Giants vs. Packers: 5 Advantages G-Men Have in Rematch

Six weeks ago the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers battled it out in one of the best games of the 2011 NFL regular season.

Green Bay won 38-35, needing a Mason Crosby 31-yard field goal as time expired, and for the first time all season, it became clear that the Packers were in fact beatable.

Coming off a 24-2 victory in last weekend's Wild Card Round, the Giants roll into Green Bay with one thing on their mind: revenge.

Here’s a preview of tonight’s contest and five advantages the Giants have...

Pass Rush

Without question, the biggest storyline entering tonight’s matchup has been how effective the New York Giants front four can be against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offensive line.

Whereas most NFL teams require one-sided overloads, advanced blitzing schemes and secondary attacks, the Giants have the rare ability to generate ample pressure simply rushing four.

This is a key and necessary skill when facing someone like Rodgers who excels at recognizing the blitz and picking apart opposing secondaries.

The Giants are unique up front in that their defensive line is essentially comprised of four athletic defensive ends, allowing them to show opposing quarterbacks different looks and get into the backfield in various ways.

This season, uber-athletic defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has used an impressive blend of explosiveness, body control and power to wreak havoc on quarterbacks, finishing the regular season with 16.5 sacks and 17 hurries.

Opposite him is veteran Osi Umenyiora, who has staked his claim as one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Despite just playing just nine games this season, he finished second to JPP in both sacks (9) and hurries (9).

Filling out the line’s rotation is gap-stopping defensive tackle Chris Canty, the versatile Justin Tuck and occasionally, lineman-turned-linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka.

One-on-One Matchups Offensively

With a top three of Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham, the New York Giants have arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL, and that’s without taking into consideration tight ends Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum who combined for 114 yards and a score against Green Bay in Week 13.

While the Packers boast two above-average cornerbacks in All-Pro Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, it has been a down season overall down for the Green Bay secondary. Much like the San Francisco 49ers of 2011-12, the Packers defensive backs looked much stronger last season primarily because of how good the front seven was at generating pressure and forcing opposing quarterbacks into bad passes. As Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji have struggled to do their job up front in 2011, it has caused the secondary to be exposed at times.

The Giants have the weapons to really do some damage tonight.

All season long, the Packers have struggled against tight ends, the safeties have been weak defending the pass and most of all number three cornerback Sam Shields is a mismatch just waiting to be exploited. Whoever lines up with him could have a field day.

One-on-One Matchups Defensively

With their ability to generate pressure on Rodgers by just rushing four, the Giants set themselves up with the ability to drop seven and effectively cover every Packers receiver on the field.

While the Giants may feature a better top-heavy receiving corps, the Packers’ group goes five-deep at wideout and tight end Jermichael Finley isn’t too bad himself inside.

However, the Giants may actually have the personnel to slow such an attack.

Earlier this season, National Football Post’s Matt Bowen wrote an article, attempting to determine which defense matched up best against the Packers’ attack. His choice was the Cover 2—exactly what the Giants run.

Overall, the Giants defensive backs matchup well with the Packers’ receivers. Last time, top cornerback Corey Webster did a tremendous job on Greg Jennings before the Packers smartly moved him onto Ross. Webster will be relied upon heavily this week.

The Giants have three solid safeties and often run a “Big Nickel” (3 CB/2 S) package that gives them a fighting chance to keep up with the Packers speedy and crafty receivers.

Lastly, while it’s not optimal on every play, linebacker Michael Boley can certainly handle tight end Jermichael Finley and that will be one of the day's bigger matchups. Yesterday, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Vernon Davis were keys to their team’s victories and Finley will be looked upon in the same way.

Manning vs. Pressure

New York Giants signal caller Eli Manning is one of those rare quarterbacks who actually gets better the more you pressure him.

Facing blitzes of six or more, Manning led the league in yards per play, averaging an impressive 11.9 mark.

While he’s no Aaron Rodgers, Manning is more than capable at detecting pass rushes and anticipating soft spots in coverage. He will have to do this quite a bit tonight.

While last season, the Packers defense excelled at getting into the backfield, it’s been a surprisingly different story this season after the offseason departure of defensive end Cullen Jenkins. On the season, the line has generated just six sacks and no one commands a double-team anymore, not even B.J. Raji or Ryan Pickett.

For the Packers to try to free up playmaking linebacker Clay Mathews, they’ll have to blitz quite a bit tonight and that’s good news for Manning and Co. 

Kickoff & Punt Coverage

While it certainly goes unnoticed in most contests, quality special teams play is an extremely key component of the game.

Yesterday, the San Francisco 49ers proved this point perfectly, generating a pair of turnovers on kicks and consistently forcing the Saints to drive the length of the field, following terrific kick coverage.

The good news for the Giants is that they rank alongside the 49ers at the very top, finishing the season eighth overall in kickoff coverage and fifth in punt coverage, as measured by Football Outsiders.

This will be key as the Packers have a terrific return man in rookie Randall Cobb and the Giants can’t afford to allow Aaron Rodgers to begin with a shortened field.