Packers at Giants | Giants Maven Team Predictions
The 2-9 New York Giants will welcome the 8-3 Green Bay Packers to MetLife Stadium. There really couldn’t be a worse time for the Giants to face Aaron Rodgers, as his team is coming off a 37-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the Giants are looking to avoid their eighth straight loss.
Here's a look at how some of the Giants Maven team thinks this game will play out.
Mike Advensky
The Giants’ defense must keep Rodgers in the pocket. Teams that have been able to stop him this season have been able to push past the Packers’ offensive line and sack him.
Last week, the 49ers sacked Rodgers five times. The Giants’ front seven is not as talented as San Francisco’s, but they still need to try and bring constant pressure in this matchup.
Rodgers has already been sacked 27 times this season, so his offensive line has had issues protecting him. If you give Rodgers time to throw, he can move around and find open receivers. The Giants’ leader in sacks Markus Golden could be an X-factor for them in this game.
Another primary weapon in Green Bay’s offense is Aaron Jones. Jones is averaging 4.2 rushing yards per attempt this season, and he has already scored 11 rushing touchdowns. Additionally, he has 354 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. The Giants are allowing an average of 117.5 rushing yards per game, so this is a good matchup for Jones.
Teams that have been successful at slowing him down this year have mostly been able to stop Green Bay’s offense. Jones was held to under 40 rushing yards in each of the Packers’ three losses this season.
The best thing Bettcher can do is stuff the box in certain short-yardage situations and hope that Rodgers does not beat him a quick screen pass to Jones. This is why it’s going to be so challenging for the Giants’ defense to stop this offense. They have so many weapons and can beat you in a lot of different ways.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Giants are going to need a big performance out of the struggling Saquon Barkley. Considering that Daniel Jones will not have Golden Tate or Evan Engram to throw to, the Packers are going to be paying a lot of attention to Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. Pat Shurmur needs to lean heavily on Barkley in this matchup, as the Packers’ defense is allowing an average of 125.5 rushing yards per game.
Ultimately, this is going to be yet another game in which the Giants come up short.
Prediction: Packers 38, Giants 17
Pat Ragazzo
The Giants are on a seven-game losing streak, and the Packers were dominated by the 49ers defense in a 29-point loss last Sunday night. “Something’s gotta give,” no? The Packers have the 23 ranked passing defense, and their offensive line could be without right tackle Bryan Bulaga.
The Giants will have the opportunity to hang close with the Packers for the majority of the game if they put consistent pressure on Aaron Rodgers, but unfortunately, the future Hall of Fame quarterback will pull away in the last 10-minutes, as this has been a common trend for the Giants in 2019 who consistently unravel in the fourth quarter.
The scoreboard won’t reflect how the close will be for the first 50 minutes, but the Giants have shown minimal progress in recent weeks, and the Packers will be looking to have a bounce-back performance against a weaker opponent.
Prediction: Packers 35 Giants 17
Patricia Traina
I keep looking for the progress that head coach Pat Shurmur claims this team is making. And maybe we have different definitions of what "progress" is, but I see a team that continues to hurt itself with the same mistakes, the same selective effort from certain players, and the same in-game management issues that leave you wondering what the heck just happened.
But that's why you like up to play the game. Any given Sunday and all that jazz?
Anyway, about this game, Aaron Rodgers vs. the Giants still young pass defense concerns me as does running back Aaron Jones against the Giants linebackers. I don't like either of those matchups, and they are huge ones indeed that can break the game wide open early.
The one matchup I do think favors the Giants is the pass rush against a shaky Packers offensive line that's yielded 27 sacks this season. The Giants have been getting some push up front, but until they start winning ore of their one-on-one battles (or until they add a monster of a pass rusher), it's hit or miss with this group.
On offense, the Packers run defense can be exploited. The problem is that despite what anyone says, Saquon Barkley, who insists that we stop using his ankle injury as an excuse, doesn't pass the eye test to convince many people that he's over hat high ankle sprain suffered in Week 3.
If you need a stat about just how much the running game has fallen off a cliff this season, the Giants running backs have not rushed for any touchdowns on 46 carries since Week 9, tying them for the ninth longest dry spell over that period.
I'd also like to think this is going to be a close game, but recent Giants play has convinced me to keep my expectations low. If the Giants fall behind early this week, I don't know if they'll be able to et out of the hole.
That might be worth watching because if the beating s continue the way they have, it's going to become increasingly difficult for the coaching staff not to lose the players.
Prediction: Packers 38, Giants 21
