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Postgame

Monday, 6:47 a.m.
Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Trenni Kusnierek joined TODAY'S TMJ4's Vince Vitrano and Susan Kim to analyze the Packers' loss to New York.

Click here to watch the video.  Do you agree?

Monday, 6:34 a.m.
We've had a night to sleep on it, and I'm sure for most of you, this loss for the Packers still hurts.

It hurts for lots of fans who talked with TODAY'S TMJ4 after the loss.

Certainly, there's lots to think about on Packers Planet in terms of the changs that need to be made.

So, of course, we've got a poll for you along those lines.

What position do the Packers need to improve the most?  Click here to take the poll.

Sunday, 7:14 p.m.
No team that turns the ball over four times, only forces one, drops eight passes, lets receivers wide open, gets to a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback just once with the pass rush and allows a Hail Mary at the end of the first half...

...simply doesn't deserve to win a playoff game.

But this day revealed the missteps the Packers have made all season long.  No pass rush.  Almost no pass coverage.

But it was worse.  Had they done the little, discipline-based things, they might have still won this game.

Mike McCarthy: "We did not perform well enough to win the game."

Captain obvious, yes....but he understands the basic truth.

More from McCarthy's postgame: he said the team practices Hail Mary defense every Friday.   Practice did not make perfect there, I guess.

McCarthy: "The true story was the turnover ratio."

4th Quarter

6:46 p.m.  Packers' 4th Drive  2:36
Larry McCarren: "Picked a bad day to have a bad day."

Rodgers to Nelson.  Out of bounds for a first down.  Too little too late.

Umenyiora and Kiwanuka with the sack, and at leats the clock stops on the dwindling Packers season.

Rodgers nearly picked...then picked by Grant.  Channeling Don Meredith: Turn out the lights, the party's over.

6:37 p.m.  Giants' 3rd Drive  4:46
NY Giants 37, Green Bay 20
Jacobs 14 yd TD run
Do you dare onside kick it here?  Do you are not?

Well, they do it...big pileup at the 50, eyes being gouged out, limbs being maimed (j/k)...but the Giants get it.  Victor Cruz.

Defense must get stop.  Must cause turnover.

1st down: Bradshaw at least stopped behind midfield.  First timeout   Lots of prayers being said right now.

2nd down: Bradshaw stuffed at the line of scrimmage, but he's smart and doesn't go within 20 yards of the sidelines.  2nd timeout.

3rd-11 at NYG 49: Manning over the middle.  Cruz.  17 yards.  First down.  Death by aerial torture.  No pass rush.  Cruz had no Packers defenders within five suburbs of him.

1st down: Bradshaw breaks a tackle and almost went the distance.  3rd and final time out.  A touchdown and New York can deliver...dare I say...the dagger?

Wayne: "This season is slipping away from the Green Bay Packers."

1st Down: Jacobs stuffed in bounds after a sweep.  Loss of four.  But they keep the ball.  Possession is 9/10ths of ending Green Bay's season.

2nd Down: Jacobs ends the Packers' season.

6:26 p.m.  Packers' 3rd Drive  6:48
NY Giants 30, Green Bay 20
Rodgers-Driver 17 yd TD pass
Ugh.  Three-score comeback needed now.  Miracle time, Green Bay.

The Giants are bringing seven defenders back. 

Seven dropped passes.  Three fumbles.  Ugh.

3rd-10 at NYG 24: ARod downfield and a tipped pass, incomplete, trying to find Driver.  Rodgers went down hard on a late hit by Umenyiora + Rodgers' head going into Tuck's chest inadvertently.  15-yard penalty.

Larry McCarren: "Not the Packers team we have seen all season. Where are the Packers, and what have you done with them?"

NELSON!   Eight dropped passes, unofficially.  Larry: "That was a flat-out drop."

Rodgers slams across the 25 yard line for a first down.  Perhaps the most efficient offense Green Bay has had is Rodgers' scrambling.

Starks with a dump-off pass by Rodgers for nine yards into the red zone.

5:10 to score 17+ points?  Yeow.

ARod to the end zone - FINALLY!   Driver.  The only guy who has been consistent today.

6:24 p.m.  Giants' 2nd Drive  6:53
NY Giants 30, Green Bay 13
Manning-Manningham 4 yd TD pass
New York four yards from clinching this game.

Manning to the end zone - Manningham.  Put a stake in Green Bay's heart again.

6:21 p.m.  Packers' 2nd Drive  7:48
Commenceth the comeback, part I.

Rodgers shovels to Grant for five yards.   Favre-esque, dare I say?  It was a smart, safe pass, too.

