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Giants (2-9) Packers (8-3)
The Packers played last Sunday night in San
Francisco. The 49ers defense brought the pressure, and Green Bay ended up scoring
their lowest amount of points in the season, taking a 37-8 loss to the 49ers.
The
Giants played their game in Chicago, and though they scored first, they fell behind.
The Giants ended up with a 19-14 loss to show for their efforts. Green
Bay Packers
When
the playoff schedule comes out, you've been accustomed to seeing Green Bay listed
in the mix. Well, that hasn't happened in the last two years. With four games
left the Packers had a 4-7-1 record and they fired Mike McCarthy. In his 13 years
with the team, McCarthy led them to a 125-77-2 regular season record. They won
the Super Bowl with him in the 2010 season, and made the playoffs 9 times (10-8
record).
Matt LaFleur became the new head coach and is off to a good start,
with the Packers tied at 8-3 for the lead with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC
North Division. Packers
Offense
Even with the Packers finishing
up last season with a 6-9-1 record, Aaron Rodgers threw for 4,442 yards. It was
the second highest in his career, and he had 25 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions.
Currently, he's thrown 18 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Despite what seems to
be his frequent scrambling around from the pocket to extend plays, Rodgers has
shown he is very accurate with the football. Rodgers is second in the NFL in completions
and passing yards while scrambling.
Davante Adams was his top receiver last
year, catching 111 passes including 13 of Rodgers 25 touchdown throws. Adams missed
a number of games this year, and is still the team leader with 46 receptions.
Dual purpose running back Jamaal Williams leads the team with 5 touchdown catches.
Lead running back Aaron Jones has 11 rushing touchdowns, and is also a good receiver
with 3 touchdown catches. Packers
Defense
The Packers did well in free agency,
signing edge rushers Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith. Preston Smith leads the
team with 10.5 sacks, and Za'Darius Smith has 10. While the defense is giving
up more yards on the ground and in the air on average than last year, they tighten
down when it really counts. Where opposing teams used to score on average 25 points
a game, that's down to 22.
They are poor with their run defense, tackling
the running back behind or at the line of scrimmage, and running backs have been
breaking through for big gains before being tackled. Their other weakness seems
to be covering the middle of the field, and opposing teams are using their tight
ends to take advantage of that. They are lucky in that the Giants best pass catching
tight ends won't be playing in this game. Giants
Offense
It would be great if the Giants
could take advantage of the Packers run defense, which gives up an average 4.8
yards on rushing plays, but the Giants have not been running the ball particularity
well. Saquon Barkley looked to move a bit better last week against Chicago, and
managed to break off a 22 yard run. The offensive line would have a much easier
job keeping the 49ers pass rush off Daniel Jones if they could rely on the running
game, especially since the weather is not expected to be that good.
Just as
in the Chicago game, Jones won't have top tight ends Evan Engram and Rhett Ellison
available, and wide receiver Golden Tate is also out. Once again Tate and Sterling
Shepard will not be on the field together. Jones has played well at times, but
he keeps committing turnovers. It's too bad that he won't have all his tools available
for this game. Giants Defense
They
are up against one of the best quarterbacks in the league. If you chase Aaron
Rodgers out of the pocket, you almost seem to be playing into his schemes. He's
smart enough to draw opposing linemen offside, rarely throws an interception,
and completes nearly a third of his passes that travel 20 or more yards. The Giants
have had some of their worst performances when quarterbacks throw deep. Jabrill
Peppers will be out this game, but Julian Love looked good coming in last week
to help out in the secondary.
Aside from what Rodgers can do with his arm,
running back Aaron Jones is hard to bring down. Jones is averaging 4.2 yards a
carry, and his 11 rushing touchdowns is one of the reasons the Packers are ranked
third in the league in scoring touchdowns over two thirds of the time they are
in the red zone. The Giants defense has actually shown some strength in that area,
ranking seventh and allowing touchdowns less than half the time. Overall
Green Bay has lost in two of their last three
games, with both losses coming on the road. The Giants can only hope it's become
habit forming as they will be hosting the Packers in this game. The Giants have
their own habit to break, a bad one, losing seven straight games on the road or
at home.
The last time these two teams played each other was in 2016. The Packers
won both in Lambeau Field, one during the regular season, and another in an NFC
Wild Card Game. The last time the Packers visited MetLife was 2013, and the Giants
won that game. Giants fans at the game will be rooting for the 'home team wins'
trend to continue. NFC
East Games
Thursday at 4:30pm Bills (8-3)
at Cowboys (6-5). - Bills win 26-15, Bills (9-3), Cowboys (6-6).
Sunday at
1:00pm Packers (8-3) at Giants (2-9).
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles (5-6) at Dolphins
(2-9).
Sunday at 1:00pm Redskins (2-9) at Panthers (5-6).
The Cowboys and
Eagles were the NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants
Zak DeOssie who has played in 199 games, has been placed on IR. Giants
Zak DeOssie was a member of the Giants two most recent Super Bowl championships. Giants
Daniel Jones currently leads all the rookie quarterbacks with 17 touchdown passes. Giants
Daniel Jones leads the NFL with 14 fumbles. Giants
have recorded at least two sacks in every game this year except for the ones with
the Cowboys.
Next Games
DEC 9 Giants at Philadelphia.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
DEC 15 Miami at Giants.
Giants Tickets
- Buy
or Sell
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