Green Bay Packers' Most Important Game of 2012: Week 12, New York Giants Rematch

The Green Bay Packers had a fantastic 2011 season, though it fell short of their ultimate goal. While the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was their tipping point since it showed a lot of their flaws (we'll be touching on that game in the next week or so), the loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants was most painful.

This is why, when I look at next year's schedule, that rematch on November 25th gets circled without reservation. As it is earmarked for Sunday Night Football, I'm clearly not the only one thinking that.

To understand why that game means so much, we need to look at why the previous game resonated. I won't break down that game completely, but I will highlight a few key points that, depending on how it falls out in November, will tell us an awful lot about the Packers of 2012.

Going into the playoff game, the Packers were 15-1, undefeated at home and had not trailed at halftime at all.

Yet they not only got beat, they got beat handily. The outcome was almost never in doubt.

How did this happen? Well, it came down to two things—no pass rush and poor offensive execution.

At this point we have talked endlessly about the terrible pass rush the Packers had last year. I say again that even if they did nothing, they would be better this season as they were never as bad as they looked.

However, they did address it both in the draft by selecting linebacker Nick Perry and defensive end Jerel Worthy, as well as in free agency by signing Anthony Hargrove.

Will it work?

The earlier portion of the schedule holds very few tests. The 49ers' offensive line has issues, overcome by some excellent playcalling. Chicago is a mystery—they say they got better, but we'll believe it when we see it. Seattle, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Jacksonville and Arizona all possess middle of the road or worse lines and even Detroit, New Orleans and Houston have some line issues.

The Giants' offensive line was the second worst in the league according to Pro Football Focus (who was the worst? Three guesses and it rhymes with The Bears) and yet they stymied the Packers about as well as anyone.

The Packers got all of seven quarterback hits and just one sack. Manning had all day.

If you look at the accompanying screencap, you'll see that the Packers had a hard time generating pressure. The much-maligned line did an excellent job of scheming their protection to take away what little strength the Packers had.

It's not to say the Packers didn't get pressure—just not enough.

The Packers did do a good job stuffing the run, keeping the whole backfield under 100 yards—Ahmad Bradshaw had 63 yards on 12 carries and Brandon Jacobs had just 22 on nine, though he did get a touchdown. While Bradshaw had a nice per carry average, he didn't quite get into a rhythm.

That really didn't matter because Hakeem Nicks was killing the Packers' secondary. While some of that is on the coverage, the lack of pressure on Manning allowed him to wait for Nicks—or Victor Cruz or Mario Manningham—to get open.

You can only cover guys like Nicks for so long before they will break free.

With all the improvements on the defensive side of the ball, this shouldn't be an issue, should it? The Giants didn't do so much to improve their offensive line.

However, Giants line coach Pat Flaherty is the type of coach who gets his players to play above expectations. He can get something out of nothing, and he was the guy who schemed around their very real offensive line weaknesses to stop the Packers and then stop the Patriots as well to win a Super Bowl.

You can be sure that he'll have something cooking for the Packers that week.

The backbreaker? That last second touchdown to end the half? No pressure and while there were two Packer defenders in the area, neither had good position on Hakeem Nicks. There was no way they were knocking that ball down from behind him.

It was a flukey play, but that's the sort of thing you can't let happen in a game that was, at the time, close.

On the offensive side of the ball, let's be honest—I have rarely seen a Packers team look that bad since Aaron Rodgers stepped in. He wasn't on the same page as his receivers, who at times looked lost themselves.

It was ugly.

Four sacks certainly hurt the cause, but Rodgers was only hit five times total on a pass play. You'd think a guy like Jason Pierre-Paul would have been in his face the whole game, but he wasn't. All things being equal, the Packers' offensive line did a pretty good job giving Rodgers time.

He just wasn't able to do anything with it.

The Giants did a great job of taking Greg Jennings away (not one target in the fourth quarter) and limiting Jermichael Finley and Jordy Nelson.

The Packers will have to come up with a very sharp game-plan for the rematch. Whether it will be spreading the ball around more, moving Jennings around the field or some other variation, they need to be more creative.

More flexible and adaptable as well, since it appeared as if there were little to no adjustments at the half—something very unusual for the Packers.

The Giants rematch on November 25th is a big one. It will be the biggest test of the season and will give the Packers a true sense of where they are as a team.

Win or lose, it will be an excellent measuring stick.