Hurry-up mode.  Grant gets some blocking into first down territory...and lost the football again.  Blackburn down the sideline and Rodgers tackled him short of the end zone and doom for Green Bay.

Replay shows good call.  Sad, but good call.

6:08 p.m.  Giants' 1st Drive  12:54
NY Giants 23, Green Bay 13
Tynes 35 yd FG
Defense, bail them out again.  The Giants are maybe 20 yards from a two-score lead again.  Packers can't afford that, particularly with the pass rush New York puts on, particularly with the lack of hands the best receiving corps in football has shown today.

Maybe they're not the best receiving corps in football, after all. 

Missed tackle: Woodson.  Six yard gain for Nicks.  He has owned Green Bay tonight.

3rd-1 at GB 46: oh does Green Bay need a stop now.  Big time need a stop.

Manning delivers and Manningham delivers with a catch.  Giants still out of field goal range, but the Packers can ill-afford another 5-10 yards given up.

UGH!   Holding call on Tramon Williams.  Automatic first down.

Undisciplined football.  The Packers don't deserve to win if they continue to play like this.

Jacobs slams to the 28 for five yards.  Now, they're in field goal range, and the Packers' defense desparately - DESPARATELY - needs a turnover.

3rd-5 at GB 28: Manning rushed....over the middle....Cruz just put another stake in the Packers' heart by beating Woodson.  And he limped off the field afterward.  But he has seemingly done his work, barring a Packers miracle.

Bradshaw slams four yards downfield.  Now, the power running of the Giants comes into play, winding the clock down.

Jacobs around left end and Burnett saved a touchdown with an open field tackle.

3rd-5 at NYG 12: Manning SACKED!  Not out of field goal range.  Matthews and Jones did the job, however.  Too little too late?

6:03 p.m.  Packers' 1st Drive  continued from 3rd quarter
Play action time and Nelson is open in Packers territory.  Wide open during the circle pattern, making the Giants think he's running a post pattern, as Larry McCarren describes.  Webster gave WAYYYYYYY too much cushion.

Play action - 3rd straight time - and a solid five yard gain by Starks after he snuck behind the linemen.

3rd-5 at NYG 39: Rodgers pass DROPPED AGAIN!  JERMICHAEL FINLEY WAS WIDE OPEN!  Rodgers overthrew it a little bit, but he had both hands on it.

4th-5 at NYG 39: Larry: "this is big."

Rodgers sacked.  Uh oh.  Credit the Giants' secondary.  No one open.

3rd Quarter

5:58 p.m.  Packers' 3rd Drive  1:41
A fabulous punt bounds down the sideline to put Green Bay more than 70 yards from a tie game.

FIRST DOWN with a great effort by ROdgers with the run.  He got smashed by Boley and Webster as he reached his arm over the first down marker.

5:53 p.m.  Giants' 2nd Drive  3:50
Now one score from the lead, the Packers defense can really get momentum going with a stop.

Snee helps out with a 10-yard holding penalty.  Ryan Pickett called it himself and pumped his fist afterward.  Uh, Ryan, you don't wear black and white pinstripes, but a good impersonation and an accurate one that time.

Bradshaw stoped by Matthews after a little dumpoff pass.  Nice stop.

3rd-17 at NYG 13: Mo is swinging Green Bay's way, but the secondary needs to keep it that way.

Manning has to run it himself...slides at the 25.  Four Packers converging - he had no chance to get it unless he temporarily channeled Walter Payton and John Mackey to break tackles.  Manning won't do that.  Big stop.

5:40 p.m.  Packers' 2nd Drive  8:55
NY Giants 20, Green Bay 13
Crosby 35 yd FG
Cobb with a solid return to get 15 yards to the 25.   The Packers' defense just saved Green Bay's rear end, but the offense has a LOT of work to do.

3rd-7 at GB 28: make that 3rd-12 at GB 23 after Wells false start.

Wayne: "I hate to say it.  I just doesn't look good at all now."

Rodgers hits Driver and ANOTHER DIVING GRAB!  Rest of the Packers' receiving corps (and others) who can't hang onto the ball, take lessons from him.

Ryan Grant, take another lesson in catching the ball from Driver.  You just dropped one.  4th drop today. 

Starks with a first down on a screen pass after breaking a couple tackles.  To paraphrase NFL Films, it's like the Packers have just enough explosiveness and talent on offense to stay alive, but not enough to move.

WHOA!  Starks!  Fabulous Packers sweep!  29 yards!  "As of days of yore!"  (Channeling my inner Ted Moore.)  Thurston and Kramer leading the way, a beautiful block by Forrest Gregg and Carroll Dale getting his cornerback.  (I kid.)

