The Giants dominated the Packers for the first 26 minutes of Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field, but they have nothing to show for it.
Aaron Rodgers stayed alive for close to 10 seconds in the pocket while looking for a receiver and finally delivered a strike to a well-covered Davante Adams for a five-yard touchdown that erased a good bit of the pain the Giants defense inflicted until that point in the game. Rodgers and Adams hooked up for a 31-yard pass a couple of plays earlier to move into prime scoring position to provide the first signs of life to an offense that had punted on their first five possessions.
That made the score 7-6 and the Packers built on that lead by forcing a quick three-and-out that got them the ball back with 1:38 to play in the half. A couple of passes and a couple of Ty Montgomery runs moved them to midfield and Rodgers hit Randall Cobb, who the Giants defenders let get behind them in a rare blunder, for a 42-yard Hail Mary as time expired to make the score 14-6 at the half.
The play was reminiscent of Rodgers’ Hail Marys during the 2015 season and elicited memories of the 37-yard touchdown that Hakeem Nicks caught before the half in the Giants’ 2012 playoff win in Green Bay. That score gave the Giants a 10-point lead and took the wind out of Green Bay’s sails in an upset victory for the visiting side.
We’ll see if this touchdown has the same effect on the Giants. They controlled the game for most of the half, but never got in the end zone thanks to dropped passes by Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard and then gave up the field position advantage thanks to a terrible decision by Dwayne Harris to field two punts inside his own 10-yard-line. The second of those punts was followed by a poor Brad Wing punt that set the Packers up inside the Giants’ 40-yard-line on their first scoring drive.
The Packers had a couple of dropped passes as well, one of which contributed to Jordy Nelson’s rib injury. The other was by tight end Jared Cook on the play before the Hail Mary. Had he caught it, the Packers would have had to scramble to spike the ball and probably would have tried a field goal if they did stop the clock.
The Giants’ errors didn’t work out so well and now they will have to find even more in reserve to come back in a game that should have been much deeper in their pocket.