The Packers season ended with a thud yesterday in the bitter cold.  Brett Favre’s excellent season ended with an interception on his last pass of the season which set up the Giants game winning field goal in OT.  Brett Favre completed 19 of 35 passes for 236 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  Ryan Grant couldn’t repeat his success of last week as he only rushed for 28 yards on 14 carries (2.0 ypc).  Donald Driver had a great game as he caught 5 passes for 141 yards (28.2 avg) with a TD grab.  TE David Lee pitched in with 3 receptions for 35 yards (11.7 avg) with a TD catch.  The Packers finished up with 28 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.0 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 35 passes for 236 yards.

Safety Atari Bigby and tackle Corey Williams led the way for the Packers Defense with 9 tackles apiece.  The Giants finished up with 134 yards rushing on 39 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 40 passes for 246 yards.

This should be a great game to watch on T.V. as the game time temperature is expected to be 4 degrees.  Still, the Giants and Packers are used to cold weather so the best team will still likely win the game. 

The Giants will need to run the football effectively to have any chance to win this football game.  That’s because the Packers don’t blitz often which leaves their linebackers in pass coverage which will hurt the Giants when they try to throw short.  With that in mind the Giants will likely try to pound the football with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.  It will be interesting to see who wins the battle up front because if the Giants can’t run the ball and give Eli Manning time to throw the ball this game will be over quick.

The Packers will likely lean on their running game in the frigid weather.  This will likely be a problem for the Giants who had big problems last week with Marion Barber.  Ryan Grant rushed for 201 yards last week against the Seahawks and he’ll be looking to make the Giants pay for trading him to the Packers for a 6th round pick.  The Giants will likely have huge problems with Brett Favre because he gets rid of the ball so fast that it will likely negate the Giants pass rush which is the strength of their team. 

PREDICTION:  GREEN BAY PACKERS 28, NEW YORK GIANTS 13

Coach Mike McCarthy has the Packers flying high right now.  The Packers finished 13-3 in his second season on the job and he has won his only playoff game (42-20 over the Seahawks).  The Packers are a big favorite to beat the Giants and play in the Super Bowl so we will see how that turns out this weekend.  McCarthy has been the Packers head coach for two years now and he has a record of 21-11 (.656 %) in the regular season and he is 1-0 in the post season.

The Packers got off to a rough start in this game as two Ryan Grant fumbles set up TDs for the Seahawks….but that just seemed to get the Packers angry.  Brett Favre was outstanding last Saturday as he completed 18 of 23 passes for 173 yards with 3 TD passes.  Ryan Grant was outstanding after his fumbles.  He carried the ball 27 times for 201 yards (7.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also caught 2 passes for 6 yards.   Rookie Brandon Jackson also had an outstanding game.  He carried the ball 8 times for 43 yards (5.4 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass….for a 13-yard TD.  WR Greg Jennings was also outstanding as he caught 6 passes for 71 yards (11.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Packers controlled the football for 34 minutes in this game which helped them physically dominate this game.  The Packers finished up with 235 yards rushing on 35 carries (6.7 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 23 passes for 173 yards.

The Packers defense turned in a outstanding team effort in shutting down the Seahawks.  Atari Bigby (7 tackles) and Cullen Jenkins (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks) led the way for the Packers on defense.  The Seahawks finished up with 28 yards rushing on 18 carries (1.6 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 33 passes for 172 yards.

The Green Bay Packers are well rested and healthy as they welcome old friends Mike Holmgren and Matt Hasselbeck to Lambeau Field this weekend.  The Packers won a stunning 33-27 game in OT in 2003 over the Seahawks in Green Bay. 

The Packers will attempt to balance the offense a little bit against the Seahawks who shut down the Redskins vaunted running game last week.  Still, look for the Packers to run Ryan Grant often to slow the pass rush of the Seahawks a little bit and to run the clock if the Pack get the lead in this game.  The big key to this game will be how tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher do against DEs Patrick Kerney and Darryl Tapp who are big time pass rushers.  That’s because Brett Favre has been known to make mistakes in his career when the pass rush is in his face.  The Packers will likely try to attack the middle of the field in the passing game to avoid dealing with cornerback Marcus Trufant who is one of the best pickoff artists in the NFL right now.  If the game comes down to a kick at the end rookie Mason Crosby has a big leg as he led the NFL in scoring this season.

The Seahawks are going to go with what got them to this game which is passing the ball first.  Look for the Seahawks to run a lot of three receiver and four receiver sets so they can avoid challenging corners Al Harris and Charles Woodson.  The key to the attack will be keeping defensive ends Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila away from Matt Hasselbeck.  If the Seahawks get the lead then they might try to run the ball a little bit more than usual to salt away the clock.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 27, SEAHAWKS 24