50 Giants - Packers Takeaways

50) Wasting a timeout one minute in, with 14 seconds left on the clock, does not speak to winning road work, but when you leave WRs wide open on third and 8, it probably won't matter

49) The "Cruz" chant shows that many Packer Fans took the money and stayed home, but New York money probably covers your mortgage for a year in Green Bay, so who are we to judge

48 Randall Cobb's fumble on the ensuing kickoff was such a blown call, Mike McCarty didn't want to have to actually drop the red flag

47) The Giants got away with a 15-yard flag for a shot on Jermichael Finley, proving that a defenseless receiver is dependent on the size of the offensive player

46) Rodgers missed a wide-open Greg Jennings to settle for a long field goal, which feels like a turnover when you have the Green Bay defense

45) The Hakeem Nicks touchdown demonstrates, yet again, how bad tackling has become all over the league... but the protection and route were also excellent

44) I don't normally go for conspiracy theories against New York teams, but that Greg Jennings non-fumble ruling was pretty whine-worthy

43) Green Bay tried an onside kick, mostly to limit the Giants' time of possession and punish America, which has mostly stopped paying attention to kickoffs now that they are touchback-riffic

42) Why Eli threw to Devin Thomas on third down when he had Nicks, Cruz and Manningham is beyond me

41) It's really almost unfair that Rodgers has mobility and moves on scrambles, given his other gifts, and the keeper blown shotgun draw shows that he might be faster than James Starks

40) Joe Buck segued from a man facing death to "Napoleon Dynamite" in a sequence that defied parody

39) I'm not saying that Eli had time to eat lunch in the pocket on the second quarter out to Cruz, but there was catering and a wine list

38) AJ Hawk is lucky that Eli flinched, or his helmet would have been rung up for a 15 yard penalty and fine

37) If you are ever convinced that Eli is an Elite QB, consider the hits he takes without roughing the passer flags

36) Eli's only pick, to Morgan Burnett, was a clear mistake under pressure from the Giants QB, but given where they were on the field and the down and distance, not all that meaningful

35) The John Kuhn fumble might end those chants for the day, and was a heck of a time for him to break his fumble cherry

34) Nicks absolutely abused Sam Shields to set up first and goal, because that's what #1 WRs do

33) Kickers in the postseason are now 2-0 when they can hit the crossbar on kickoffs

32) It's more or less impossible to sack Rodgers now without a belt celebration

31) Fox felt it necessary to show an A/B face shot of Tom Coughlin to demonstrate relative cold

30) Green Bay let Ahmed Bradshaw run 40 yards, 25 of it from side to side, rather than stop a last second scoring opportunity

29) The Hail Mary touchdown to Nicks at the end of the half was fairly easy, considering how the WR was open all along, and had no one in front of him to alter the line of sight

28) The third and five to Donald Driver for a first, where Rodgers made a blown assignment miss and then hit the WR between three guys, was otherworldly

27) Jennings could not have been more open in the end zone on the Osi Umenyiora's strip play, but that's just what happens when the Giants go on postseason runs

26) At some point, we have to recognize the reality that the Giants' defense bears little resemblance to the guys who played for the first 14.5 weeks, and that it coincides with improving health

25) If you want to beat the Packers, hit them hard enough so that the drops become common

24) Starks made back to back plays that showed great feet for a big man, or why he's got tons more upside than Grant

23) Jennings didn't make the catch on a perfect ball in the end zone for drop #7, and one that cost the Packers four points

22) No one throws away a ball with more disgust than Eli Manning

21) It's good that Joe Buck called out when the Packers blitz, since there's no other way to know that it's happening

20) Rodgers reaches for first downs better than any of the Packer RBs

19) If you want to stop the Pack passing game, taking away Jordy Nelson is the first priority

18) In the post-mortem of Green Bay's loss, the consecutive plays where Rodgers and Finley could not connect, followed by the fourth down sack, will loom large indeed

17) The Giants got their initial first down of the second half with 11:30 left in the game -- no, seriously

16) The Ryan Grant fumble should be the last play he makes as a Packer

15) The Giants really missed an opportunity by waiting to score, rather than just throwing a touchdown right away to Mario Manningham

14) Umenyiora got called for a 15-yard bailout flag that Buck called huge, as if the Pack was coming back from 17 down with 6 minutes left in a game where they got their heads kicked in

13) It's clear that Joe Philbin's son being alive was the only thing that led the Packer WRs from dropping a million balls

12) Regardless of the weekend's results, I'd rather start a franchise with Rodgers or Brees than any other player in the NFL

11) Rodgers to Driver for a touchdown was poor awareness from Boley, and the Packers QB finding the one WR that didn't have drop issues today

10) Cruz's biggest play of the day was recovering the onside kick with 4:45 left, and the last missed Packer opportunity

9) Buck chastised Green Bay for the onside kick, because he doesn't remember the last two times the defense was on the field, or just how bad the Giants had made them look for most of the game

8) You can pretty much stick a fork in Charles Woodson now, as that clinching third down pass to Cruz showed

7) Bradshaw for 24 was a moment when BJ Raji tried more for the ball than the man, which is to say, when the Packer defense was more about prayer than anything else

6) Jacobs' official role on this team seems to be touchdown runs when the game is no longer in doubt

5) Deon Grant's pick for the defense's fourth takeaway of the day gave Giant Fan the ability to be heard clearly amidst the otherwise deserted Lambeau stands

4) It's clear now that the Packers' home-field playoff advantage is a distant memory

3) Independent of the drops and turnovers, New York was the much better team today, which is what happens when you win by 17 on the road

2) We got to see Coughlin and Jacobs smile at the end of the telecast, which might be the first time that either man has been televised doing that

1) There are three weeks and counting from Patriots-Giants II, and if you'd like to stop watching the NFL now rather than go through that again, I completely understand