Green Bay Packers vs. NY Giants: We predict the winner
The Green Bay Packers and New York Giants will meet on this first weekend of October at Lambeau Field – a Sunday night battle will also go head-to-head with the second presidential debate.
But who cares about that?
Job one will be the Packers and Giants that we’re all focused on tonight.
That said, Lombardiave.com staffers have put their mind and will to the test and come up with their predictions on how tonight’s game is going to go.
Josh McPeak: Mike McCarthy has a great track record following a bye week. However, I think this is a horrible matchup for the Packers right now. The Giants are struggling coming into the game with a .500 record. Both Green Bay and New York have been on the short end of a very good Minnesota defense.
Odell Beckham has been very frustrated. I think he unleashes that, and then some this week. Green Bay is 29th in the league giving up 307.3 passing yards per game.
Stefon Diggs enjoyed a nine-catch, 182-yard performance in week two against the Packers. Marvin Jones Jr. hauled in six receptions for 205 yards and two touchdowns in week three against the Packers. Another game without Sam Shields makes a young secondary very vulnerable.
If you play the daily fantasy draft leagues, it might be a good idea to draft Eli Manning and Odell Beckham this week.
Giants 34, Packers 24
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Kenn Korb: For the answer on who will win, just look at the secondary for Green Bay. Sam Shields is still out with a concussion, and now Damarious Randall has a groin problem that is likely to limit him if he still can play; beyond them, the corner depth is LaDarius Gunter, Quinten Rollins, Micah Hyde, and Josh Hawkins.
That group doesn’t inspire much confidence on its own, much less when facing a dangerous WR group which includes Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepherd, and Victor Cruz.
Expect plenty of yards and points to be put up by the Giants’ trio, while New York’s defense manages to step up for a couple key takeaways against a Packers’ offense that found a groove against Detroit but might have lost some of that rhythm with the early bye week.
Giants 34, Packers 27
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Ralph Mancini: Yes, all we’ve talked about lately is how awful the Packers’ secondary is without its No. 1 cornerback Sam Shields. Luckily, the Giants’ defensive backfield is just as bad, as they deal with their own set of injuries.
Big plays and points should be easy to come by for both sides in this Sunday-night free-for-all with the difference being Green Bay’s deep and potent set of pass rushers led by Clay Matthews, who’s back from a one-week absence due to hamstring issues.
Look for the offense to follow Week 3’s winning formula of connecting on big plays in the passing game early on and bleeding the clock late behind the physical running of Eddie Lacy. Also expect Randall Cobb to bounce back from his lackluster performance versus Detroit.
Packers 37, Giants 27
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Freddie Boston: The Packers secondary will be tested by the Giants’ talented trio at wide receiver, Sam Shields’ injury a real concern. Clay Matthews’ return helps, and Nick Perry‘s red hot form will be key.
Packers will need to win on offense – and they do.
Packers 30, Giants 20
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Brad Miller: It will be interesting what Giants team and what Packer team shows.
Will we see the complete team we saw in the first two weeks of the season or the one that struggled a mediocre Redskins at home and the one that got destroyed by the Vikings in Minnesota (we can see how that could happen can’t we?)
The Giants have their share of good luck playing in Green Bay over their last few visits so the threat of a Giants victory is there. They also will be wanting to prove that their passing game might be as good as the one that resides in the game that they will be playing in.
The Packers offense will continue to click and they will need to keep up the Giants to pull off this win.
The Giants will exploit the Packers’ issues in their secondary.
Packers 35, Giants 31
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Thomas Friesen: Without key pieces of the Packers’ secondary, this is shaping up to be a Sunday night shootout.
Both quarterbacks throw for 350-plus yards, but Green Bay gets one more stop than the Giants when they need it most.
Packers 35, Giants 31
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Joe Olkives: Should be a fun primetime matchup coming off the bye. Will the Packers come out sluggish or will they come out on fire?
I think the Packers will come out aggressively and it could be a shootout, but the Packers prevail.
Packers 31, Giants 27
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Joe D’Aloisio: The Giants have dominated the Packers as of late. They are currently on a three-game winning streak and everybody remembers them coming into Lambeau to knock off the Packers twice in the postseason.
With all that said, things are different this week. The Packers are coming off a bye week, they are rested and the offense looked good against the Detroit Lions.
Both secondaries are battered but the Packers have a better overall defensive unit. Green Bay will need to take Odell Beckham Jr., out of the game mentally like most teams have.
In the end, it will be a shootout but Aaron Rodgers & company prevailing.
Packers 35, Giants 24
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Ray Rivard: At the beginning of the season, anyone who looked at the schedule didn’t stop and dwell too much on this matchup between the Packers and Giants. On paper, it looked like a no-brainer in picking the Packers to win.
However, a month into the season and the question about whether Green Bay’s defensive backfield can hold up against the likes of Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. is real. Sam Shields won’t play and Damarious Randall, the heir apparent to the number one cornerback spot, is hobbled by a groin injury. That leaves the Packers playing the likes of LaDarius Gunter, Quinten Rollins, Micah Hyde, and Josh Hawkins. Yes, that’ one rookie, a couple of second-year guys and an adequate, but not spectacular Hyde taking over.
The key to a Packers win today could come down to the pass rush. Clay Matthews is back tonight and if Nick Perry can continue his scorching start to the season, the Packers could disrupt the Giants passing game and keep the routes short.
I don’t have any reason to think that Aaron Rodgers cannot rip apart a Giants defensive backfield that is facing many of the same issues as the Packers’ defense.
Needless to say, this could be a shootout at Lambeau.
However, the Packers, overall, are the better team; they are playing at home; they are “fresh” and coming off the bye … and Mike McCarthy’s record in games coming out of the bye is pretty good.
Packers 38, Giants 30