Wesseling: Can healthy Giants push Packers?

N.Y. has full defensive line, revamped run game, but Green Bay even more potent

ANALYSIS

By Chris Wesseling

NBCSports.com

updated 9:32 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2012

The Giants? 2008 upset win in Green Bay is naturally being played up this week, but only 16 of the 53 players on the Packers roster are still around four years later.

It?s the 38-35 shootout from Week 13 that has more bearing on this week?s Divisional round rematch. What has changed since that thriller six weeks ago? Let's take a look.

Giants healthy and hitting their stride
The Giants? defensive improvement starts up front with a seven-man rotation that is finally healthy and dominating the line of scrimmage. Jason Pierre-Paul has been unblockable since replacing Osi Umenyiora in the starting lineup. He's as disruptive as any defensive player while finishing fourth with 16.5 sacks. Nickel rusher Umenyiora sat out the first matchup while well-rounded right end Justin Tuck was hampered by neck and groin injuries.

This time around, the defense represents the team's strength after holding Atlanta?s seventh-ranked offense to zero points last week. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said it was the best film of the Giants that he?s seen this season. ?I thought their defensive line controlled the game,? McCarthy said.

Generating consistent heat with four rushers has allowed a secondary ranked No. 29 in passing yards allowed and No. 20 in yards allowed per pass to close up holes and shut down the aerial attacks of the Falcons and Cowboys the past two weeks.

On the other side of the ball, the trio of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and breakout star Victor Cruz continues to carry the offense. Arguably among the NFL's most overrated players through the first seven years of his career, Manning is finally playing at a level commensurate with his reputation. He?s confidently making stick throws while emerging as a premier fourth-quarter passer.

The biggest offensive change has been the revitalization of a rushing attack that ranked dead last at 89.2 yards per game. Ahmad Bradshaw was coming off a fractured foot in the first matchup, leaving Brandon Jacobs to shoulder the load behind an overwhelmed offensive line. The hogs have done a better job of controlling the line of scrimmage of late, allowing Jacobs and a healthier Bradshaw to gash the Falcons for 172 yards on 31 carries.

The Giants are peaking at the right time, winning four of five since the Packers loss and playing with as much confidence as any team in the playoff hunt. "We're so together now," defensive tackle Linval Joseph said. "We're all on the same page. Earlier, we had injuries and just didn't play good team football. Now, we've figured out the problems and we're moving."

Packers fully stocked, motivated
Two weeks after Aaron Rodgers led his first and only late game-winning drive of the season to beat the Giants, the Packers suffered their only loss of the season against a fired-up Chiefs defense that rarely blitzed and played press-man coverage underneath with two safeties over the top.

It was the only time all season that the strategy worked against Rodgers, who was playing without his No. 1 receiver and -- for most of the game -- both starting tackles.

After myriad of injury concerns in the final month of the regular season, McCarthy pronounced his team ?very healthy? this week. Green Bay?s top receiver (Greg Jennings), leading rusher (James Starks) and dangerous return specialist (Randall Cobb) are healthy, joined by veteran blindside tackle Chad Clifton, who missed the first matchup with the Giants. While right tackle Bryan Bulaga handled Tuck with ease last month, fill-in left tackle Marshall Newhouse was terrorized by Pierre-Paul to the tune of eight pressures and three QB hits.

With the chase for the perfect record behind them, McCarthy?s squad can fall back on the knowledge that the league's deepest, most talented roster has only trailed once all season at Lambeau Field with Rodgers under center -- 3-0 versus Denver in a 24-3 victory. The Packers are 22-3 at Lambeau since that playoff loss to the Giants, including an average score of 39-19 in Rodgers home starts this season.

They have won 21 of their last 22 games, including three consecutive ?rematch? victories in the NFC playoffs last year. Even against a dangerous Giants team, the defending champions are the heavy favorites.

? 2012 NBC Sports.com? Reprints

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45979744/ns/sports-nfl/

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