Coming off a four-year playoff drought, the 11-5 New York Giants have their sights locked in on winning their fifth Super Bowl in franchise history. The path to Houston presents many obstacles, including a first round Wild Card matchup versus Aaron Rodgers and the 10-6 Green Bay Packers. The teams met earlier during week five, and the Giants look to bounce back from that 23-16 loss. Since then, this Giants team has transformed into one of the league’s best as they look to redeem themselves when it matters most. Let’s take a look at some of the Giants keys to victory for this week’s postseason rematch.
New York Giants Wild Card Weekend Keys to Victory
Keep Feeding Paul Perkins
I said it once and I’ll say it again, Paul Perkins needs to be receiving the bulk of the carries in the ground game. The Giants have only given a single running back 20+ carries twice this season. One of these happened last week when Perkins become the first rusher on the team to record a 100-yard performance this season. Seeing an increased work load the last four weeks, he managed to carry the ball 62 times for 271 yards, averaging an impressive 4.4 yards per carry. Contrast this with Rashad Jennings, who had 60 carries for just 179 yards, posting a mediocre 2.9 yards per carry. That’s almost 100 yards less on two fewer carries! Although Jennings was able to score once in this stretch, it only comes as a result of being given the majority of carries in the red zone. Because you know, Perkins needs a break from carrying them downfield almost every scoring drive.
This brings up the question as to whether or not the Giants are ready to abandon the running back committee and move on with Perkins as the featured back. At this point, the only thing Jennings still has to offer the team is his pass-blocking abilities. But as the weeks continue, Perkins is proving to be close to or just as effective in the blocking game. This, in addition to Shane Vereen never being healthy, makes it hard to not consistently give over 20 carries to Perkins going forward. At the end of the regular season, the Giants finished 29th in rushing yards per game with an 88.3-yard average. A shift in the running game could be the catalyst this offense desperately needs to get things rolling in Lambeau Field this Sunday.
Contain Aaron Rodgers
MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers is no stranger to the playoffs. With a Super Bowl win and career postseason record of 8-6, he knows how to win games for his team. This week is no cake-walk for the veteran quarterback as he goes up against arguably the NFL’s best defense. To make things harder on Rodgers, Janoris Jenkins has returned to practice and should be returning to the lineup in better health than in recent weeks. With the way he, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Eli Apple have been playing at the cornerback position, wide receivers are going to have to really work in order to give Rodgers trouble. That’s not to mention having Landon Collins give them safety help on all those infamous Hail Mary passes. If the defense comes to play, the secondary could be the real heroes of the day.
The rest of the starters on the defensive side of the ball besides Jason-Pierre Paul remain healthy heading into the playoffs. Given that Romeo Okwara has stepped up in JPP’s place, there’s practically no weak link on New York’s defensive front. Despite being snubbed from the Pro Bowl, Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison have recorded better stats and performed better than most of the athletes selected at their respected positions. Both offseason signees have dominated season-long and look to be the main source of pressure on Aaron Rodgers. In fact, Rodgers had recorded his worst game this year in week 5 against the Giants. Not only did he throw two of his seven interceptions on the season, but he finished the game with only 259 passing yards and a 51.1% completion rate. Since then, the defense has only improved, so it will be interesting to see if the G-Men can pull off a repeat performance against the playoff veteran.
Eli Manning Must Be in Playoff Mode
With an 8-3 record in the postseason, two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning looks to lead his team to yet another championship game and have a chance at taking home a third ring. Whether it’s something in the water or him living up to his clutch abilities, Eli always seems to be making precision throws and stepping up his level of play this time of year. Historic plays such as David Tyree’s helmet catch or Mario Manningham’s sideline catch have been some of the highlights to name a few. It would be surprising if Eli didn’t add to this list now that Odell Beckham will be making his playoff debut this Sunday. This is one of the best receiving corps he’s had in years, especially since Victor Cruz was part of the 2011 championship team. If Cruz can play the veteran role and get the wide-outs familiar with the playoff environment, they’ll be one step closer to giving Eli his mojo back in time to make a run at traveling to Houston.
The offensive struggles this season have been consistent in one spot all year: the offensive line. Whether it’s from injuries or lack of talent, there’s no disputing that it’s a mess right now. Bobby Hart, who missed week 17, was in full-participation at practice this Wednesday. He’s currently listed as “probable” for Sunday’s game even though that is technically no longer a valid injury tag. Should he return to the lineup as expected, the o-line will be fully healthy for the first time in weeks. If the pieces fall together, Eli could find himself having adequate time to throw and tire the defense out by moving the chains. An interesting fact to point out is that Eli Manning has a better record (2-0) at Lambeau Field in the playoffs than Aaron Rodgers does (2-2). One of those wins came against an all-time great, Brett Favre, showing that no matter who leads the opponent’s team, nothing will stand in Eli’s way of winning in the postseason.
After all, you can’t spell elite without Eli.
