Packer Central

Packers-Giants Live Updates: Packers Beat Giants 27-20

Follow along all day for all the updates as the Green Bay Packers (5-3-1) try to get back on track against the New York Giants (2-8) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) warms up before play against the New York Giants.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) warms up before play against the New York Giants. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are 5-3-1. They’ve lost two in a row and are clinging to the final spot in the NFC playoff race.

There’s a lot of season to be played, but safety Xavier McKinney knows the reality entering Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.

“I think it’s a must-win,” he said this week. “I think we’ve put ourselves kind of in a sticky situation, but it is what it is. Things happen. Obviously, things don’t go always as planned that you want it to go sometimes, but you got to make do (with) the circumstances that you have and the type of environment that it is, so that’s just what it is.”

Can they deliver a must-win victory? Follow along all day for updates.

Final Score: Packers 27, Giants 20

Fourth Quarter

Packers 27, Giants 20 (4:02 remaining)

The Packers faced third-and-10 from near midfield. Jordan Love had all day but nobody open before he lofted one up to Savion Williams, who made a 32-yard catch against Cor'Dale Flott to the Giants’ 20. After offensive holding by Josh Whyle and a 13-yard catch by Romeo Doubs, Love threw deep to Christian Watson, who made a leaping catch for a 17-yard touchdown. It was an incredible play. Love hit Emanuel Wilson for the deuce.

Now, can Green Bay’s defense make a stop?

Giants 20, Packers 19 (7:22 remaining)

It’s been a day of missed opportunities for Green Bay’s defense and, now, it will come down to the final 7 minutes. At the start of the drive, Wan’Dale Robinson dropped a pass that might have been intercepted by nickel Javon Bullard had he not been hit by linebacker Isaiah McDuffie. On third-and-5, a well-timed screen against a blitz gained 20.

Moments later, Jameis Winston’s deep shot to Jalin Hyatt might have been intercepted by Keisean Nixon had safety Xavier McKinney not been right there. The Giants converted on third-and-7 with an easy completion.

After Bullard drew a hold to make it third-and-13, Winston hit tight end Theo Johnson, who hauled defensive backs for a few extra yards for a gain of 10. On fourth-and-3, Winston hit receiver Isaiah Hodgins for the fifth time in the day – Hodgins had zero catches this season – to make it first-and-goal at the 8. A couple plays later, Winston snuck for the score.

Third Quarter

Packers 19, Giants 13 (0:21 remaining)

On third-and-2, the Packers, who had been 6-of-8 on third down, came up empty when Christian Watson couldn’t make the play on Jordan Love’s bomb, which would have given the Packers a first down at the Giants’ 45. So, so much for getting a key insurance score to make it a two-score game.

Daniel Whelan had the best special-teams play of the day with a 60-yard punt to the 15.

Packers 19, Giants 13 (1:54 remaining)

On fourth-and-1 at the start of the drive, the Giants under interim coach Mike Kafka rolled the dice from their 36. The Packers stopped a wildcat run by Devin Singletary, but the Giants’ line pushed him behind the market for the first down. Later, on fourth-and-3, Jameis Winston hit Isaiah Hodgins for 12 despite late pressure by Micah Parsons.

Finally, on fourth-and-3 form the red zone, Parsons struck. He roared around the corner and the rest of the defensive line cut off the escape lanes. Finally, Parsons and Isaiah McDuffie wrapped him up for the sack to stop a drive that lasted for almost 10 minutes.

Packers 19, Giants 13 (11:40 remaining)

With Josh Jacobs ruled out with a knee injury, the Packers opened the second half with a touchdown drive. On third-and-1, Love hit Christian Watson for 16. One play later, Love threw a bomb to Matthew Golden, who drew pass interference for 35 yards to the 3. Golden, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury, might have aggravated it on the play. On second-and-goal, Jordan Love hit tight end Josh Whyle for the touchdown. Lucas Havrisik missed the extra point by exactly one county.

Halftime

Packers 13, Giants 13

Jordan Love missed time with an injured left shoulder. Josh Jacobs missed most of the second quarter with an injured shoulder. Inept on offense and defense throughout large swaths, the Packers are fortunate to be tied at halftime.

On a blustery Sunday in New Jersey, Love is 6-of-13 for 73 yards. It’s not all his fault; nobody can catch. Jacobs led a potent rushing attack with seven carries for 40 yards, highlighted by a 15-yard gain on a backward pass, but he was injured on a goal-line run that was preceded by Malik Willis’ 1-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. He is questionable to return with a knee injury.

Jameis Winston, throwing to a bunch of no-name injuries due to injuries, is 8-of-11 for 86 yards. Winston even had a 10-yard run on a quarterback sneak.

The Packers will get the ball to start the second half. Scoring touchdowns will be key, with both teams missing an extra point and neither team having the ability to punt.

