressed is that without a steady running game to keep the down and distance manageable, Manning has put “everything on his shoulders” and is forcing the ball and making risky choices, which results in poor plays that force ever more risky decisions until everything spirals out of control.
Luckily, the Giants have managed to right the ship somewhat by winning the last 3 games in a row (although beating the Vikings, Eagles and Raiders doesn’t really say all that much about your team). Against an anemic Raiders defense, Eli Manning only manage 12 for 22 passing attempts for 140 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 pick, which is way below his normal level of play. However a win is a win, and the Giants will be looking to extend their winning streak to 4 against a Packers defense that could and should be dominant, but clearly isn’t at the moment.
The Future: The Giants are at a turning point this season and for the offseason. Eli Manning probably has a couple years of good play left in him before age ultimately takes its toll (then again Eli shares the same genes Peyton, so perhaps longevity will be in his favor as well), so the question becomes, do the Giants try to triage the issues they have now and shoot for a Super Bowl with Eli Manning or do they start the rebuilding process and hope to get lucky? Overally, the Giants drafting history over the last couple years has been rather unremarkable, arguably only Jason Piere-Paul has become a true star in the NFL while Prince Amukamara, David Wilson, Ruben Randle probably haven’t turned out the way the Giants would have liked while Marvin Austin has been a huge bust.
The more pertinent question is how keep Eli Manning on the right track, as clearly he’s still a great quarterback but now prone to making risky decisions and mental errors. Manning at the moment probably needs the same sort of management of Philip Rivers, another talented yet mistake prone quarterback who clearly regressed for two years before finally finding his way this season. If the Giants can keep the offense steady with a good running game and short passing attack and limit the opportunities for Eli to make poor decisions, the Giants can continue to win games.
——————Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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You are so right about the Giants being a nemesis, along side the 49ers. Both teams seem to know how to neutralize our offense and pick apart our defense. Ergo, I have a healthy dose of dread heading into this one.
On the plus side, we are bringing a fair amount of ‘new’ to this match. Our running game MAY help to dampen the Giants pass rush. It is the pin-back-the-ears pass rush that effected our offense the most in past games. I would love to see us pound the ball down their throats.
And, despite being the backup, Scott Tolzien brings a different look for the Giants. If they have been dialed into Rodgers in the past, we just hit the reset.
Ultimately, this game must be controlled and won by our defense and that is the scariest part. It is my last chance for Dom Capers. If he comes with the same soft secondary and Eli Manning eats our lunch, I will write-off this DC. Get outside the box Dom and make Manning run.
Go Packers
Listing Tolzien playing in place of Rodgers as a positive… I have now seen everything.
Cow .. ya have to remember that when a new guy comes in at QB, nobody has any NFL game film of them. It gives a slight edge.
Thanks KW – that was my point. I would say that the Cow has an all empty view of the world
Thanks – but Tolzien vs a team that has never seen him before does not equal Rodgers in any way shape or form.
There is zero chance that you can actually believe for a nano-second that the Packers are better off with Tolzien behind center simply because the Giants have tape on Rodgers.
That is straight up asinine.
Razer – Yes… i do have an empty look on the world.
There is way more bad than good going on on this planet right now. The future (and present) is pretty damned bleak.
WHY did you have to put up a picture of THAT play???
Ugh.
Cause you’d recognize it immediately
That was a cold, cold game. I remember sitting there and the guy in front of me couldn’t drink his beer fast enough to keep it from freezing. That’s cold.
You sound like that Miller Lite commerical
Doesn’t look like JPP is going to play for the giants, and if he does, he has a bum shoulder that has been weakened. This is a good thing considering all the injuries the Pack has
The Giants are definitely inured as well, definitely not as injured as the Packers but I would say their issues stem from more than just injuries. Manning has been wildly inconsistent, and that can’t be completely blamed on the lack of a running game. Hell, Rodgers didn’t have a running game for 3 years and he only became the best quarterback in the league.
Just read an article about Datone Jones comming into his own with 2 sacks last week.Up till now he had like 1 tackle and no sacks all year!WHAT IS IT WITH OUR HIGH PICKS? Especially “D” line.Are we reluctant to turn them loose? I realize he had a high ankle sprain earlier.Must of been worse than I thought.Just seems other teams get dominant pass rushers early in the draft.I’m not asking for another Clay Mathews, just someone that has to be acountable from the get go.
Well first off, he’s a rookie so temper your expectations right there. secondly, traditionally 3-4 defense ends don’t many plays on the stat sheet (for reference most of JJ Watts sacks came as a DT). Finally, if this is really the start of Jones “getting it”, why the concern; so he wasn’t very good for half of his rookie season, that’s not unusual.
It had almost everything to do w/ the ankle injury. He missed a lot of valuable reps in training camp that would have helped him define a role for himself. Missing time like that also cost Raji a lot of playing time as a rookie. Rookies and 2nd year players need the reps in training camp, missing them puts him behind the “8 ball”. He probably would have had a definite role early in the season, took till mid-season to find his role.
I expect to see that role increase and he might still become a starter by the playoffs. Don’t underestimate how missing a large chunk of training camp will set young players back. Hell, look at Hayward. Even when he was healthy he didn’t look anything like the player he was last year.
Playoffs?
You do know that that ship has sailed, right?
You can believe that, but we’re talking about a 5-4 team with a pretty weak schedule coming up, not a 3-6 team with a lineup on division leaders for the last 7 games.
