Review: Packers 27; Patriots 24 (OT)~ when looking at the game stats, Green Bay dominated in almost every statistic, except turnovers. Looking back, aside from Rodgers’ rare gaffe before halftime. The Packers ran 71 total plays for 443 yards and won the time of possession 36:49 to New England’s 33:11. The dynamic duo of Jones & Dillon combined for 37 touches (52%) and 199 yards (45%) of production, and once again one of the 2 backs was producing far more per touch than the other, but the incorporation of both is paramount for the offense’s production/effectiveness.

For as bad as Rodgers was in the 1st half, he was just that good in the second half. He commanded the offense to 20 points in the 2nd half + overtime. In those 6 possessions (not counting the last play at the end of regulation), the Packers scored 2 touchdowns (should’ve been 3 if Doubs holds onto that one in the end zone), two field goals and two punts. All in all, pretty good vs. a solid defense, and having no momentum.

Speaking of good defense, the Packers gave up only 271 yards while playing a 3rd-string QB, did enough to make New England play “safe” and only gave up one big play – which should’ve never happened with the play clock expiring well before the snap. Rashan Gary came up huge, albeit nullified on the Rodgers’ pick-6 on the ensuing drive – Gary had a strip sack on a 1st & 10 from the GB 22 with 1:04 left, that saved at least 3 points, and possibly 7 and could’ve been a huge swing had Rodgers not thrown the interception.

On the biggest stand of the game, the defense was tasked with the forcing a 3 & out in overtime after the offense failed to get a first down on their possession of OT. Green Bay gave up 5 yards and kept New England out of field goal range, setting up Rodgers with a “Next score wins” situation, and the Packers produced their best drive of the season – in my opinion – and closed the game out.

While Packer fans should have high expectations, this team is constructed to win games in any manner, and this is a prime example of that. Just keep winning, keep games close with running the ball and playing good defense, then trust your quarterback will be able to make a big time throw, when needed.

Preview~ on paper, this is a huge matchup. Both teams are 3-1 with this having a high-potential of tiebreaking scenarios for playoff seeding. If the Giants are going to continue to be the surprise of the NFL, as there are always surprise teams in the NFL annually. The Packers lost to Minnesota in week 1 this year, so keeping pace is paramount for the divisional race, and the Giants are 1 game behind Philadelphia (the NFL’s last remaining unbeaten), so they want to keep pace too.

Matchup~ both teams can run the ball, neither can stop it. Expect a ton of ground game as each team is built around pounding the rock. Also, each team is solid vs. the pass, while that may be because their opponents don’t pass because of their effectiveness of running the ball. For example, the Giants have faced an average of the 28th passing offense and the Packers have faced the 20th.

	NYG Off	(rank)	vs.	GB Def.	(rank)
Rush	192.5	1		126.8	22
Pass	139.5	31		168.0	3
Total	332.0	22		294.8	5
Pts	19.0	19		17.3	7
	NYG Def.			GB Off.
Rush	141.0	28		145.0	7
Pass	191.3	8		232.5	16
Total	332.3	15		377.5	6
Pts	17.8	9		18.8	21
T/O
Takeaways	6	T-12th		4	T-22nd
Giveaways	5	T-10th		7	T-22nd
Diff.	1	T-8th		(3)	T-28th

As you can see, these are fairly evenly matched teams, at least based on statistics through 4 weeks of the season. However, the big difference has been competition. The Packers have faced far better foes than New York. The Giants are almost carbon copies of the Chicago Bears, and they just played each other, last week. There were 2 bad teams that New York was able to pull it out, then again, Daniel Jones outplaying Justin Fields isn’t a big ask.

Don’t be surprised if this is a similar game to last week’s overtime thriller. This game is likely to be close and will come down to turnovers and 1-2 big plays. If Green Bay can finally win the turnover battle (the Packers haven’t all season), they may actually blow a team out. However, that’s a huge part of the game and with all the inexperience the Packers put on the field, it’s part of the growing pains.

Giants 16
Packers 24 (-8.0)

Season: 2-2
Overall: 83-44