Three keys to victory for New York Giants in Green Bay

Added by Gary Marchese Jr. on January 13, 2012.

The Giants are entering Green Bay on a roll. They were an up and down team all season and after they lost to the Washington Redskins at home in Week 15 it all seemed to click. They needed two wins to get in, having to beat the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys. New York accomplished both, won the NFC East and got a home playoff game.

Entering the playoffs, when making odds for NFL games, you generally would not see a 9-7 team be given much credit. This however was a unique case. The Giants played a very tough regular season schedule and were finally getting their full pass rush healthy, something that was rarely the case throughout the year. So far, from the final two regular season games to last weeks playoff opener, this Giants team is filling up the band wagon and showing everyone just how dangerous they can be. 

They manhandled the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the playoffs, beating them 24-2. The hard part comes now though, having to go to Green Bay to take on a 15-1 Packers team. The Giants and Packers did meet up about five weeks ago at the Meadowlands and Green Bay won 38-35 in what was a fantastic game. I would expect more of the same, probably a high scoring game. How can the Giants win this game though??

The Giants in my opinion do have a chance and here are the three keys to victory for them.

1. No Mistakes.  

The Giants have to play a mistake free game. They don’t want to have any turnovers, especially dumb ones. Eli Manning who has been playing great all season long can’t throw interceptions and the rest of the team doesn’t want to put the ball on the ground. The first thing the Giants should do is catch the ball and secure it. They shouldn’t worry about extra yards and then lose the ball. If you give Green Bay too many extra possessions you won’t be able to win the game. Green Bay is too good of a team to get anything extra.

2. Get to Aaron Rodgers 

The Giants pass rush is their strength and they need to keep it coming. The Packers are going to throw the ball, that is their strength and they won’t deviate from that too much. It is hard to intercept Aaron Rodgers and it is hard to rattle him. The Giants front four is strong enough though to sack him, knock him down, hurry him, get their hands in his face and make life very tough for him. I don’t expect the Giants to totally stop him, but if they contain him just enough where they hold him in the 20′s in points the Giants can win this game. If the Giants force him into a mistake which is also very rare for him, they can capitalize and win the game because of that. For the Giants to have a good day, you will need to hear the names of Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul often.

3. Control the Clock 

The Giants need to try and control the ball, keeping the Packers offense off the field for as long as they can. The Giants aren’t your prototypical run the ball, keep the clock moving type of team. They have a lot of play makers on offense as well and can score with the best of them. Their running game has been much better lately though and I think they need to try to do as much of that as they can. If the Giants can get together some five minute or more drives and put points on the board that will only help their defense and also keep the Packers off the field long enough that they can’t run up the point total.

It should be a very good game. I know the point spread is pretty high now and it will be a tall order for the Giants to go to Green Bay and knock off the Packers. I think though it will be very competitive and be within a touchdown type of game and hanging in the balance late in this game.

Gary Marchese, Jr. is the head Giants writer for Double G Sports. For all his writings visit our New York Giants page.