Green Bay Packers set to host New York Giants – NFL Playoff Preview
Every time the name of New York Giants and Green Bay Packers is taken together, the hearts of millions of sport lovers begin to throb with excitement in anticipation for a breathtaking matchup.
The same scenario has been developed once again as the two sides are gearing up for the National Football League (NFL) playoff game at the Lambeau Field on Sunday, January 15, 2012.
The winner of the game will qualify for the National Football Conference (NFC) championship final.
The Packers are the defending Super Bowl Champions and the favourites to achieve the glory again.
They continued their unbeaten run from previous season into the current one and won 13 games in a row before losing to the lowly Kansas City Chiefs.
They qualified for the postseason as the top seeded team after leading the NFC North division, and earned a first-week bye and a home-field advantage in the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Giants’ tale is entirely different from that of Packers’.
The Giants qualified for the playoffs after topping the NFC East division by winning nine games in the regular season, but when they played their playoff game last week against Atlanta Falcons, they displayed signs of champions and completely outclassed
the opponents.
The Falcons could not score a single field goal or a touchdown and got their only two points of the game when Giants’ quarterback, Eli Manning, intentionally grounded the ball in his own end zone.
Manning, who has repeatedly mentioned that he loves playing under pressure, wants to enjoy the game against Packers.
“The only way to really have fun playing football is to play at a high level, to play to the best of your ability and make plays. Hopefully we can do that as a team”, Manning remarked.
When the Packers were continuing their exploding run in the regular season, the Giants were the only ones to come close to beating them.
As the two sides prepare for the rematch, they are targeting each other’s weak spots.
The Packers are one of the worst defensive sides in the league, but that has not bothered them as the aggressive offence piles up a heavy burden of scoring moves during the game on opponents.
Besides, they will be playing at their home-field that might also provide them an edge.
“There is something about having a home playoff game, having our crowd here with their noise and the way they can be”, Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, said.
The Giants have faced problems in terms of their rushing game and the performance of defence.
Fortunately, a drastic improvement was observed in overall team performance when they took on the Falcons last week.
Giants’ safety, Antrel Rolle, was of the view that if collective efforts came into play, the Packers can be defeated.
“It’s going to be a collective effort. There’s not one position that has more of a responsibility than the other. We have pretty much the same responsibility, just different techniques”, Rolle observed.
The Packers are still the favourites but underestimating the Giants will be a big mistake.
Tags: