Green Bay Packers And New York Giants Meet In Critical Week 16 Match Up

The battle for the wildcard in the NFC playoffs when the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers meet in Week 16 of the NFL Season.  Currently the Giants occupy the sixth and final seed in the NFC playoffs, with the Packers on the outside-looking-in.  The winner of this match up gets a big leg-up in the playoff picture.

The Giants (9-5) come in off of perhaps the most disappointing and shocking loss of any team this season, when they blew a 21-point lead to Philadelphia with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. DeSean Jackson score for the Eagles on a punt return as time expired for a crushing 38-31 defeat of the Giants.  The victory puts the Giants one game behind the Eagles in the NFC East division, while also losing out on the tiebreaker.  This means that the Giants will need to win one of the two wildcard spots.  They are one game behind New Orleans for the top wildcard spot, and occupy the final spot currently.

“The feeling is that we lost the game, that’s over,” said New York head coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s a new week, and we have to move on.”

For Green Bay (8-6), they lost to New England on Sunday night 31-27 without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, though early indications this week are that he will be able to play against the Giants after missing the one game.

“Obviously the Giants are coming off of a disappointing loss last week and we’re coming off of the same kind of deal — a loss late in the game when we had a chance to win,” Rodgers said earlier this week. “So, it’s two teams that are fighting for the same goal — to get in the playoffs — and it’s an important game for both of us.

Prior to his concussion, Rodgers was playing arguably the best football of any quarterback in the league, throwing for 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last four games.

“Yeah, I think it needs to continue to be a reactionary sport for me and I trust my instincts when I’m on the field and I trust my ability to react to the things I see and obviously I’m a guy who has made some plays outside the pocket,” Rodgers stated. “I’ve been a guy who slides 95 percent of the time and I’m going to continue to be a guy who slides 95 percent of the time.”

Looking ahead at this one, it will be a tale of two different offensive strategies.  For the Packers, they are a pass-first offensive attack, led by Rodgers.  On the other side, the Giants rank fifth in the NFL in rush yards per game, putting up 144 on average.  Both will try and play to their strengths, with different facets of the defense being tested.

Game Line

NFL Betting Odds have set Green Bay as a three-point favorite over New York in this match up, with the over/under sitting at 43 points on most online sportsbooks. The Giants are 7-7 ATS this season, while the Packers are 8-6 ATS.

Betting Trends

The Giants are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games on grass. The Packers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall.