The Green Bay Packers look to get back on track when they visit the New York Giants in the Meadowlands. Green Bay enters this week’s game with a 5-3-1 mark while the Giants are 2-8. The Packers lost to the Eagles last week 10-7. The Giants fell to the Bears 24-20. Here are the keys to victory for the Packers in their Week 11 matchup with the New York Giants.
The Packers lead the all-time series between these two teams 29-25-2 in the regular season. The two teams first met during the regular season in 1928. The Packers have won five of the eight postseason matchups between the teams.
Here are the keys to victory for Sunday’s game at the Meadowlands:
Packers Keys to Victory vs Giants, Number One: Contain Wan’Dale Robinson
The Giants top offensive weapon is receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. He’s only 5’8” tall, but he gets open and catches a lot of passes. Last season, he caught 93 passes. He’s quick and excels at catching short and medium range passes.
The Packers corners will have to contain him and stop him from allowing the Giants to keep moving the chains. Nate Hobbs will likely miss this game, so the burden of containing Robinson will fall on Carrington Valentine, Keisean Nixon and slot corner Javon Bullard.
If the Packers can keep Robinson from having a big day, the Giants next most productive receiver is tight end Theo Johnson. He may not be a deep ball threat, but he’s reliable and Evan Williams and Edgerrin Cooper may have the primary responsibility of covering him.
Number Two: Get Pressure on Jameis Winston
The Giants have announced the Jameis Winston will start for the first time this season on Sunday. Winston has a strong arm and tends to be a high risk, high reward passer.
When you put pressure on Winston, he can be forced into mistakes. In his last full season as a starter, he threw 30 interceptions. Last season with Cleveland, he threw 12 interceptions in just seven starts.
It will be up to Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons to get pressure off the edge. The Giants offensive line has allowed 31 sacks in their first 10 games this season. Giants center John Michael Schmitz has been limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday with a shin injury.
Forcing Winston into mistakes is the best way to force turnovers and make this game one-sided. If Winston has time to throw, he remains capable of picking apart a defense, even a talented one like the Packers.
Packers Keys to Victory vs Giants, Number Three: Keep the Giants from Running
The Giants rank 11th in the league in rushing yards per game, averaging 123 yards per contest. However, their top two runners are out of the lineup. Number one back Cam Skattebo is out for the season due to injury. The second leading rusher is starting quarterback Jaxson Dart who is out with a concussion.
The Giants are expected to start Tyrone Tracy, Jr. at running back. He has averaged 3.9-yards per carry on 64 attempts this season. The Packers cannot allow Tracy or any Giants running back to successfully move the football on the ground and make things easier for Winston.
The Packers did a good job of shutting down Saquon Barkley last week, now they need to do the same to Tracy, and the other Giants backs.
Number Four: Improve the Play Calling
Unfortunately for the Packers, the play calling of head coach Matt LaFleur has become far too predictable. Inside run, inside run, long pass tends to be the standard order.
It’s time for LaFleur to adjust his play calling to both keep opposing defenses off balance and to mask the weaknesses along the offensive line.
The Giants defense ranks 29th in yards allowed per game and 27th in points allowed per game. This has to be a get-well game for the Green Bay offense which restores the confidence in LaFleur, Jordan Love, and the rest of the offense. If the Packers can’t move the football against this struggling Giants defense, they could really be in trouble.
Packers Keys to Victory vs Giants, Number Five: Block Brian Burns
Brian Burns is by far the Giants most dangerous pass rusher. The former Florida State star has 11 sacks through 10 games. The Giants as a team have only 21 sacks for the season, so Burns has more than half of the team’s sacks.
The offensive tackle duo of Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom will have the primary responsibility of blocking Burns. He typically lines up on the edge, but the Giants will move him around to create better matchups.
If Love has time to throw the football, the Packers should be able to exploit the Giants 23rd-ranked pass defense even with the injuries to the Packers receivers and tight ends.
Number Six: Establish the Running Game
The Packers run blocking has been subpar all season. With Elgton Jenkins now on IR, Sean Rhyan will move to center. Rhyan should add more grit and toughness to the offensive line, but will he even be as good as the struggling Jenkins was?
The Giants run defense ranks 31st in rushing yards allowed per game and dead last in average yards allowed per carry. This should be a big game for Josh Jacobs who has yet to go over 100 yards in a game this season.
Again, LaFleur should not be so predictable with his play calling, but the Packers should be able to run the football on the Giants.
Prediction:
On paper, this is a game the Packers should win but that’s true of all three of their losses this season. The Packers are in a major funk on offense and need to break out of it against the Giants struggling defense.
The other issue is whether the Giants will get an emotional boost from firing Brian Daboll and bringing in interim head coach Mike Kafka. Will Kafka open up the playbook and use gadget plays or go against past tendencies now that he’s the head coach? Will the Giants be excited and more carefree as a result of the change? They certainly have nothing to lose.
The defense should limit the Giants offense, and the offense will do just enough to win the game. It may not be pretty, but the Packers will win the game.
Packers 23, Giants 13
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