4 Giants who can make Week 5 a nightmare for Packers
The Green Bay Packers travel to London for a “home” game against the New York Giants in Week 5 and could return to their actual home disappointed if they aren’t careful.
The matchup features two 3-1 teams with playoff aspirations. The Packers are supposed to be here. This is new territory for the Giants. Only one team can continue to move up in the NFC standings.
Green Bay enters the game as the clear favorite (-8) and should be able to take care of the job. However, they can’t sleep on the Giants, as these four players can make Week 5 a nightmare for them.
Saquon Barkley and these three other New York Giants players can make Week 5 a nightmare road trip for the Green Bay Packers.
Oshane Ximines
As David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins continue to return to form following their injuries, the Packers are a bit susceptible on the outside. The Giants don’t have a dominant edge rusher at this point, but Oshan Ximines is the best they have. He’s tied for the team league in sacks (1) and leads them in quarterback hits (4), hurries (4) and wins on pass-rushing attempts (17.3 percent). In the grand scheme of the NFL, he’s not that dangerous, but he’s the one outside rusher the Packers have to keep their eye on.
Andrew Thomas
Meanwhile, the 2020 fourth overall pick has quickly blossomed into one of the best tackles in the NFL. His PFF grade of 92.1 ranks first among 70 qualified tackles through the first four games. It will be interesting to see if Green Bay tries Rashan Gary, who’s having an equally impressive start, against Thomas or if they let Preston Smith go to waste on that side. Either way, Thomas will have the ability to set the edge, allowing Saquon Barkley to get outside whenever he wants.
Dexter Lawrence
Lawrence can potentially dominate the line of scrimmage on the other side of the ball for the Giants. He’ll line up on the interior and try to wreak havoc on Aaron Rodgers in the passing game. He has the highest PFF pass rush grade (90.6) of any interior defensive lineman they’ve charted this season. That’s concerning considering Royce Newman’s struggles this season.
Ranking Packers' positional groups through 4 games. dark. Next
Saquon Barkley
The biggest danger for the Packers will be their ability to stop Barkley on the ground. New York loves to pound the rock. Barkley leads the NFL with 463 rush yards as a result. He also leads the league in rushing attempts at 84. The flip side of the coin isn’t any better for Green Bay–they’ve given up the 10th most rushing yards and allow the 10th highest yards per rush this season. Their defensive line has been nonexistent (we see you Kenny Clark) and could spell trouble if they don’t show up in London.