Good, bad, and ugly from the Packers’ victory over the Giants

We recap the good, bad, and ugly moments from the Green Bay Packers 31-13 win over the New York Giants.

Following a dud against the San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers traveled to New York for a game against the Giants that nearly everyone thought Green Bay would win. They did just that, turning in a complete performance that put the Packers back in the win column as they head down the final stretch of their season.

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ 31-13 win against the New York Giants:

The Good

  • Za’Darius Smith: The captain (and MVP) of the Packers defensive continues to deliver. Smith didn’t register any sacks during the game, but was constantly in the Giants backfield, tallying five quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. His pressures were a huge boost to a Packers defense that struggled early, and he continues to be a massive addition to the Packers as a whole.
  • Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers had one of, if not the worst game of his career last week, but he followed it up with a stellar performance against the Giants. The Packers quarterback finished with four touchdowns while spreading the ball out and looking very elusive on a handful of plays. One touchdown, in particular, saw Rodgers hit Marcedes Lewis just as he was wrapped up. Rodgers said he needed to get hot in December, and so far, he’s been just that.

  • Forcing turnovers: The Packers bread and butter on defense has been forcing turnovers, and they were able to do that very well against rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. The Packers forced three interceptions on Sunday, finishing the game with a plus-3 turnover margin. Jones has been prone to mistakes all season, but it’s still nice to see the Packers capitalize in a game that they absolutely should have.
  • Davante Adams: The Packers star wide receiver went from not having any touchdowns to scoring in consecutive games, as Adams hauled in two touchdowns Sunday. He didn’t finish as the leader in yards, but Adams was once again an excellent safety valve for Rodgers, and was also able to draw a handful of penalties that aided the Packers offense early on.

The Bad

  • First-half play: The Packers’ first half was a mixed bag, as the offense was able to get out to an extremely hot start while the defense took some time getting its feet under them. To their credit, Green Bay’s defense held the Giants to just 10 points in the first half, but for a while, the Packers soft zone coverage and inability to put drives away looked to make this a much closer game than it needed to be.
  • Penalties: The number one killer for the Packers in 2019 hasn’t been its special teams play or inconsistent offense. Instead, it’s been the penalties that the team accrues, and they once again popped up against the Giants. Green Bay was called for seven penalties in the game, some of which helped enable the Giants to continue extending drives. It didn’t hurt them too much but is something that has to be cleaned up.

The Ugly

  • Fourth down defense: The Packers “bend but don’t break” philosophy was tested heavily against the Giants, as the Packers had an extremely hard time forcing stops against a Giants offense that came into the game as one of the very worst in the league. The Giants finished the game just 5-14 on third downs, but was 3-4 on fourth downs, which allowed New York to have a huge time of possession advantage early on. It didn’t end up being a problem, but in the modern day NFL, teams – especially bad ones – aren’t afraid of trying to go for it on fourth down, and the Packers will need to get off the field on more of those attempts than they have been.