NFC Divisional Round: Giants 37 - Packers 20

The New York Giants strode into Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon and simply manhandled the top-seeded 15-1 Green Bay Packers in a  37-20 victory. The Packers had been a wire-to-wire Super Bowl favorite during the course of the season but QB Eli Manning (21/33, 330 yards, 3 TDs) and the Giants were not intimidated. The Giants forced 4 turnovers and sacked MVP candidate QB Aaron Rodgers 4 times as their defense was stifling from start to finish.

The Giants came out and moved the ball on their opening drive but settled for a FG before the Packers answered back with a FG of their own to make it 3-3. The teams would battle back and forth in the first half however it became apparent early that New York had the advantage. After a 66-yard catch-and-run TD pass from Manning to WR Hakeem "The Dream" Nicks, which has been a staple of the Giants offense as of late, the G-Men forced a fumble of the Packers' ensuing drive that somehow was overturned despite video evidence to the contrary. Rodgers lead Green Bay down the field and tied the game 10-10 with a TD pass to FB John Kuhn. The Giants were leading 13-10 shortly before halftime and looked to being running out the clock before RB Ahmad Bradshaw broke a 21-yard run and got out of bounds giving his team a chance for one last heave towards the endzone. Manning tossed up a hail mary that Nicks was able to bring in against his helmet giving New York a 20-10 halftime lead.

The 10 point lead was the biggest second-half deficit Green Bay faced all season and in the second half the Giants surging defense took over the game, the Packers never got closer than 20-13. A Lawrence Tynes 35-yard FG made it 23-13 midway through the 4th before the Giants forced a fumble from RB Ryan Grant on the ensuing Packers drive that resulted in a Mario Manningham 4-yard TD catch to make it 30-13. Rodgers and the Pack benefitted from an iffy rougher-the-passer call and were able to put another TD on the board to make it 30-20 but could not convert an onsides-kick attempt. The Packers could not stop the Giants RBs Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs who scored a game-sealing TD on a 14-yard scamper with 2:36 to put the game on ice at 37-20.

Aaron Rodgers set a new record in the regular season with a passer rating of 122.5 but looked completely out of sorts after not playing a snap of football in 3 weeks. Combine that with a ferocious Giants pass rush and no fewer than 8 dropped passes by Green Bay receivers and you have a recipe for disaster. To put it simply, the Giants were the tougher, more physical team on Sunday. They didn't make big mistakes and took advantage of Green Bay's 31st ranked defense. New York will now travel to San Francisco next Sunday to play for the NFC Conference Championship.