Tall Tales: If The Giants can accomplish these goals…..
By The Tall Guy
The undefeated Green Bay Packers pay a visit to New Jersey to take on the G-Men, and the prospect doesn’t look good for the boys in blue. They are going to have about the same odds as they’d have if they were to play bingo online for cash. What follows is our analysis of the upcoming game.
Green Bay has a wide array of options available to them. They pasted the Saints in the season opener, so logic would indicate that they should have little trouble with the G-Men. Statistically, the two teams appear even in many categories: The Pack is rated number 1 in pass offense, while the Giants are rated fifth. The Giants have a slight edge in pass defense, rated 18 versus the Packers’ 21. For run defense, the Giants are rated 20, while the pack comes in at number 27 in the league. On run offense, the Pack has a clear edge, as they rank at number 7, while the Giants’ anemic run offense is at 23rd in the league. Special teams for the Packers are 10th in the league, while the Giants are at number 18. The Packers pass defense rating may be a misleading statistic, as teams are forced to pass the ball in order to attempt a late game win or try for some late game heroics. The Packers D Backs play aggressively, as the defense has 22 takeaways. However, they have also given up 47 pass plays of 20 or more yards, the second most in the league. This plays into the strength of the Giants, as their passing attack is geared to a downfield orientation, rather than the West Coast offense of dink and dunk. The Packers have a bend but don’t break philosophy, and tend to stiffen when the opponent gets into the red zone. The Pack has also given up an average of 140.7 yards per game to their opponents two top receivers, which means that Eli could thrive. The G-Men use the long pass like San Diego, so it could work. If they dink and dunk, maybe not so much.
What could also help the G-Men this week is the return of Ahmad Bradshaw to the offense. The Giants have an anemic 3.2 yards per rush without him, and Bradshaw was averaging 4.0 yards per carry before the injury. What will really help is his ability to block on the blitz. If the Giants can get their running game untracked it would allow them ball control, which would keep the red hot Aaron Rodgers off the field. The Giants are helped this week by the fact that AJ Hawk and Desmond Bishop are out at LB, so the Giants may have an opportunity to exploit the defence. Of course, we will have to see how well Bradshaw reacts to the game after being out for the past month.
When the Packers have the ball, it’s Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood. The man has been having a career season, and thus far through this year he has the highest QB rating for a single season. His rating is better than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Steve Young, and Joe Montana. Perry Fewell and the Giants defense have been talking tough this week, but let’s wait and see if they can put their words into deeds. While rookie LB Michael Herzlich is out, Michael Boley is back from his hamstring injury. It’s worth noting that after he got injured in the San Franciso game the Giants lost that one and the next two. With Boley calling the signals, the Giants give up almost 60 fewer yards per game, with 47 fewer pass yards and 12 fewer running yards. Fan Favorite Chase Blackburn was re-signed this week, although we will have to see how well he might play after being out of the game since last season. The Giants should also be helped by injuries to Packers offensive linemen Chad Clifton and Josh Stilton. We should also look for Mathias Kiwanuka to exert pressure on Packers center Scott Wells, who has had some trouble handling people of late.
I titled the post If. The Giants have handled ubeatens before. The Broncos came into town undefeated (a long time ago, I grant you), and the Giants got the win. The Pats were heavily favored in the Super Bowl, and the Giants came through.If the Giants can get their running game untracked and control the clock, if the Giants can contain the Pack when they blitz to exploit the long pass, if Dave Diehl can handle Clay Matthews, if the G-Men can limit turnovers, if Aaron Rodgers finally has an off day, if the Giants can force turnovers and score off them. Too many ifs. To paraphrase one of my mother’s friends, if my aunts were men they’d be my uncles. GB 31, G-Men 17.