If you (and others) have thrown in the towel on this team, that’s fine. There’s still a lot of football to play yet, though, and a lot can happen. I’d prefer to watch the games play out.
Packer clown defense will make Jints look Super Bowl bound once more.
I expect Tolzein to put 24 points on the board so the OVER is the bet this week.
I agree with Razer. This game is all about the D. I’m a little reluctant to put it all on Dom as I believe we have limited talent in the secondary and no real pass rush outside of CM3 (these are more issues for TT). That said, we need to see some fire and a lot better tackling. If Dom can’t fire em up maybe MM or Kevin Green can.
This is all about the D forcing some turnovers…which will probably be predicated by pressure on Manning. There’s the balancing point.
Dobber, you’re correct about creating turnovers to be a key to the game…Problem is, we don’t seem to have any playmakers on defense outside of Clay Matthews.
Looks like we’ll need a resurgent offensive line and some big plays from our running backs.
Wish I had different thoughts about this game…I don’t think it will be close.
I’m not really sure what you can expect from Thompson, he’s getting guys that could be good but keep getting hurt (and were not injury prone in college). He’s drafted 2 OLBs in the 1st round, a DE in the 1st round and 2 in the 2nd and 2 OTs in the first round. Outside of maybe safety, Thompson has definitely put the investment in the pass rush and pass blocking departments.
We’re all wondering what kind of a packer team will show up. Its a big question mark at this point. I can overlook that for an offense without Rodgers and a lot of other folks. It shouldn’t be the case for the defense. Just need to straighten that out, and I think they can. Thing is, I bet the giants fans are wondering that same thing, what kind of team shows up for them. I think this one is win-able.
“We’re all wondering what kind of a packer team will show up.”
Not me.
I know exactly what we’ll see tomorrow (and so do all of you whether you want to admit it or not).
1 – an inept offense (all playmakers are gone/line is beat up)
2 – a miss (or 2) from Crosby
3 – a defense that can’t stop runs on the perimeter and gives up chunk plays in the passing game
This team is what it is… with no change in personnel or coaching, why would anything change now?
The Packers have to be able to stop Cruz, Nicks, and Randle. They stop them, they can win this game. If the secondary plays like it did last week, it’s going to be a long afternoon. It’s about that simple.
The key to stopping those three is to get Eli’s uniform dirty. The best friend of a marginal secondary is a good pass rush, and the Giants…
1. …don’t have a RB of the quality of Forte or McCoy to respect.
2. …have an OL that has also looked like a MASH unit this year.
If the Packers can’t put pressure on Eli and keep an average back like Andre Brown in check, there won’t be enough games after this week to make up the hole they’ll be in behind Detroit.
That is a huge key to this game, Nick Perry
Yes…optimists are premium. Wished I could join that band. But, I trend to the ‘based on what I saw the last game’ camp. SO, until I see D play dominant, its a W for Giants in their stadium; NYG running game suddenly looks dominant, their receivers make big plays, their pass rush rejuvenates, they anticipate running lanes, and Eli returns to elite stats. Ohhh, please, please let it not be so. Why do I have such pessimism? A breakout dfense might cure me for a while.
I’m with you Packett, a defense that shows up would go a long ways in making me feel better about the Packers being able to hold hold until Rodgers, Cobb, and others can come back healthy. I think realistically you have to think Rodgers can’t come back until AFTER the Thanksgiving game in Detroit. If they win this week and next week at Minnesota, that’s 7-4 heading into Thanksgiving. This week and next week are really going to determine what happens with the Packers and which way they go this season IMO.
The Giants still have a bad offensive line, have only 14 sacks all year on defense, (something like that), and Andre Brown has done it for one game. Hicks has always gives us fits and with Hayward down again Cruz scares me. But the guy the HAVE to stop is Randle. Eli is Eli, you never know what your going to get, but if we can pressure him he tends to throw picks in bunches. It’s up to House, WILLIAMS, Shields, and the rest of the secondary to actually catch the damn ball when it hits them in the hands!
Tramon Williams…no interceptions in 23 games…Yet, he’s our highest paid DB…and as a blogger stated a couple weeks back vs. Da Bears, he played 12 yards off B. Marshall the whole game… Great idea…for the Bears offense…TW has to go after this season. At this point, he can’t guard anyone.
McMillian>Williams
yes – i would rather see McMillian across from a receiver in the slot than Williams.
38 is THAT BAD.
One key to getting more INTs could be playing more man coverage. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much man/zone coverage has been employed in recent weeks. Just watching on TV there seemed to a lot of zone in the Bears game. Perhaps Dom is concerned about the Doctor’s (and maybe Burnett’s) ability to cover the DBs backs in man.
In any event, the general consensus has been that GB’s DBs perform better in man. Tight coverage could force Eli into smaller passing windows. Combined with more DLine pressure, a heavy dose of man coverage could produce some welcome INTs.
i think the packers can steel this one since no one expects them to win without rogers.if they can get another good game out of lacy and give tolzien some timer they may be able to outscore a very mediocre giants team
this one since no one expects them to win without rogers.if they can get another good game out of lacy and give tolzien some timer they may be able to outscore a very mediocre giants team
coverage has been employed in recent weeks. Just watching on TV there seemed to a lot of zone in the Bears game. Perhaps Dom is concerned about the Doctor’s (and maybe Burnett’s) ability to cover the DBs backs in man.
keep an average back like Andre Brown in check, there won’t be enough games after this week to make up the hole they’ll be in behind Detroit