The divisional playoffs, if you think about it, make for the most complete weekend of highly competitive football games possible. One week removed from the wild card, the weak teams have been squeezed out, and those who made it past the first round go on to face their respective conference’s best two regular season teams.
Here’s what to expect for the NFC divisional playoffs this week.
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers
Sunday, 4:30 PM EST, Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Here’s one creepy fact that makes this one interesting: the New York Giants had a chance to end the Green Bay Packers’ undefeated season when they played in Week 13 of the regular season. They came close, too, but lost in the end, 38-35.
The last time they were in position to end a Super Bowl favorite’s regular-season undefeated bid, it was in the last game of the 2007 regular season, against the New England Patriots. They also came close in that one, but also lost, 38-35.
The next time those two teams met, it was in that Super Bowl, and the Giants pulled off the biggest upset in NFL history.
In addition to luck, the Giants have one other thing going for them: the momentum of that dominant win over the Atlanta Falcons in last week’s wild card game.
On offense, Brandon Jacobs broke out for his second-best game of his season, with 92 yards on 14 carries, while Hakeem Nicks’ six-catch, 115-yard, two-touchdown game reminded the rest of the league that Victor Cruz isn’t the only receiver on the team. Eli Manning, who’s had a monster season, had more yards through the air (277), than the Falcons had altogether (247).
All of that was somewhat overshadowed by the defense’s impressive shutout. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was limited to just 199 yards on 24 completions in 41 attempts, while running back Michael Turner could only rack up 41 yards on 15 attempts. That makes for just 2.7 yards per carry for a guy who averaged 4.5 in the regular season.
As 7.5-point underdogs, the Giant will need all the luck and momentum they can get going up against the Packers this Sunday, because as good as their defense looked against the Falcons, Matt Ryan is no Aaron Rodgers.
Green Bay’s league-leading scoring offense has been held below 24 points per game just once this season, in a freak 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15. Aaron Rodgers has thrown for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns and just six interceptions, while also completing an impressive 68.3 percent of his passes. And he didn’t miss a beat in that last game against the Giants, completing 28 of his 46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
For the Giants, Aaron Rodgers’ success will be the deciding factor. Because with the Packers defense, which has given up an average of 347 passing yards in each of their last three games (two of which involved C-level quarterbacks like Kyle Orton and Caleb Hanie), the Giants are going to score their points.
The question is: do the Packers have enough to avoid looking like the ‘07 Patriots?
— Colin Neagle (@colinneagle)
