Time and football wait for no one.
While the Giants regrouped after Monday’s coaching changes, the Packers were business as usual in Green Bay, eager to get to MetLife Stadium after losing back-to-back games on the heels of a 5-1-1 start. Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka understands the reality of the situation – and so does tight ends coach Tim Kelly, who was elevated to offensive coordinator.
“You got about 10 minutes (to reflect on the changes), right? And then the rest of the league doesn’t really care,” Kelly said before Thursday’s practice. “So, it’s hard to take the personal element out of it. But you find out quickly like, here we go, Green Bay’s coming to town. And they don’t really care what we’re going through. So [you] have to be able to kind of deal with it in your own way, in your own time. But make sure that you’re getting back to neutral so you can go and put together a good plan for the guys so they can go out and win a game in a few days.”
Green Bay’s defense, meanwhile, has the throttle down.
The Packers have allowed the fewest 10-yard plays, 20-yard plays, and yards per pass attempt, while their defense on third down is No. 1 in the league. They also rank No. 3 in yards per play allowed, No. 5 in total yards allowed, and No. 7 in scoring defense.
They will go up against a Giants offense that is starting their third different quarterback in 11 games. With record-breaking rookie Jaxson Dart in the concussion protocol, veteran Jameis Winston will make his Giants debut. Russell Wilson, who started the first three games of the season, will be the backup.
“They’ve got talent on all three levels,” Kelly said. “You look up front, Micah [Parsons], [Rahsan] Gary, they are problems on the edge. You see Quay Walker flying around making a million tackles. They’ve got two really good safeties, two good corners. So, they’ve got good talent on every level of the defense. They’re very well coached. They fly around. They tackle well. They play fundamental football. And schematically, they’re hard to get a bead on. So, I think when you pair those things, that’s the product you get.”
Kelly added that you don’t see a ton of MEAs – Mental Errors on Assignments – from the Packers. They are 31-12 in Week 11 or later under Matt LaFleur since he took over as head coach 2019, the best in the NFC in that span.
Sunday will be game No. 1 for Kafka, who has interviewed for head coaching positions around the NFL in recent years. He will also continue to call plays for the offense.
“I think our players are pros,” Kafka said Wednesday in his first press conference in the elevated position. “They’re pros. So, my job is to get them in the best position to be successful and work through the week here and continue to make adjustments with the staff as we’re going to continue to prepare for Green Bay, which is the most important thing. So really taking our time, making sure we cross our T’s, dot our I’s, put together a great plan for the players because that’s really, at the end of the day, those are the guys that have been on my mind the last 48 hours.”