3rd-5 at NYG 17: ARod to the end zone?  Nope.  Wanted Jennings.  Fabulous coverage by Rolle who never looked back, but read Jennings' eyes to see where the ball was.

5:35 p.m.  Giants' 1st Drive  10:28
The defense is going to have to save Green Bay now.  Didn't think I'd ever have to say that.

Seven yard gain for Nicks on a one-on-one pattern, beating Wiliams.   Shortest gain of the day for him?

3rd-2 at NYG 45: Desmond Bishop with the tackle on Ware, but Ware may have wiggled his way enough for a first down?  Nope.  Does New York dare go for it?  

No way.

5:26 p.m.  Packers' 1st Drive  15:00
The most important drive in 343 days begins now.  It begins into the wind.

Jennings with a solid leaping catch for a chain-mover.  14 yards.  Disciplined execution, boys.  You didn't show nearly enough of it in the first half.

3rd-10 at NYG 34 after two incompletions: so far, 3-6 on 3rd down.

Rodgers makes it 4-7 with his legs again!  Great 15 yard scramble.  The defensive backs haven't been looking back at Rodgers and the threat of the run.

3rd-6 at NYG 47: ARod rolls and finds Driver for a WONDERFUL diving grab.  Rodgers under pressure and he delivered a heck of a throw in white-shirted traffic.  Might have actually wanted Nelson deep, didn't get enough on it, but Driver was there.

NO!  FUMBLE!  Umenyiora took the football loose and Grant got the recovery.  Ugh.  Packers in deeeeeeeeeeeep trouble.

2nd Quarter

5:06 p.m.  Giants' 4th Drive  :48
NY Giants 20, Green Bay 10
Manning-Nicks 37 yd TD pass
Manning starts the attempt at a drive with a short throw to Bradshaw who makes a short gain a medium gain after breaking an A.J. Hawk ankle attempt.

You don't get him down with an ankle tackle, not often at least.

3rd-1 at NYG 40, :15 left in half: Bradshaw around left end.  Uh oh.  Into field goal range.  On a running play?  DEFENSE!  What is with you?

:06, at GB 37: Manning Hail Mary time....caught?  NO!  You are kidding me!  Nicks!  A replay of the way David Tyree caught the bomb in the Super Bowl in '07.

5:01 p.m.  Packers' 4th Drive  1:51
Three time outs.  80 yards for the lead.

Rodgers with another bad pass.  Kuhn look inside shoulder, and Rodgers threw outside - the better spot to avoid an interception, but I think Rodgers was pressured more than a bit.

Remember, the Packers will own the ball to start the second half.  Hopefully, they won't have to overcome a two-score deficit.

Finley with a great low diving catch to get a first down with a double move.

Get first downs.  Get first downs.

ARod finds Finley again, but stopped after a short gain.  Tick.  Tock.  Tick.  Tock.

3rd-6 at GB 38: Rodgers sacked for the first time.  Boley from behind.  Starks just got beat trying to block him.  Giants have :48 to extend their lead.  This is scary, folks.

4:54 p.m.  Giants' 3rd Drive  3:37
NY Giants 13, Green Bay 10
Tynes 23 yd FG
Oh boy does this feel like the 2007 NFC Title Game right now.  The defense must step up.

Manning finds Nicks who burns Shields at the five yard line.  Horrible pass defense.  Another reason why turnovers are so huge today, because they could automatically mean seven points.

1st-goal at GB 5: Bradshaw down on his knees just short of the goal line.

2nd-goal at GB 1: Jacobs stuffed!!!!!!   At the five yard line!    Bishop just blew his blocker up and got to the legs of Brandon Jacobs!

3rd-goal at GB 5 after 2 minute warning: Manning over the middle - Ballard dropped a low throw behind him.  Bush was covering him.

Three points here is a win for the Packers defense.  Bailing Kuhn out...at least a bit.

4:49 p.m.  Packers' 3rd Drive  5:27
3rd-7 at GB 28: ARod gets Jennings and earns the 3rd-down playoff bonus money I would give him.  Kiwanuka smashed Rodgers right after the pass.  Credit ARod for toughness.

Kuhn....NO!  FUMBLE!  Rolle and he took it to the 34.  Ugh.  Turnover and drop fest by the Packers in this first half.

4:43 p.m.  Giants' 2nd Drive  9:03
Manning with play action and finding Victor Cruz after an 18 yard gain.  95% of the crowd booed.  5% yelled "Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz."

Sorry, Wisconsin has New York outnumbered in u-vowel changes for favorite sports sons.  Kuhn and Cecil Cooper.  A three-decade-plus tradition.

