PACKERVILLE, U.S.A.: Packers at Giants Preview

The Packers at Giants Preview is HERE.

Coming off a win over the Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers face the Giants on Monday night

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GREEN BAY PACKERS (6-6) AT N.Y. GIANTS (4-8)

DAY / TIME / TV: Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN

SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 34-27-2.

LAST MEETING: Giants beat the Packers 27-23 on Oct. 9, 2022, in London.

LAST WEEK: Packers beat Chiefs 27-19; Giants had a bye.

PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (20), PASS (18), SCORING (17-T)

PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (18), RUSH (30), PASS (10), SCORING (9)

GIANTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (32), RUSH (18), PASS (32), SCORING (31)

GIANTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (28), RUSH (28-T), PASS (20), SCORING (26)

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Packers plus-1; Giants plus-5.

The Green Bay Packers got back in the playoff race over the last month. And all they have to do to nail down a postseason spot is take advantage of a weak schedule during the final five weeks.

The Packers (6-6) will look for a fourth straight win and fifth in six games when they face the Tommy DeVito-led New York Giants (4-8) at MetLife Stadium on Monday night.

The game kicks off a stretch for the Packers that will feature games against Tampa Bay (5-7), Carolina (1-11), Minnesota (6-6) and Chicago (4-8).

Not only does the schedule appear fairly easy, playing in December has been the best of times for the Packers since Matt LaFleur took over as coach in 2019. The team is 16-0 in the month, with those December performances helping the Packers make the postseason in three of the last four years. They missed last season with an 8-9 record.

The only team to win more consecutive December games was the San Diego Chargers with 18 straight from 2006-09, before their move to Los Angeles.

LaFleur isn't taking anything for granted and he has told his team to stay focused, especially with the Giants riding a two-game winning streak.

“As soon as you start feeling yourself and you feel like you’ve arrived, this league has a way of knocking you off,” LaFleur said. “And the bottom line is, we’re a .500 football team. We’re 6-6 right now. We’ve clawed out of a tough spot, but every week, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game.”

The Packers have done that in overcoming a 2-5 start to the season.

The Giants started 1-5 in a season marred by injuries, particularly on the offensive line and at quarterback. DeVito has progressed from an undrafted rookie free agent who made from the practice squad to a starter with injuries to Daniel Jones (ACL) and Tyrod Taylor (ribs).

New York has not been eliminated, but it cannot afford another loss.

“Everything that we want is in front of us, but at the same time, we just take it one week at a time and try to focus on this week,” said DeVito, who got the starting nod from coach Brian Daboll despite Taylor being ready to play.

“If we start looking ahead and we miss one,” DeVito added, “there’s nothing going forward.”

STARTING FASTER

One of the biggest differences with the Packers during their recent surge is the way the offense performs at the start of games.

The Packers have scored touchdowns in their first two series in each of their last two games – a 29-22 Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit and a 27-19 home triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs.

That’s quite the turnaround for an offense that failed to score a single first-half touchdown in five straight games earlier this season.

THE TAKEAWAY

In posting their first winning streak, much of the focus and kudos have been showered on DeVito. He has thrown four touchdown passes and no interceptions in the past two games while becoming a feel-good story in a bad season in which the Giants have have been held to 159 points.

The defense has actually done more than DeVito.

It has six interceptions and two fumble recoveries in the past two games. New York's special teams recovered another fumble. That's nine takeaways. The Giants' plus-5 turnover differential is tied for sixth in the league.

POWER OF LOVE

After struggling through some growing pains earlier this season, Green Bay’s Jordan Love has emerged as one of the NFL’s hottest quarterbacks over the last few weeks.

The first-year starter has completed 68.5% of his passes for eight touchdowns without an interception over his last three games. The only other quarterback this season to have three straight games in which they completed at least 65% of their passes for multiple touchdowns and no interceptions is Dallas’ Dak Prescott.

HOT HYATT

Giants rookie wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is coming off his best game with five catches against New England for 109 yards, a 21.8 yard average. He has yet to catch a touchdown pass.

A third-round draft pick, Hyatt is not expecting the Packers to double team him much this week.

“Just looking at the Packers and looking at what they do, I’ll be surprised if they do that,” Hyatt said. “They’re a big, big zone team. So it’s going to be a little different compared to the Patriots. It’s going to be a good game. We can't wait.”

24 OR FEWER

The Packers haven’t allowed more than 24 points in any of their last eight games. That’s the Packers’ longest such streak within a single season since 2010, when they gave up 24 points or fewer in nine straight games.

The Giants average 13.3 points, second worst in the league. The Patriots ranked No. 32 at 12.3 points.

PACKERS PLAYER TO WATCH

Rashan Gary. This is a homecoming for the New Jersey-born linebacker who played at Paramus Catholic. He has a team-high nine sacks, one shy of his career high set in 2021. The Plainfield native has 4½ sacks in the past three games. For the season, he has six tackles for loss, 17 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles. The Giants have allowed 69 sacks.

GIANTS PLAYER TO WATCH

Saquon Barkley. The running back has been the offensive catalyst since returning from an ankle injury in mid-October. He has rushed for a team-high 697 yards and a touchdown and caught 28 passes and four TDs. The Packers are ranked No. 30 in run defense and allowed the Chiefs’ Isiah Pacheco to run for 110 yards and a TD on 18 carries Sunday night.