Second Quarter

Packers 13, Giants 13 (0:20 remaining)

The Packers continue to find new ways to look inept on offense. On a 2-minute drive, Sean Rhyan’s snap was off-target and to the left of Jordan Love. Love picked up the ball and hit Luke Musgrave for a short gain, Musgrave tried to slip the tackle by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and lost the ball. The Giants recovered near the 40. Somehow upon review, the Packers got the ball back. On third down, Love tried to escape but tripped on someone’s foot for a sack.

Unter Daniel Whelan prevented a disaster by fielding a snap that was way off the mark on a windy day.

Packers 13, Giants 13 (1:11 remaining)

On third-and-12, the Packers had the Giants doomed to a three-and-out. Jameis Winston’s screen to Tyrone Tracy was dead meat. However, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper missed a tackle, meaning a 6-yard loss turned into a gain of 20. Later, on third-and-1, Jameis Winston took a quarterback sneak for 10 yards. Ten. Not 1. Ten.

Moments later, Winston floated a pass to tight end Theo Johnson. Isaiah McDuffie didn’t have a clue the ball was coming and was flagged for interference, giving the Giants a first-and-goal at the 1. One play later, Devin Singletary plowed through Cooper for a 2-yard touchdown. After a chop-block penalty on a successful extra point, Younghoe Koo blasted a 48-yard point-after attempt to the left. So, a week after holding the Eagles to 10 points, the Packers have given up 13.

Packers 13, Giants 7 (7:39 remaining)

With Jordan Love back on the field, the Packers are in front. Emanuel Wilson capped an impressive drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Sean Rhyan and Aaron Banks had a big-double-team, Jordan Morgan walled off his man and Romeo Doubs got in the mix near the goal line. Wilson ran through a tackle near the 5.

On the first play of the drive, Doubs dropped an easy pass. It was his second drop of the day after dropping two passes in the first nine games. However, he made amends later when he picked up a third-and-7 by taking a 2-yard pass and extending himself past the marker against rookie cornerback Korie Black. Moments later, he gained 22 on a bootleg to the right.

Second Quarter: Key Injuries

Giants 7, Packers 6 (12:27 remaining)

The Packers scored their first touchdown but in painful fashion. On the first-quarter side of the drive, Jordan Love scrambled and was hit hard by linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. Love went into the blue medical tent, then jogged to the locker room.

On the second play of the second quarter, Josh Jacobs had nowhere to go up the middle and bounced to the left. Jacobs almost never goes down immediately on first contact. He did this time, though. The Packers scored on the next play and Jacobs jogged to the locker room.

Officially, Love is questionable with an injured left shoulder and Jacobs is questionable with a knee injury.

On the field, the Giants went three-and-out when it appeared the officials blew what looked like a third-down conversion from Jameis Winston to Wan’Dale Robinson.

Love is back on the field for the start of the series.

Second Quarter

Giants 7, Packers 6 (13:54 remaining)

On third-and-goal from outside the 1, Malik Willis made an incredible throw and Christian Watson made an unbelievable catch to tie the score. Willis, just as he got hit into the middle of next week by NFL sacks leader Brian Burns, fired a ball to Watson, who used “man hands” to hold onto the ball despite battling with Giants cornerback Deonte Banks.

Lucas Havrisik, kicking for injured Brandon McManus, missed the extra point by a mile to the right.

During the break, Josh Jacobs walked to the locker room. Officially, he is questionable with a knee injury.

End of First Quarter: Jordan Love Questionable

Giants 7, Packers 0

On third-and-1 at the start of the drive, Josh Jacobs bounced off a defender at the line and got the first down. On the next play, Bo Melton got the ball on an end-around. With John FitzPatrick leading the way, he gained 17. But Rasheed Walker was flagged for holding on a pass that FitzPatrick dropped. Jordan Love was shaken up on a second-and-20 scramble.

With Malik Willis in, Chris Brooks ran for 8 and Willis ran a zone read with tight end Josh Whyle out front for 16 to the 16. On second down, Willis booted to his left and hit FitzPatrick in the flat for 5 yards and first-and-goal at the 5.

At the first quarter ended, Love was listed as questionable to return with an injured left shoulder. He was tackled on the scramble by linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. He jogged into the blue medical tent and, later, to the locker room. Love had played every offensive snap this season.

First Quarter

Giants 7, Packers 0 (6:15 remaining)

On first down, Devonte Wyatt drew a hold on former Packers guard Jon Runyan and Evan Williams was blocked in the back. On third-and-9, Micah Parsons had instant pressure up the middle. Carrington Valentine, who had a difficult chance for an interception on the opening series, dropped a pretty easy one. Still, it’s a three-and-out.

Giants 7, Packers 0 (8:10 remaining)

What a horrendous start in a “must-win game.” After Green Bay’s defense got trucked on the opening series, Jordan Love was running for his life for most of the series. After Josh Jacobs broke two tackles to turn a behind-the-line pass into a gain of 15, Love threw it away on first down while under pressure from Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns, Luke Musgrave caught a pass and fumbled for minus-1 on second down and Love was under pressure, again, on third-and-11. Love escaped, found a lane and threw a strike, only for Romeo Doubs to drop a pass inside the Giants’ 30.

