Five takeaways from Packers’ wild-card victory over Giants

Defense gets it done at critical times

For all the concerns of the Packers depleted secondary entering a matchup with Odell Beckham, it was an impressive showing by Dom Capers’ unit. Beckham was restricted to just 28 yards on four catches, Green Bay again slowing down Eli Manning’s superstar receiver, just as they did in Week 5.

Outside of a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tavarres King, the Packers had their way against a Giants offense unable to shift out of first gear. Capers’ unit was certainly helped by inaccurate throws and a host of dropped passes, even a few uncharacteristic lapses by Beckham himself, but when a big play was needed, the Packers came through.

A timely Julius Peppers sack forced New York to punt deep in its own territory. Three plays later Aaron Rodgers found Davante Adams in the end zone for Green Bay’s first points of the game.

Clay Matthews made the play of the day on defense, strip-sacking Manning, and when many around him stopped, thinking it was an incomplete pass, Matthews wisely scooped up the football to secure a turnover and put the game on ice.

This defense won’t draw comparisons to Denver anytime soon, but their dominant performance on Sunday set the table for Aaron Rodgers to guide his team to victory.