3rd-8 at NYG 44: Manning downfield and Ballard inside the 40 yard line.  QB's earn their salaries in the playoffs.  They should earn bonuses for big 3rd down plays in playoff games.

3rd-5 at GB 34: Manning PICKED OFF!  BURNETT!  Has a few cutbacks, shimmies, gets to the 25 yard line, and gives Green Bay the turnover that could be the spark.

4:34 p.m.  Packers'  2nd Drive  12:32
All of Green Bay in shadows now as the winter gloaming comes over Titletown.  More gloaming from the Packers' faithful after Scott Wells gets nailed for holding.

GREAT diving catch by Randall Cobb over the middle.  Low throw by Rodgers to lead Cobb and make sure it couldn't be picked off.

3rd-9 at GB 31: ARod with tons of tundra ahead of him until Grant showed up to try to make a tackle...and Rodgers got enough for a first down.  Great shake and bake by ARod.

Rodgers-to-Cobb for six yards after a one-man screen.  Cobb had to spin off one tackler after Jordy Nelson's block. 

ARod on a QB draw for a first down, and this time, he slides like Rickie Weeks at home plate, at least feet-first.  First down again.  Lovely play design.

Rodgers with time to read War and Peace before Starks dropped a pass wide open in the flat.  Pathetic.  Never had control.

3rd-7 at NYG 46: Rodgers over the middle and the third drop of the half.  Crabtree!!!!  What the...?

4:27 p.m.  Giants' 1st Drive  14:54
ONSIDE KICK!  But Martin takes it.  He reacted well.  Now the defense REALLY needs a stop.

Beckum does in his old collegiate home state on a middle screen pattern.  12 yards.  Great play design to take advantage of a Burnett blitz.

29 yards from the end zone, Bradshaw ran into a wall of white, then a pursing wall of green to move New York 30 yards from the end zone.

Manning with forever again....and finding Bradshaw, with a broken tackle to create a 3rd and short.  Zombo missed a tackle against the blue-headed bowling ball that is Bradshaw.

3rd-2 at GB 21: HUUUUUUUUUUGE stop here if you can get it.  And they get it.  Manning's throw undercut by Sam Shields.

PARTIALLY BLOCKED FIELD GOAL!  Brad Jones saved the Packers' hydes.  A special teams failure, balanced out by a spectacular special teams play after Jones made a great rush to get past the Giants' line.

4:26 p.m.  Packers' 1st Drive  continued from 1st Quarter
Green Bay 10, NY Giants 10
Rodgers-Kuhn 11 yd TD pass
Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn!  Great pattern out of the backfield and Ross cartwheels him!  8.5 from the Romanian judge.

1st Quarter

4:11 p.m.  Packers' 2nd Drive  3:47
Out of bounds kickoff.  Tynes, you may have just given the Packers seven points.  Ball at the 40.

Larry McCarren: "That's a nice return."

Grant starts the drive and gets around the corner.  Good five yard gain on the week side.  The Giants had pursuit in the Packers backfield, but Grant evaded it.

3rd-5 at GB 45: It would be a complete waste of a golden opportunity if the Packers don't get the first down.  But that's what Aaron Rodgers is so good at - 3rd in the NFL for the Packers offense.

ARod with a scramble, a run himself, and a lunge to the first down.  Normally, I like to see QB's slide.  In the playoffs, get the yards.  Every yard counts even more.

Nelson with another first down catch as he ran a comeback pattern, forcing Ross to slip.  Jordy is kind of a slippery fellow, as many defenders will attest.

Jennings with a catch, butt hits the ground, but then the ball came loose and the Giants were given possession?  Huh?  Nope.  They change their mind.

Oh, wait a minute.  Looking at the replay, it looks like the thigh was down as the strip was coming.  MIght the Giants try to challenge this?  I think they may win this.  Ball was coming out as the thigh hit tundra. 

This could be a definition of the rule time, where semantics could decide it. 

The ruling "stands" which means no definitive proof from the videotape.  I think it more means semantics of the definition of the rule.

Big break for Packers nation.

ARod with a free play and he misses Jennings on a post pattern.  Offsides on the Giants.  Free first down.

Rodgers downfield - open and free is James Jones!  Red zone, folks.  Simple circule pattern, great shimmies to break two tackles.  1960's go-go dancing song singers would be happy.

11 yards from paydirt.

4:04 p.m.  Giants' 2nd Drive  5:33
NY Giants 10, Green Bay 3
Manning-Nicks 66 yd TD pass
HECK OF A TACKLE BY RYAN PICKETT!  Ware tried to slide to the left, and Ryan Pickett sprinted with all of his 340 pounds for a TFL.