Giants 7, Packers 0 (10:35 remaining)

The Packers called this a “must-win game” this week. Instead, the defense got trounced on the opening possession. Devin Singletary had nothing up the middle but bounced to the right and ran through a couple defenders near the goal line for the opening touchdown. James Winston went 3-for-4, including 20-yard completions to Wan’Dale Robinson and Isaiah Hodgins; Hodgins didn’t have a single catch this year and had only two last year.

Running back Josh Jacobs didn’t use such stark language as McKinney about this being a must-win game. However, the laugh at the end of the final sentence spoke volumes.

“I feel like they all must-wins,” he said. “I never feel like a game wasn’t a must-win. But, I don’t know, I’m not going to say I feel like it’s a must-win but we need a win (laughs).”

Star defensive end Micah Parsons called it a must-win game, too. It was more for the cliché reasons, but his larger point was the Packers have to come to play, which wasn’t necessarily the case in losses to Cleveland and Carolina.

“I think every game’s a must-win,” he said. “That’s how I was growing up. I think you should have the same preparation, the same mindset, regardless of who you’re playing.”

Yes, those losses to the Browns and Panthers were disappointing. But that’s the way of the NFL. Like the movie title, anything can happen on any given Sunday. Parsons pointed to a massive upset last week to show that Green Bay isn’t immune from bad losses.

“The Dolphins just beat the Bills,” he said. “This league is unforgiving. It doesn’t matter who you are. On any given Sunday, you’ve got to line up with the same mentality as you do against your top opponent. It doesn’t matter. You see teams fall for it. ‘Oh, they don’t look good. They haven’t been playing well’

“Sometimes people play up because of who you are. The more we realize that, the better we’re going to be. To me, this week’s a must-win. Really, the next nine weeks should be must-wins, though. I want to be a top seed. I want to be in the playoffs. And even those, those are must-wins, too. At that point, it’s win or go home.”

Packers-Giants Inactives

Matthew Golden is in. Lukas Van Ness is out.

No Pressure

Last week, the Packers gave up 10 points to the powerhouse Eagles. And lost. A week earlier, they gave up 16 points to the Panthers. And lost.

Seemingly, all the pressure is on defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to win the game.

That’s not how he views it, though.

“If you want to approach the game like that, but I don’t approach the game like that,” he said. “It’s every call, it’s every yard, it’s every drive, it’s every third down. We have to find a way to get off the field, and you just keep playing until the game’s done.”

Before arriving in Green Bay, he was the coach at Boston College from 2020 through 2023. So, he knows that it’s about complementary football, and that one unit might have to pick up another.

“I’ve been on both sides of it,” he said. “I’ve been where I was in charge of the offense and the defense. This is a team game. For me, this will never be about the defense vs. the offense or ‘Wow, we have to hold them to this amount of points.’ There’s games since I’ve been here, Matt and the offense has put up 30-plus points and we’ve won 30-20-something.

“So, it’s going to bounce back and forth. When the offense isn’t playing well, it’s our job to pick them up, and we have to. But our mentality going into every game is the same, whether our offense scores 40 points or they’re not scoring a lot of points. I respect and appreciate that from my time being a head coach. Our players, they’re going to keep working and getting better, and there’s no distraction, there’s nothing there and we’re good to go.”

X-Factor

Giants punter Jamie Gillan goes by the nickname “The Scottish Hammer.” It’s not the long punts that will be an issue on an incredibly windy day, though.

“He’s a lefty,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said. “It’s hard to catch the ball enough from a lefty, but he has the ability to run all kinds of different – we call them flops or fat balls or different type of kicks that make it difficult to judge and catch. And then in the wind up there in the Meadowlands, it’s always problematic catching the ball, so we’ll see what happens with that.”

The wind is going to put the pressure on receiver Romeo Doubs, who has done a great job fielding punts, if not necessarily getting a lot of return yards.

“I know we went to Pittsburgh and we ended up muffing one – Keisean did and we got it back –  and the week later, Indianapolis muffed one and Pittsburgh ended up getting it and got a touchdown off it,” Bisaccia said. “A lefty is something a little bit different, and then when you play in elements and those guys have the ability to kick flops and fat balls and all kinds of different kicks, it makes it hard to judge and catch it.”

Pregame Must-Read Stories

No Sympathy Cards

The Giants are a hot mess. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is out, with veteran Jameis Winston stepping into the lineup. Winston has put up some big-time numbers throughout his career, but he’ll have only one receiver with more than three catches this season.

Tim Kelly was promoted from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator when Mike Kafka was promoted from coordinator to interim coach following this week’s firing of Brian Daboll.

There is no breaking-in period, Kelly said.

“You got about 10 minutes, right? And then the rest of the league doesn't really care. So, it's hard to take the personal element out of it. But you find out quickly like, ‘Here we go, Green Bay's coming to town.’ And they don't really care what we're going through.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.