Packers play 1st international game, facing Giants in London
NEW YORK GIANTS (3-1) vs. GREEN BAY (3-1) at London, England
Sunday, 9:30 a.m. EDT, NFL Network
OPENING LINE: Packers by 8½, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Giants 3-1; Packers 2-2
SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 34-26-2
LAST MEETING: Packers beat Giants 31-13 on Dec. 1, 2019, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
LAST WEEK: Giants beat Chicago Bears 20-12 at home; Packers beat New England Patriots 27-24 in overtime at home.
GIANTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (22), RUSH (1), PASS (31), SCORING (18)
PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (6), RUSH (7), PASS (16), SCORING (21)
GIANTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (15), RUSH (28), PASS (8), SCORING (T9)
PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (22), PASS (3), SCORING (7)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Giants plus-1; Packers minus-3
GIANTS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Saquon Barkley has an NFL-high 463 yards rushing and is coming off a 146-yard performance against the Bears. He’s gaining 5.5 yards per carry, way up from his average of 3.7 yards per rush last season. He’s just 130 yards away from matching his 2021 season rushing total.
PACKERS PLAYER TO WATCH: OLB Rashan Gary has five sacks and has had at least one in each of the Packers’ four games. He’s the first Packer to have a sack in each of the first four weeks of a season since Cullen Jenkins in 2010.
Bill Tobin, a longtime NFL executive who helped build the 1985 Bears championship team, has died
Jets GM Joe Douglas calls QB Zach Wilson an 'asset.' But the team remains open to trading him
Debate over tight end value hovers over Brock Bowers' draft prospects
NFL draft will include many Michigan men, maybe enough to break record set by 2022 Georgia Bulldogs
KEY MATCHUP: Barkley vs. Packers run defense: The Packers allowed New England to rush for 167 yards and average 5.1 yards per carry. Chicago’s David Montgomery rushed for 122 yards on just 15 carries at Green Bay earlier this season. Barkley’s a much more dangerous runner than Montgomery or anyone on the Patriots roster.
KEY INJURIES: Giants QB Daniel Jones sprained his left ankle against the Bears, but practiced on a limited basis Wednesday. ... Giants backup QB Tyrod Taylor and S Julian Love are in the concussion protocol and uncertain to play. ... Giants CB Cor’Dale Flott (calf), WR Kenny Golladay (knee) and DL Henry Mondeaux (ankle) probably won’t play. ... There is concern about Giants LB Azeez Ojulari (calf) and DL Leonard Williams (knee). ... Giants OT Evan Neal (neck) should play and WR Kadarius Toney (hamstring) and WR Wan’Dale Robinson (knee) are close to returning after missing last week. ... Packers WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring) is on injured reserve and will miss a second straight game. ... Packers S Adrian Amos left the Patriots game to be evaluated for a head injury. ... Packers CB Jaire Alexander (groin) missed the Patriots game, but was practicing on a limited basis this week.
SERIES NOTES: The Packers have won their past three matchups with the Giants. That includes a 38-13 home victory in a wild-card playoff game on Jan. 8, 2017. ... The Giants had won the previous three meetings before the Packers’ current streak. ... The Packers faced the Giants in the NFL championship in 1938, 1939, 1944, 1961 and 1962. The Packers won all those games except for 1938. ... The Giants beat the Packers 23-20 in overtime in an NFC championship game on Jan. 20, 2008. That was Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre’s last game as a Packer. ... The Giants also defeated the Packers 37-20 in a divisional playoff game on Jan. 15, 2012.
STATS AND STUFF: The Giants are undefeated in two previous games in England, including a 17-10 win over the Rams on Oct. 23, 2016, at Twickenham Stadium. ... Giants QB Daniel Jones ran for two touchdowns last weekend and his 193 yards rushing are the NFL’s third most at his position. ... Barkley leads the NFL with 570 yards from scrimmage and he is only player with three games of 125-plus all-purpose yards. ... Giants WR Richie James leads New York with 15 catches for 155 yards. In his previous game against Green Bay on Nov. 5, 2020, while with San Francisco, he set career highs with nine catches for 184 yards and a TD. ... The previous time the Giants had four wins in their first five games was 2009, when they opened 5-0 and finished 8-8. ... Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has 500 career touchdown passes including regular-season and playoff games, becoming just the fifth player to reach that plateau. The others are Tom Brady (716), Drew Brees (608), Peyton Manning (579) and Favre (552). ... If Gary has a sack in a fifth straight game, he would match the longest streak in Packers history. Tim Harris had a sack in five straight games in 1989) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila matched that achievement in 2000-01. ... Packers P Pat O’Donnell has landed 11 of his punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, matching Houston’s Cameron Johnston for the most of anyone in the NFL. ... Packers WR Romeo Doubs is the first Green Bay rookie to catch a TD pass in consecutive games since TE Richard Rodgers did it in 2014. Doubs has 19 catches, the most by any Packers rookie through the first four games of a season. ... Packers RB Aaron Jones is gaining 6.8 yards per carry. That’s the best average through the first four games of a season by any Packer with a minimum of 40 carries through that stretch. Jones is the first Packer to have two 100-yard rushing performances within the first four games of a season since Ahman Green in 2004. ... The Packers are playing their first international game.
FANTASY TIP: Fantasy team owners wise enough to draft Doubs might want to think about starting the fourth-round pick from Utah State just about every week. Not only has Doubs caught a touchdown pass in back-to-back games, he has been targeted eight times in each of those games.
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL