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Packers outplayed, overwhelmed by Giants

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Roders fumbles while he is hit by New York Giants Osi Umenyiora during the second quarter in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, November 25, 2012. The New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers, 38-10.
By Bob McGinn, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel –

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If anyone thought Mike McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers were immune from dreadful, they can think again.

Soundly outplayed in the trenches and on the flanks, the Packers were crushed, 38-10, by the New York Giants on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.

The domination by the Giants in playoff games to end the Packers’ 2007 and ‘11 seasons extended into this important late-November match between the last two Super Bowl champions.

New York owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and Eli Manning broke from a monthlong slump to get the better of Aaron Rodgers for the second time in this calendar year.

“We played on the road against a really good team,” general manager Ted Thompson said. “They’ve been upset with the way they’ve been playing, and they played good and we didn’t.

“I think we were ready to play, but this is a hard business. There wasn’t a lot going for us.”

The Packers’ five-game winning streak is over. If the playoffs started today, they’d be the first of two wild-card teams and seeded No. 5 in the NFC playoffs.

At 7-4, the Packers fell a game behind Chicago (8-3) in the NFC North and three games behind Atlanta (10-1) for the top seed. But the Packers were seeded No. 1 a year ago with their 15-1 regular season before it all ended ignominiously with a 37-20 shellacking by the Giants in a divisional game at Lambeau Field.

The 28-point margin of defeat was the worst for a McCarthy-coached team since a 35-7 loss at Chicago in December 2007, when Brett Favre was his quarterback and it was one of the coldest games in team history.

The only more lopsided defeat during McCarthy’s administration was 35-0 against New England in 2006.

Green Bay had lost just 11 games in the past three seasons, and only one was by a double-digit margin. The Packers never get blown out . . . until Sunday night, that is.

The Packers’ 10-point output was their lowest since mid-2010 and tied for the fourth lowest under McCarthy.

New York (7-4), which had been in a funk for a month, came off a bye and was extremely sharp.

“Our message all week was play like world champions,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “We rushed for 147 yards, and that’s not easy against their front. We were over 50 percent on third down and we were plus-2 (turnover differential). We didn’t turn the ball over. The game was played in very tight fashion.”

The Giants kept constant heat on Aaron Rodgers with their front four before McCarthy waved the white flag with just under 5 minutes left and sent in Graham Harrell.

“We got five sacks and numerous times we put pressure on the quarterback,” said Coughlin. “We felt we absolutely had to do that against Aaron Rodgers. To have him throw on our time instead of his time was big.”

The Packers played their second straight without franchise linebacker Clay Matthews, but Thompson said it was business as usual with Dezman Moses and Frank Zombo taking his place.

“You like to have all your players,” said Thompson. “But everybody has injuries. You play with what you’ve got. That’s what we’ve been doing. We never made excuses like that.”

Matthews was one of seven starters who sat out.

The defense, which allowed 232 yards in the first half, got off to a poor start when the Giants won the toss, received and went 74 yards in six plays for a touchdown.

On the game’s fourth play, the Giants ran a screen pass off fake-reverse action to Ahmad Bradshaw for 59 yards. Erik Walden missed the tackle about 6 yards downfield and Bradshaw was off to the races.

“It was a nice play,” Thompson said. “We were blitzing up the middle and obviously somebody got caught where they weren’t supposed to be. He’s a pretty good back, too.”

McCarthy’s plan on offense was to run the ball and control the Giants’ heavy pass rush. On the first series, the Packers used two players in the backfield on all four plays and weren’t in the shotgun once.

Green Bay tied the score, 7-7, when Jordy Nelson beat cornerback Corey Webster on a stop-and-go for a 61-yard touchdown. “It was a double move,” said Thompson. “Good throw and catch.”

Casey Hayward blew a chance to give the Packers the lead three plays later when he dropped a third-down pass at the New York 25 that was right in his hands.

After Mason Crosby missed a field-goal attempt from 55 yards, the Giants drove 55 yards to score on a 16-yard catch by rookie Rueben Randle on a post against Davon House in the back of the end zone on third and 5.

“It looked like it was man (coverage),” said Thompson. “It also looked like it was a really good throw and catch. He just got his last foot down.”

Green Bay’s fortunes really began to sag on its next snap from scrimmage when Rodgers was intercepted by Webster, who left James Jones outside and double-teamed Randall Cobb inside.

“It was a good cat-and-mouse game by the corner,” Thompson. “He dropped coverage and came in. I’m sure it was by design.”

The Packers limited the Giants to a 43-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes, but then middle linebacker Chase Blackburn burst through the left side of the offensive line for a sack and Green Bay punted.

New York had three sacks in the first half and several other pressures, although there also were times that Rodgers had all day and elected not to throw it.

“That’s a pretty good group,” said Thompson, referring to the Giants’ defensive line. “So I don’t want to discount those guys being able to make plays. But we’ve got to protect our passer. We were in a game where we were behind. That made it more difficult.”

The Packers’ deficit increased to 24-7 early in the second quarter on a 9-yard strike to Victor Cruz, who beat M.D. Jennings inside. One of the big plays in the 61-yard drive was a 10-yard burst by Bradshaw, who led a 16-carry, 96-yard rushing outburst in the first half.

“That’s a pretty good running football team,” Thompson said. “But we’ve got to shore it up.”

Late in the second quarter, veteran Osi Umenyiora froze Marshall Newhouse on a short set and then went around him to sack Rodgers. The fumble was recovered by Jason Pierre-Paul at the 13.

“He (Umenyiora) just went over the outside, and Aaron held the ball a little bit and he came off the corner,” said Thompson. “Good play on his part.”

Two plays later, Bradshaw followed pulling left guard Kevin Boothe on a power play through the right side, charged through the middle and scored standing up. It was unclear if a defender even touched him.

The Packers continued going nowhere in the third quarter after linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka sacked Rodgers to end their first possession in a three-and-out punt.

Randle fumbled a pair of punt returns, but with a chance to get back into the game, the Packers failed to make the recovery.

The Giants increased their advantage to 38-10 late in the third quarter when Hakeem Nicks beat Davon House inside for a 13-yard touchdown.

Green Bay sustained a drive from its 26 to the New York 14 late in the third quarter. However, on fourth and 5, Blackburn made a sparkling deflection of a seam route to Jermichael Finley in the end zone.

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