Giants Team Grades: Week 12 vs. Green Bay Packers

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Final Score: Green Bay Packers: 10 New York Giants: 38

Giants Team Grades

The Giants headed into the bye week looking like a shell of themselves, losing two straight games and faced one of the hottest teams in the NFL in the Green Bay Packers coming out of it.  The result was expected, but the teams were in reversed roles.  The Giants looked like the defending Super Bowl Champions that they are and they hammered the Packers 38-10, ending their five game winning streak.

Passing Offense Grade: A

There might not have been another player on the Giants that needed the bye week more than Eli Manning.  Manning, who had not thrown a touchdown since October 28^th against the Washington Redskins, looked refreshed and on point against the Packers, completing every type of pass in the game and looked to have the regular zip Giants fans have become accustomed to seeing from him. 

Manning finished the game with 249 yards and three touchdowns on 16 of 30 passing.  He was only sacked once even though the Giants lost starting tackle David Diehl to a burner in the first half.

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Hakeem Nicks scored his first touchdown since week two against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hauling in five balls for 77 yards and the touchdown.  Nicks will be an integral part to the Giants offense down the stretch and the closer he gets to 100 percent healthy the better it will be for the team.

Rushing Offense Grade: A

The Giants rushing attack was dominant against the Packers no matter what defensive package they used against them.  As a team, the Giants ran for 147 yards on 31 carries, good for 4.7 yards per carry.

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Ahmad Bradshaw looked spry as well coming off the bye, as there had been concerns he had hurt his neck again.  Bradshaw finished the game with 58 yards rushing on 10 attempts scoring a touchdown.  He also added an impressive 59 yard reception on a screen pass to setup an Andre Brown touchdown.

Brown had a solid game as well, leading the Giants with 64 rushing yards on 13 carries.  Sadly, Brown will most likely be lost for the season after breaking his fibula.  He will be placed on the IR-Designated to Return List with hopes that he can return if the Giants make a deep playoff run.

Pass Defense Grade: A

The game got off to a rough start for the pass defense, as Corey Webster surrendered a 61-yard bomb on the Packers first drive of the game; that was all Aaron Rodgers and the Packers passing game would be allowed for the game. 

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Webster bounced back with an interception of Rodgers on the next Packers drive to get some redemption.  The Giants never allowed Rodgers to get into a rhythm, sacking him five times and hitting him seven, seemingly knowing what the Packers were running and being in the backfield all game. 

Kenny Phillips returned from injury and the Giants brought back their three safety look for parts of the game and it worked to perfection.  It is unknown if the Giants will be able to do that next week against Washington though, as Phillips re-aggravated his MCL injury.  Phillips said he could have returned to the game, but with the Giants handling their business they aired on the side of caution.

Rush Defense Grade: B+

The Giants rush defense wasn’t exactly suffocating, giving up 116 yards on 26 carries but they were able to limit the big plays from the rushing game; the Packers longest run of the night was a 12-yard scamper by Randall Cobb.  The running game seemed to be implemented so heavily by the Packers to keep Rodgers from getting hit so often.

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Rodgers is capable of killing opposing defenses with his mobility and it showed as Rodgers ran all over the field.  Thankfully for the Giants, most of the time it was trying to avoid the pass rush in the backfield and not for rushing yards, as Rodgers was held to 22 yards rushing.

Special Teams Grade: A

The Giants came into the game focusing on Cobb in all aspects of the game, as he is a multi-dimensional player for the Packers lining up at running back, wide receiver and wildcat quarterback on offense and being the return man for kickoffs and punts.

The preparation to slow Cobb worked, as he totaled only 20 yards on two punt returns and a modest average of 26 yards per return on six kickoffs. 

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Lawrence Tynes continued his career season knocking a 43-yard field goal through the uprights, with the only negative for the Giants being a muffed punt by Rueben Randle, who made up for it catching both balls thrown at him by Manning, one going for his first career touchdown.

Coaching Grade: A+

The Giants used the bye week to their advantage and executed everything flawlessly on the field Sunday night against a hot Packers team.  They looked for ways to spark their own team and dominated the Packers with unique personnel packages in all aspects of the game.

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It was a great start to a tough stretch to end the season, as the Giants got a little extra motivation from 15-year old Adam Merchant, who was given the opportunity to meet the Giants through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and delivered a spirited and heartfelt speech to the Giants at the end of practice Friday telling them to play like the defending world champions that they are.