Linebackers Will Be the Key

Well, it's the Friday before the game and everything has been said. Blah, bla, bla. The QB's-covered, the lines on both sides of the ball-covered. Secondaries-covered. Coaches-covered. The cold-covered...Not too much about linebackers though. So that's probably where the game will be decided. And, judging from the way the first game between these two teams was decided, and factoring in the weather, it's a very good bet that some linebacker will be MVP of the game.

In the first Packers-Giants game, the Giants defense was very unsettled and Green Bay had no running game. The Giants also made at least two critical errors in the game, one by Jeremy Shockey for delay of game and one on Amani Toomer for taunting. Shockey also dropped a key pass for what might have been a first down. The Giants were leading 10-7 at the half. It was a barrage of short passes from Favre that turned the tide in the 2nd half.

Favre completed his first 14 passes of the 2nd half. Although his number one option was a wide receiver, the reliable Donald Driver, who caught 8 passes on the day and scored a TD, two of Favre's other TD passes were to tight ends. Deshawn Wynn, their running back at the time, also scored two TD's, one of them for 38 yards. Although it is the Giants secondary that is responsible for the Driver receptions, much of the damage, especially the passes to the backs and tight ends, are the responsibilities of the linebackers.

It is to be hoped those linebackers will perform better on Sunday. If they don’t, there’s no reason to expect a better result for the Giants. Once again, it has been stressed over and over that the Giants defense improved considerably after those first two games, when the Cowboys and Packers taken together scored 80 points. But, could it be that they were perhaps not attacked in quite the same fashion again?

Their next opponent was Washington, a team that doesn’t attack in the same way. Then there was Philadelphia, a joke of a game because the Eagles offensive line was totally dysfunctional. Then there were the hapless Jets, but even the Jets managed 24 points against the Giants. That game was followed by three patsies, the Falcons, Giants and Dolphins in London.

Upon returning to Dallas, the Giants again gave up 31 points in a 31-20 loss. They beat Detroit, which does have a pretty good passing game, but they had a horrid offensive line. The Vikings gave the Giants a beating, a totally inexplicable performance that I’ll throw out. They then beat two additional patsies, the Bears and Eagles again. And, in a game the Redskins had to have, the Giants managed to lose one more time.

Since then, the Giants have played much better defense. There was the big game at Buffalo that absolutely required a big defensive performance. Then the Giants proved their mettle in the Patriots game, that, it must be said, they really lost on the short passing game; the long pass to Moss was an aberration caused by an injured player and resultant confusion on coverage. But that was Tom Brady on the other side.

Since that turning point, the Giants performed well against Jeff Garcia, a creditable quarterback who excels in the short passing game. And they managed to beat Dallas for the first time, injured secondary and all.

The big difference in those last few games is the press coverage employed on the receivers. If the Giants can continue disrupting the timing of those short routes, there is a reasonable expectation that they can beat those Packers on Sunday. I have confidence that they’ll be able to stop the run.

But the responsibility will lie heavily on the linebackers to both stop the run and either stop those dinks and dunks or hold them to little gains. The Packers receivers lead the league in yards after the catch. The Giants have to hold those yards to a minimum.

Can they do it? I think they can. They are an experienced and talented group, with Antonio Pierce in the middle, Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor. Pierce has been the leading tackler among the linebackers and also has eight passes defensed on the season. Mitchell is a good tackler and strong pass rusher. Torbor has been steady. All in all, though, the Giants secondary has more tackles than I would like to see. The linebackers need to perform better.

The Packers, it must be said, have, on paper, a stronger group. A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett were both first rounders. Barnett has 131 tackles on the season, Hawk 105. If they can stop the Giants running game, Eli will be hard-pressed to pass against a secondary that includes Al Harris, a Pro_Bowler and the experienced Charles Woodson.

Once again, it appears that the Giants are overmatched, at quarterback (who could compete with Favre at Lambeau), linebacker and secondary. It should be said that the Pack has four Pro_Bowlers, Favre, Harris, Kampman, their defensive end and WR Donald Driver.

If the Giants can move the ball on the ground, it will probably be straight ahead with the pounding of Jacobs and slashing of Bradshaw. Those fast Packers linebackers are relatively lightweight. And if they can run, that will minimize the Manning throws into the tough Packers secondary.

Once again, it appears the Giants can win if they can pitch still another almost-perfect game. But as my barber pointed out to me, that is Bret Favre on the other side.