After a convincing Thanksgiving win in Detroit against the Lions, the Packers find themselves at Week 13 with eleven regular season games down and five to go. The Thanksgiving matchup was supposed to be one of the toughest challenges for the Packers as well as an opportunity for the Lions to make a statement on national television. The Lions managed to make a relatively loud statement; it just wasn’t a positive one. Ndamukong Suh managed to steal the spotlight after he blatantly stomped on the arm of Green Bay’s reserve lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith (or, sorry, he tried to “remove himself from the situation, and as he was getting up, he got pushed, so he got himself on balance”). His appalling action resulted in an unpaid two-game suspension (of which he’s appealing) and an increasingly tarnished reputation. To make matters worse, the 15-yard personal foul he drew for the stomp kept Green Bay’s offense on the field after they had been stopped on third down and funneled all momentum in the Packers direction. Green Bay would end up winning 27-15 behind a consistent offensive attack and a solid defensive performance that forced three Matt Stafford interceptions.
Green Bay’s chances of perfection are getting realistically higher each week yet the schedule that lies ahead is still daunting. Beginning with this weekend, they will travel to New York to face the Giants, return home against the Raiders, take their last road trip to play the Chiefs, and finish at home with succeeding games against the Bears and Lions. As luck would have it, the remaining schedule is getting less intimidating with every passing day. The Giants are in absolute chaos and have lost three in a row, the Raiders are currently relying on Carson Palmer and Michael Bush while dealing with a harsh injury bug, the Chiefs lost starting quarterback Matt Cassell for the year, the Bears will be without quarterback Jay Cutler while his broken thumb heals, and the Lions are regressing. Nonetheless, the Packers cannot let this serendipitous turn of the schedule diminish their focus and preparation. The remaining teams may appear more vulnerable, but each one is more than capable of knocking off Green Bay. The first opponent to step up to the plate will be the faltering New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.
Giant Turmoil
As I alluded to before, the Giants are under immense scrutiny after their worst defensive performance in 68 years (most yards allowed since 1943) against the Saints. In the Monday night showdown the Giants were humiliated from the onset limping into halftime at a 21-3 deficit. By the end of the game Drew Brees had lit up the Giants secondary 363 yards and 4 touchdowns while a trio of running backs added 197 yards of offense on the ground. The Giants 28th ranked defense allowed 577 total yards of offense and 49 points. Things got so bad that defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who is receiving his fair share of flak, accused members of his defense of quitting throughout the game. Tom Coughlin, as it seems every year, has become a front-running candidate for being the head coach most likely to be fired at year’s end. It seems that the only thing that will save his job is sneaking into the playoffs, and that possibility is getting increasingly dim for the Giants. After three straight losses, the Giants are a full game behind the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East and a full game behind three teams for the Wild Card slots. To make matters significantly worse, the Giants have the toughest remaining schedule of contending teams; four of their five remaining opponents have winning records and a combined record of 35-20 (.636%). Coach Coughlin recently stated, “It’s pro football, got to move on to the next one… We’ll bounce back. That’s the thing I believe in. It’s a time for us to be bold, not listen to what you all are saying.” The Giants are hoping to bounce back in a big way on Sunday, but the odds are certainly against them in more ways than one.
Eli Manning
If there has been one bright spot this season for the Giants, it would be quarterback Eli Manning. At the prime age of 30 he is quietly putting together one of the best seasons of his career. After a year in which he threw a league-high 25 interceptions, Manning has bounced back to throw 20 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions this season. His current passer rating of 95.6 would be the highest of his career and he is on pace to throw for over 4,000 yards for the third consecutive season. In a year full of inconsistency and underperformance, Manning has been New York’s one glaring exception. The passing attack for the Giants currently ranks 4th in the NFL with 291.5 yds/game while their run game ranks dead last in the NFL with only 82.3 yds/game (in part due to Ahmad Bradshaw’s foot injury in week 8). The fact that Manning is excelling with absolutely no balance on offense is a testament to his performance. Green Bay’s defense, which looked surprisingly strong against the Lions, will have their hands full against Manning and his quartet of dynamic receivers. Wide outs Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manninham, and tight end Jake Ballard have combined for 169 receptions, 2,623 yards, and 17 touchdowns this season.
Replacements
In what seemed like a flashback to last year, the Packers quickly sustained multiple injuries against Detroit on Thanksgiving. Most notably, linebackers Desmond Bishop and A.J. Hawk as well as offensive guard Josh Sitton were knocked out for the duration of the game. The performances of the fill-ins were nothing short of remarkable. Last year we witnessed players who were picked up off the scrap heap, such as Charlie Peprah, Howard Green, Jarius Wynn, and Erik Walden, play prominent roles down the Super Bowl stretch run. Against the Lions linebackers D.J. Smith (rookie) and Robert Francois filled in admirably for Bishop and Hawk. Smith contained the run to the outside reasonably well and Francois made an acrobatic interception just several plays after being thrust into duty. Ironically, the substitute who may have made the most impact in the game was offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith, who was filling in for Josh Sitton. For whatever reason(s), Dietrich-Smith got under the skin of Suh which prompted the infamous stomp. As I mentioned earlier, that play was a key momentum shifter and Suh’s subsequent suspension may severely dampen Detroit’s playoff aspirations. When considering the histories of Smith, Francois, and Dietrich-Smith, their performances are even more remarkable. D.J. Smith was an afterthought as a 6th round pick this year, Francois has been cut three times in his career (once by the Vikings when Brett Favre signed, once by the Lions, and once by the Packer last year when Starks returned from the PUP), and Dietrich-Smith has been cut several times, once by the Packers before last season. With the injured starters’ statuses unknown for the upcoming game, the bench players will have to be ready to contribute once again against the Giants – by now, it seems commonplace.
With eleven games down and only five to go the hype for perfection is growing. The Packers seemingly catch a break this week with the Giants’ continuing collapse. However, Green Bay will be on the road and New York should view every remaining game as do-or-die. The Packers will have to overcome their injury bug on defense and offensive line as well as Eli Manning’s high-powered passing attack. Once again, this is a game the Packers should win as they are 7-point favorites headed into New York. Nonetheless, the Giants are certainly capable of surprising the Packers and excavating revenge for last year’s defeat in Green Bay; a loss that kept the Packers’ playoff hopes alive and ultimately knocked the Giants out of playoff contention.