PACKERS 10
The Giants took a major step toward their second consecutive NFC East title on Sunday when they blew out the Green Bay Packers 38-10 at MetLife Stadium.
The Giants entered Sunday's game with lingering questions about their offensive line, their defensive front seven, and the quarterback; but, Big Blue answered each question in bold caps and exclamation points. THE GIANTS ARE ALIVE AND WELL!!
From the onset the Giants quickly put away any doubts that this offense can get it done as Eli Manning looked crisp for the first time since mid-October. He led Big Blue on a snappy six-play, 74-yard touchdown, highlighted by a 59-yard screen pass to Ahmad Bradshaw that almost went to the house.
After Green Bay tied the game on a 61-yard bomb from Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson, the Giants took complete control on both sides of the football.
The Giants pounded the Packers soft defensive front with powerful runs by Bradshaw, and a 13-yard scamper by Manning to spot the ball at the Packers 21. Three plays later, Manning found Ruben Randal in the end zone for a 16-yard score to give the Giants a 14-7 lead.
Defensively the Giants were all over Rodgers. Chris Canty sacked the former MVP on a huge third and three at the Giants 35 to force a long distance field goal, which Mason Crosby missed. Later in the first quarter, Rodgers was picked off by Corey Webster to set up a Giants field goal to make it 17-7.
Rodgers never had time to set and throw at any point. The Giants defense harassed him from pillar to post, sacking him five times and hitting him seven times on the night. Mathais Kiwanuka, who had only one sack all season prior to Sunday night had two sacks of Rodgers including three quarterback hits and six tackles. Even Chase Blackburn, who missed time in the middle of the season with an injury, had six tackles and a sack against the Cheese-heads.
However the biggest effort came from the Giants secondary, which did a wonderful job covering the Packers wide receivers. After his 61-yard touchdown catch, Jordy Nelson was held to one catch for 10 yard for the rest of the night. The Packers were hurting from the absence of Greg Jennings, out with a groin injury, but Green Bay still had James Jones and Randall Cobb to help out, but both were shut down by Big Blue. The fact that Kenny Phillips made his return to a secondary that had been ravaged by injury proved to be a big plus on Sunday.
While the Giants defense manhandled the Packers offense, Eli and company kept pouring it on. In the second quarter, Manning led an eight-play 61-yard drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz, his first touchdown in a month, as Big Blue extended the lead to 24-7.
Later in the quarter after Rodgers was strip-sacked by Osi Umenyoria, the Giants pounded the ball into the end zone one more time as Ahmad Bradshaw dashed 13-yards to paydirt.
Clearly the Giants are back on track. Manning broke out of his month long slump to throw three touchdowns, making him the Giants' all-time leader in touchdown passes. Manning complained of a dead arm before the Giants bye-week, and perhaps Manning was onto something.
Manning and the Giants running game were both helped by the return of Sean Locklear to the line-up, who played at right tackle for a majority of the snaps. With the younger Locklear protecting the right side of the line instead of David Diehl, it opened up running lanes for Bradshaw and Andre Brown, and gave Manning more time to make percise decisions.
With the victory the Giants are back on track toward a division title. With the Redskins and Cowboys both tied at 5-6, all the Giants have to do is beat Washington on Monday night next week, and, barring a total collapse, the division is theirs for the taking.
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