An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Packers NFL Week 11 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Marquee matchup
Packers DEs Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary vs. Giants OTs Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor
This is some double-trouble for an offensive line, with Gary (7.5 sacks) and Parsons (6.5 sacks) applying all sorts of pressure from the edges.
Thomas is playing at a high level, and Eluemunor is battling through a pectoral issue.
Micah Parsons is pictured during the Packers’ game against the Eagles on Nov. 10. Imagn Images
Parsons will wander inside as well, searching for vulnerability along the line for him to exploit.
Jaxson Dart avoided sacks with his footwork in the pocket. Jameis Winston throughout his career has not been as elusive.
Four downs
Stayin’ alive
Wan’Dale Robinson smiled when asked what the priority is now that Jameis Winston is starting at quarterback.
“No matter who’s out there, you better be ready to catch the ball,” he said. “All routes are live with Jameis out there. He might not be able to run as well, but the ball still jumps out of his hand.”
Jameis Winston will start for the Giants against the Packers. Charles Wenzelberg
Winston throughout his career has taken wild risks putting the ball up for grabs, and sometimes a wide receiver has to become a defensive back to prevent an interception.
Seat warmer
What?
Matt LaFleur was actually asked about his job security this week?
Sure, his Packers (5-3-1) have lost two straight and have not lived up to expectations this season — they are in third place in the NFC North — but LaFleur has won 66 percent of his games and guided the Packers to the playoffs in six of his seven years in Green Bay.
“I’ll leave that for everybody else to decide,” he said. “I feel like you’re always coaching for everything in this league. It’s always been that way. You know, you can’t ever exhale. You got to always be pushing. And that’s just my mindset. And that will be my mindset until they tell me not to coach anymore.”
Another one that got away
The Giants wanted to re-sign safety Xavier McKinney, and McKinney wanted to return to the Giants after his contract expired after the 2023 season.
McKinney also wanted to be one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL, and that desire was not compatible with how the Giants value the position.
McKinney got $17 million per year from the Packers, and in 2024 collected eight interceptions to earn All-Pro status.
He has two this season and will face his former team for the first time.
“I’m going to definitely be juiced up, but it’s all out of good intention and just looking to have a good game,” McKinney said. “It’ll be fun just to be back in the city, though, and get to see a lot of old faces and familiar faces.”
Make an impression
The Giants after this season are going to be in the market for a new head coach, and there might be someone on the other side of the field Sunday who emerges as a top candidate.
Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, from Montvale, N.J., certainly could be in the running.
The 46-year old is highly regarded.
He was the head coach from 2020-03 at Boston College, and that school has ties to the Giants — co-owner John Mara was once an undergraduate there and Tom Coughlin was once the head coach there.
Hafley bought 30 tickets for this game for his family and friends.
Paul’s pick
The injury list is a mile long for the Giants, and the newness of Mike Kafka and Jameis Winston probably will fade rather quickly.
The Cheesehead invasion will make MeLife Stadium look and sound like Lambeau Field.
How does the home team score enough points against one of the league’s top defenses?
Packers 27, Giants 13
