EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – In the year of the passer, can the New York Giants make this the postseason of the pass rusher?
Fueled by a defensive line that recorded two sacks, stopped a pair of quarterback sneaks on fourth-and-inches and, more important, reduced their foes’ plan of attack to calls born of fear, the Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 in the NFC wild-card playoffs. That sets up a Giants rematch with the Green Bay Packers next Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Beating Atlanta is one thing, of course. The Falcons have become the NFC’s unofficial version of the Washington Generals come playoff time, going one-and-out for the third time in four years with Matt Ryan at quarterback (they missed the playoffs in his second season). In the previous two postseason appearances, the Falcons lost to the eventual NFC Super Bowl team (Arizona in 2008 and Green Bay last season).
While on the subject of the title game, it should be noted that the last time the Giants looked anything close to this fearsome up front was in the 2007 season, when they went through Green Bay in the NFC championship game on the way to a Super Bowl title. With defensive end Osi Umenyiora (three sacks in two games since returning from an ankle injury) now in the rotation, the Giants are finally healthy up front.
“Obviously, we don’t have a Hall of Famer yet like we had [in 2007] with [former defensive end Michael Strahan], but we’ve got a lot of guys who are playing well and we’re playing well together,” defensive end Justin Tuck said.
But you have to wonder if the Giants have enough up front to cause Green Bay problems. Just as in the matchup of the New Orleans Saints against the San Francisco 49ers, the theme of the NFC playoffs will be whether defense overcomes offense. In this case, can it overcome historic offense? The 49ers will have to stop Drew Brees coming off his record-setting season for passing yards (5,476). The Giants will have to stop likely league MVP Aaron Rodgers and his record-setting season for quarterback rating (122.5).
Courtesy of Yahoo
