Packers Periscope: Week 13 vs New York Giants
The goods news following last week’s embarrassing loss, is the Packers begin their easiest stretch of the season. In week 13, Green Bay will travel to the Big Apple and face the 2-9 New York Giants.
The all-time series has been pretty even with the Packers leading 28-23-2 during the regular season. The last time these two teams squared off, Green Bay trounced the Giants 38 to 13 in the 2016-2017 Wild Card. Aaron Rodgers threw for 362 yards and four touchdowns, connecting with Davante Adams eight times for 125 yards. Randall Cobb added 116 receiving yards of his own and accounted for three of Rodgers’ touchdowns.
The Giants enter Sunday’s game without playoff aspirations as they rebuild around rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. On the other side of the ball, New York’s defense has very little to work with in regards to talent, however, they are still one rank higher than the Packers in yards given up per game. That speaks volumes to how important splash plays have been to Mike Pettine’s success in 2019.
In all three of Green Bay’s losses this season, the defense has been unable to pick off the opposing quarterback. The Packers are also averaging just under two sacks in those losing efforts. The Giants have allowed Jones to be sacked 33 times this year, tied for fourth in the NFL. He has also turned the ball over 18 times in 2019, including fumbles and interceptions. This game should be nothing less than a pick-me-up game for Pettine’s group.
Sunday should also be an opportunity for Rodgers and the offense to pick up some steam to close out the season.
On Wednesday, Green Bay’s quarterback said, “offensively, I’ve got to take the lead and get hot in December here.”
Rodgers does usually have strong finishes to the year, but he mentioned all-around execution in the same breath as elevating his play. The offense looked as bad as it has all year last week against the San Francisco 49ers. When the Packers got down on the scoreboard early, Matt LaFleur was unable to commit to running the ball. As a result, it showed how reliant this offense can be on Rodgers and Adams to carry the load in the passing game.
However, it wasn’t just a one-time occurrence. Over the last three games, wide receivers other than Adams have totaled 18 receptions for 144 yards. The good news is, Sunday is a great chance for the other receivers to gain some confidence facing one of the worst secondaries they have seen all year.
Green Bay would prefer to be playing their best ball against the league’s best, however, you have to be able to walk before you can run. Their week 13 matchup should get their legs churning for a strong finish to 2019.
Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film. Follow him on Twitter @PackerScribe.
Comments (8)
ALLGASNOBRAKES
November 29, 2019 at 01:09 pm
What I'm hoping for is a complete and utter blowout by the Packers these next 2 weeks. GET some confidence back for the offense who has to be questioning themselves a bit after what the Chargers and 49ers did to them defensively. This week and next week are the perfect time to incorporate Adams into what was working when Adams was out. IF LaFleur can't figure out how to get back to what WAS working and the adding to that one of the best WR's in the NFL, the Packers have some SERIOUS, SERIOUS problems. I mean the whole idea behind hiring this guy was for his fresh ideas and incorporating that into what the Packers already had offensively. IF he's unable to do that and do it quickly, then a bye in the playoffs, clinching the North, or having a game or two at Lambeau won't really make much of a difference IMO.
Speaking of problems... The Packers are getting ready to play 2 rookie QB's and then Mitch Trubisky. IF Pettines defense continues to get burned from the like of those QB's, then again nothing else will matter much come the playoffs. These next 2 and probably 3 games are get right games for this team. Confidence is a POWERFUL thing and the Green Bay Packers could really use 3 straight weeks of it before heading to that God ugly purple stadium. The Packers can STILL get hot and STILL be a good team, good enough to do some realk damage. It starts in NY Sunday.
TarynsEyes
November 29, 2019 at 05:43 pm
The Packers better take advantage of Daniel Jones propensity to fumble the ball away with QB hits or this game isn't an easy one and Barkley can find rejuvenation against our run defense.
Lare
November 29, 2019 at 02:52 pm
Against the Niners it looked like McCarthy, Capers, Moss and Zook were still coaching the Packers. We better hope it doesn't look like that against the Giants.
Lare
November 29, 2019 at 06:04 pm
To be perfectly honest, I'm predicting the Giants win this game 34-24. I think the coaching staff & team are so into a predictable, conservative & complacent rut that I think they feel like they can coast through this game. I think they need to have a huge fire lit under them before they'll make the changes necessary for them to win.
LeotisHarris
November 29, 2019 at 06:32 pm
I'm not trolling you, Lare, but what forms your opinion the Packers are into a "predictable, conservative & complacent rut"? I'm also curious what huge changes you see needed, changes that can be made now, to help an 8-3 team win. What changes would you make if you were in charge?
I found Dusty's most recent column interesting. There were a number of options available on the three screen passes he broke down for us. Does that make those calls predictable and conservative? Or is this an Offense still evolving? An Offense that ran head-on into a hell of a 49er D.
I've enjoyed watching most Packers games this season. That was not the case last year. I'm looking for improvement in both coaches and players. In both cases, I think it's way too early to fire up the "dock their paychecks-fire everybody-get Jordy back-McMumbles was fat" bus and drive off a cliff. Were MLF and his staff the right choices? I don't think we can know that yet. People grow in jobs, hopefully, be it in the NFL or at UPS. Can we expect a rookie head coach to get outreached in the NFL? Yes. Remember, Bart Starr was just turning the corner with his head coaching skill set when he was fired.
So, hopefully I'm going to enjoy a good football game on Sunday, and a Packers win. Last year we whiffed in the Division. So far this year, we're undefeated. And you know what? Even if I think this overachieving team is destined for an early exit in the playoffs as so many predict, that doesn't f*ck with my ability to enjoy the game on Sunday.
Go Pack Go!
dark42
November 30, 2019 at 03:50 am
There's no such thing as an easy game or schedule in the NFL. As the Chargers showed us, any team can dominate any other team on any given Sunday. We've been blown out in 2 of our 3 losses. We haven't really blown out any team in our wins, they always seem to come down to the final series/play. We have yet to show we can thoroughly dominate any team - dominate from start to finish.
I think we're in dire need of a rebound game where all 3 phases of our game improve greatly over the last 3 games. I also expect the Giants to give us all we can handle - hopefully not more than we can handle. Go Pack go! :)
PatrickGB
November 30, 2019 at 08:21 pm
My periscope has us holding our heads above water, firing our weapons and finding the target.
Beauvais
December 03, 2019 at 02:44 am
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