3rd-11 at NYG 19: Manning with, again, forever...Nicks with another first down catch.  First down.  Packers rushed just three.  They left Nicks wide open in a deep zone. 

Manning on play action and discovered Nicks who breaks a tackle and goes the distance.  Ugh.  Peprah went for a knockout instead of a tackle.  MUST WRAP UP!

3:53 p.m.  Packers' 1st Drive  8:33
Green Bay 3, NY Giants 3
Crosby 47 yd FG
Assuming the Packers offense does what it does best, any field goal is a win.

NO!  Randall Cobb fumbled at the 21?  Turnovers CANNOT HAPPEN!   Larry McCarren: "That's just a bit distressing."

WAIT!   GET THE CHALLENGE FLAG OUT!  Randall Cobb's knees were down, and the ball squirted out afterward. 

The refs agree.  Larry: "All right.  We feel better."

Grant off to the races!  Fabulous block by Crabtree and Bulaga for 20 yards.

No huddle time.  Bad for bloggers, great for the offenses.

The first pass play for a first down - ARod to Jennings who snuck behind Rolle.  Bad defense, Giants.

ARod downfield to Finley.  18 yards.  Keep pass.  Clockwork.  31 yard line. 

3rd-8 at NYG 29: ARod with loads of time - Jennings, and ARod missed him.  Wide open.  A touchdown if it's a perfect pass.  A rare bad pass from ARod.

3:40 p.m.  Giants' 1st Drive  15:00
NY Giants 3, Green Bay 0
Tynes 31 yd FG
Defense, this is your time to turn things on.  This team will need you...particularly in the turnover department.

First play from scrimmage is a crushing of Bradshaw by Raji for just one yard.  Raji looks rested and ready to crush based on that play.

Second play, another crushing of Bradshaw, this time by Clay Matthews, who cut off the outside, and Ryan PIckett, who smushed him into the turf.

3rd-8 at NYG 22: Manning forced to roll right...and the secondary does not do the job.  Fabulous delivery on the run to a wide open Manningham.   GOTTA stay with your guy when he gets out of the pocket.

Manning to Cruz.  Another mid-deep completion.  17 yards after the previous 19-yarder.  They're attacking the mid-deep right of the Packers secondary.  Safety came over late twice.

3rd-10 at GB 42: 

Manning delivers and discovers an open Cruz for another first down.  Woodson fell down.  CANNOT 

happen.  Must get to Manning, especially on 3rd down when you know he's throwing.

Beckum with the catch from MAnning...another mid-range completion.  They are just setting up tent and getting open.

First effective run for New York - Bradshaw in the red zone, to the 13.  Half of his yards came after an A.J. Hawk tackle attempt.  He got Bradshaw down, but not at the point of the tackle.  That's what the bruising Giants runners can do.

The second time, Hawk did a heck of a job sifting through Giants linemen and holding Bradshaw to no gain.

3rd-5 at GB 13: Manning with forever...rolls to get more time...but he was hit when he threw near the line of scrimmage.  Packes secondary earned the win that play with great coverage.

A field goal attempt is always a win against the Giants' explosive passing game.

Pregame

3:38 p.m.
G-men call tails.  Men wearing G win the toss, and as usual, will defer to get the 2nd half momentum.

3:31 p.m.
Game time temperatures: 31 degrees.   It sure doesn't feel like it, from what Wayne and Larry describe.

3:02 p.m.
Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin will be doing his regular duties today, all after the loss of his son in a tragic drowning incident.

2:40 p.m.
What part of the Packers squad is your biggest concern for today's game?  What is your biggest point of confidence that you believe will come through when it needs to?

Comment on the 620WTMJ and TODAY'S TMJ4 Facebook pages.

2:00 p.m.
Well, it's here.  The second season.  A season that can last one game, or up to four.

Hopefully, for the Green Bay Packers' sake, it lasts three, and all three games ending in wins.

A win today is nowhere near guaranteed.

We all remember the heart-palpitating 38-35 Packers win in New York on Dec. 4th.

So do the Giants, and they discovered the formula for beating Green Bay...go toe-to-toe in a shootout with them, get to Rodgers with your speed pass rushers and don't commit the deadly mistake.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a less dominating 15-1 team in balance (all facets of play) than the Packers, but there's something to be said about that in another sense: they're the kind of team that can overcome imperfections in certain areas, and with with a combination of physical explosiveness and mental character.

So can the Giants.

Throw the records out the window, or over the stands.  The Packers will need every weapon in their arsenal this afternoon.

INACTIVES: Robert Francois, Howard Green and Vic So'Oto are the important inactives for today's game.