New York Giants Hope to Rekindle Postseason Recipe to Jumpstart Season
Last January, the New York Giants swiftly walked into Lambeau Field, home of the 15-1 Green Bay Packers, and strolled out four quarters later on top in impressive fashion 37-20. Eli Manning threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, Hakeem Nicks tallied 165 yards receiving and the Giants combined to sack Aaron Rodgers four times.
Now, in week 12 of the season, the Giants are at a crossroads. They have lost two games in a row prior to their bye week and frankly have looked very vulnerable in their last four games. And here come the Green Bay Packers who remain on a five game win streak despite a load of injuries including stars Greg Jennings and Clay Matthews. In a stretch where the Giants need all the wins they can get if they want to hang on to their playoff berth, the Giants will need to get back to their old ways in order to defeat Green Bay.
For the Giants to win, Eli Manning must make plays in the passing game with Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz. Nicks and Cruz have not had the connection with Manning the past three weeks than they have had in the past, a far cry from earlier in the season when Nicks and Cruz had games when they each caught ten passes. If there is any night when the Giants will establish their passing game again, it will be tonight. In their two match-ups last year, Nicks and Cruz combined for 26 receptions, over 400 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns while Manning posted passer ratings over 100 in each game.
Not only will the Giants offense have to show up at MetLife Stadium tonight, their defense must slow down the Packers passing attack. Last time the Giants defense took the field, Andy Dalton looked like he was back quarterbacking TCU playing against Air Force. Going up against one of the worst pass blocking offenses in the NFL, I'll put my money on Jason Pierre-Paul and the Giants to pressure Aaron Rodgers and disrupt the Packers passing game.
It's deja vu for the Giants right now. This time last year, they were 6-4, coming off of back to back losses. Ironically, the Giants would go on to lose two more games in a row to drop to 6-6, yet they somehow managed to claim the NFC East and the Super Bowl title in the end. However, I doubt the Giants can continue to slide at this point in the season and manage to turn on their engines to make the playoffs once again. With Washington looming in the background, expect the Giants to recycle some old game plan from last years playoff defeat of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to slip past Green Bay once again. New York 30-28
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