Jobu reviews the Giants big win against the Green Bay Packers in week 12.

We’re back after the bye week! I know I missed writing these reviews, so you guys must have too, right? Right?? Anyway, last time we got together, I praised the Giants for purposefully throwing a few games and playing like amateurs in order to lull the rest of the league to sleep for the playoff push. If that was, indeed what they were up to, they sent a different message to the Packers on Sunday night. The Giants are for real again, so everybody look out.

Breaking Slumps

Coming into this game, Eli Manning was on a three game slump that had seen him throw the ball possibly worse than he’d thrown it since midway through the 2007 season (a good omen, right?). Seriously though, things were so bad that people were wondering if he was injured or had the dreaded “tired arm.” Maybe the bye week gave his arm the rest it needed, or maybe he just got tired of playing like crap, but Eli was his old self again against Green Bay.

Archie’s boy went 16-30 in this game, with 249 yards. While those numbers aren’t exactly world beating, they are leaps and bounds ahead of what he’d been doing of late. Eli also threw three touchdown passes, his first in three games. Three! Most importantly, he didn’t throw the ball to any defenders, which he hadn’t been able to avoid in his slump either.

Following Manning’s lead, the rest of the Giants offense snapped out of the funk as well. Andre Brown and Ahmad Bradshaw basically split the load evenly. They combined for 23 carries, 122 yards and 2 TDs, and averaged 4.9 and 5.8 yards per carry respectively. The Giants did get some very bad news in this, as Brown, who has been one of the feel good stories of this NFL season, ended up breaking his fibula on a fourth quarter run. He’ll be very tough to replace, but someone’s going to have to step up to fill his shoes. Eli’s TD passes went to Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Ruben Randle, and he completed passes to seven different receivers over the course of the game.

Back to Sack the Pack

The Giants defense was back in full force in this game too and, as a result, Aaron Rogers spent a lot of time on his ass in this game. The man some say is the best QB in the league (It’s pretty tough to argue sometimes) was pounded all night, as the Giants ended up with 5 sacks and held him to just 219 yards. One of those sacks, by Osi Umenyiora, caused a fumble that was recovered by Jason Pierre-Paul, and Rodgers also threw an interception to Corey Webster to boot.

Overall, the Giants defense stifled the Packers in a way they simply are not used to being handled. The one mistake the Giants D made came on Green Bay’s first drive of the game, when Webster let Jordy Nelson get behind him for a 61-yard TD reception. That gave the game one of those “here we go again” feelings, but the defense did a wonderful job of hunkering down and shutting down the powerful packer offense the rest of the way.

Potent Potables

I think this may have been the most impressive win of the Giants’ season so far. For one, the Packers are a legitimate team on both sides of the ball, and are basically Super Bowl contenders every season. The Giants simply whooped them on both sides of the ball in this one, dominating their offense and defense with relative ease.

Unfortunately, I spent most of this game on the phone with AT&T, trying to set up the wireless cable box in my basement, so I missed a lot of the scoring. Rest assured though, that I was following the entire thing on my phone from the basement, and running up and down the stairs to get visual updates when the Giants scored or made big plays. Whether on my phone or my TV, however, it was really great to see the Giants get their crap together against a very good Green Bay team. That should send a nice message tot he surging Redskins, and the Cowboys too, that the Giants aren’t laying down. In fact, they’re just getting going.

Most Valuable Giants

Eli Manning: 16-30, 249 yards, 3 TDs
Ahmad Bradshaw: 10 carries, 58 yards, 1 TD, 3 catches, 61 yards
Hakeem Nicks: 5 catches, 77 yards, 1 TD
Matthias Kiwanuka: 2 sacks, playing defensive tackle and not end

Featured image courtesy of:  RICH SCHULTZ/GETTY IMAGES