Giants vs. Packers: Running Game Will Carry New York to Upset Win

It is easy to get lost in the hype of Eli Manning vs. Aaron Rodgers when the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers step on the field to determine which team will be playing for the NFC Championship next Sunday. But the difference in this game will be a little thunder and lightning. 

Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have not always been great this season, but when the chips are down, they have stepped up big. 

They made their presence felt against Atlanta last week with 155 yards on 28 carries. They set the tone for the rest of the offense and made life easier for Manning and the passing game. 

Peter Botte of the New York Daily News agrees that there has to be some measure of balance between what the Giants do on the ground and through the air. 

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Indeed, the Giants have run the ball 88 times and thrown it 92 in winning their last three games, with victories over the Jets and Dallas—to clinch the NFC East title—preceding last Sunday’s annihilation of the Falcons.

The Giants totaled just six rushing yards in the first quarter against Atlanta. But the bruising Jacobs plowed for 46 of his 92 yards on their first touchdown drive in the second quarter, including a 34-yard rumble down the right sideline to get them into the red zone.

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This has been a strange season in the NFL.

Normally, when we get to the postseason, we are talking about all the great defense that we are going to see and wondering how quarterbacks are going to overcome it. 

In 2011-12, we are talking about all these offensive-minded teams, and how opposing defenses are going to be able to stop them. 

All of that started with Aaron Rodgers and the things he was doing this season. He made the game look so easy, and then Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford had to follow his lead. 

Now, all of a sudden, everyone has to throw the ball to be a great team. If we learned anything from yesterday's New Orleans-San Francisco game, however, it's that a great defensive line, solid running game and a smart, efficient passing can overcome an All-Pro quarterback with a lot of weapons. 

The Giants have to establish the run early in this game, and ride those two big, bruising backs all the way to the NFC Championship. We know they can do it, because we saw it last week.

I see no reason to doubt the power of thunder and lightning, even in the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. 

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