GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers now know they will host
the New York Giants on Sunday, Jan. 15 at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional
Round of the playoffs. The NFC East champion Giants beat the visiting Atlanta
Falcons 24-2 on Sunday to advance and earn the trip to Green Bay.
Of the three teams that the Packers could have played, the Giants are the highest
seed. The sixth-seeded Detroit Lions lost to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday
night, which meant Green Bay would host the winner of the No. 4 Giants and the
No. 5 Falcons.
The Giants entered the playoffs as the league's worst rushing team in total
yards per game, but the combination of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs
destroyed Atlanta's front line on Sunday by running for 155 yards on 28 carries
as a unit (5.5 average).
New York quarterback Eli Manning also had a very good and efficient game by
throwing three touchdowns with no interceptions on 23-of-32 passing for 277
yards.
Defensively, the Giants struggled throughout most of this season, ranking 29th
against the pass and 19th against the run. But against the Falcons, they held
quarterback Matt Ryan to only 199 yards and bruising running back Michael
Turner to only 41 yards on 15 carries (2.7 average).
New York's defense also had two sacks and five tackles-for-loss and did not
allow any points. Atlanta's only points came on a safety when Manning was
called for intentional grounding in the end zone in the first half.
This sets up a rematch of Week 13 when the Packers beat the Giants in New York
38-35. It was the closest any team had come to beating the then-undefeated
Green Bay.
In that game, with the Giants down by eight and less than four minutes
remaining, Manning led a nine-play, 69-yard touchdown drive in 2:36. New York converted
the two-point conversion to tie the game.
However, it was then that Aaron Rodgers led his first and only late
game-winning drive of the season. With less than a minute to go, Rodgers and
the Packers offense gained 68 yards on five plays to set up a Mason Crosby
30-yard field goal as time expired.
At the time, that moved Green Bay to 12-0 on the season. Two weeks later, the
Packers would lose at Kansas City for the only loss of their 15-1 regular
season.
Green Bay will have team meetings on Monday after enjoying its bye week as the
NFC's No. 1 seed. The Packers will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in
preparation for Manning and the Giants.
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