KEY MATCHUP

The Giants defense against quarterback Jordan Love and the Packers offense. While the Giants have given up 292 points, the defense and special teams have nine takeaways in the past three games with eight interceptions. One way to slow down a potent offense is to take the ball away.

KEY INJURIES

Packers WR Christian Watson left the Chiefs game late in the fourth quarter after hurting his hamstring… Packers CBs Jaire Alexander (shoulder) and Eric Stokes (hamstring) have missed four and six games, respectively. Packers TE Josiah Deguara (hip) didn’t play against Kansas City… Giants OT Evan Neal (ankle) has missed the past four games. DT Dexter Lawrence (hamstring) missed the game before the bye. TE Darren Waller (hamstring) remains on IR, but he is getting closer to returning. Backup QB Tyrod Taylor (ribs) is returning from IR.

SATURDAY INJURY REPORT

GREEN BAY PACKERS at NEW YORK GIANTS — GREEN BAY: OUT: WR Christian Watson (hamstring). DOUBTFUL: LB Quay Walker (shoulder). QUESTIONABLE: CB Jaire Alexander (shoulder), RB Aaron Jones (knee), S Darnell Savage (chest), CB Eric Stokes (hamstring). LIMITED: G/T Elgton Jenkins (shoulder), WR Jayden Reed (chest), DL Devonte Wyatt (elbow). FULL: LB De’Vondre Campbell (neck), TE Josiah Dequara (hip), RB A.J. Dillon (groin), LB Rashan Gary (shoulder), CB Keisean Nixon (wrist), S Jonathan Owens (knee). NEW YORK GIANTS: OUT: OL Evan Neal (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: TE Daniel Bellinger (illness), WR Parris Campbell (knee), DL Dexter Lawrence (hamstring), DL A’Shawn Robinson (hamstring), LB Isaiah Simmons (ankle). FULL: LB Carter Coughlin (hip), QB Tyrod Taylor (ribs).

SERIES NOTES

Green Bay has won three of the past four… This is the third MNF game between the Giants and Packers with the others in New York in 1982 and ’83… The Packers hold an 18-17-2 record as the away team, winning five of the past seven. Five of the past seven games between the teams, including playoffs, have been decided by 14-plus points.

STATS AND STUFF

The Packers have won three straight and four of five. They are 16-0 in December under coach Matt LaFleur… Green Bay has had at least one three-game winning streak in all five seasons under LaFleur… RB Aaron Jones scored eight TDs (five receiving, three rushing) in his past four Monday games… WR Christian Watson had a career-high seven catches for 71 yards and two TDs against KC… WR Romeo Doubs had four catches for a team-high 72 yards… LB Quay Walker needs eight tackles for his second straight 100+ tackle season… Rookie Lukas Van Ness had his second sack… CB Corey Ballentine, a former Giants draft pick, had a career-high 10 tackles last week, while CB Keisean Nixon had his first interception of the season… The Giants have won two in a row for the first time this season… Tommy DeVito has thrown seven TDs and three interceptions since Daniel Jones tore an ACL against the Raiders. He is the first undrafted rookie quarterback since 1967 with 100+ rating in consecutive starts… Barkley aims for his third straight game against Green Bay with 100+ yards from scrimmage… Rookie WR Jalin Hyatt had career highs of five catches for 109 yards against New England… LB Kayvon Thibodeaux has seven sacks and eight tackles for loss in five home games… ILB Bobby Okereke had his second interception against New England and now has 113 tackles, his third-straight 100+ tackle season. S Xavier McKinney has had 10-plus tackles in four straight… CB Deonte Banks is tied for second among rookies with 10 passes defensed… The Packers are 16-16-2 on the road against the Giants all-time with a chance to go above .500 for the first time since 1982. Green Bay is above .500 on the road all-time against three teams: the Bears (53-52-2), the Cardinals (18-14-4), and the Browns (7-4, min. 10 games)… The Packers have converted 13 of their 45 third-and-10+ situations this season — their 28.9 percent rate is the best in the league. The only team with more third-and-10+ conversions is the Texans with 14 on 49 attempts (28.6 percent) — the second-highest rate in the league… Jordan Love added his 14th passing touchdown in the second half or overtime this season against the Chiefs on Monday and now has the most in the NFL. The last Packers quarterback to lead the league in second half or overtime passing touchdowns was Brett Favre with 22 in 1996… The Giants have lost 489 yards on 118 negative plays on offense this season, the most in both categories in the NFL. The last time the Giants lost that many yards via negative plays in a full season was in 2018, when the team lost 518 yards… Tommy DeVito has a passer rating of 102.7 through the first three starts in his career. The last player to have a higher passer rating through his first three starts as a Giant was Norm Snead (105.2 in 1972) in the 12th season of his career… Green Bay has three players with at least five receiving touchdowns this season -- Romeo Doubs (seven), Jayden Reed (five) and Christian Watson (five) -- each starting the season at 24 or younger. The only team to have more such players all-time is the 2020 Steelers (four).