NEW YORK GIANTS AT GREEN BAY (Sunday, FOX)

WHEN: 4:30 p.m. est Jan. 15th
WHERE: Lambeau Field
TV: Joe Buck  (play-by-play) & Troy Aikman (analyst) for FOX
RADIO: Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) & Larry McCarren (analyst) for AM-620 and Packer Radio Network
INTERNET: Cheesehead TV Gameday Live Blog

The Giants and Packers meet in the postseason for the seventh time. The first five meetings were in NFL Championship Games and the last playoff contest between the two teams was the 2007 NFC Championship Game. The Giants won that contest, 23-20 in overtime, and eventually won Super Bowl XLII.

On Wild Card Weekend, the Giants defeated Atlanta 24-2 at MetLife Stadium. Quarterback ELI MANNING threw for three touchdowns and his 11 career postseason TD passes are the most ever by a Giant. Manning, who passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the teams’ Week 13 meeting, knows the challenge ahead for the Giants.

“We know the Packers are a great team,” says Manning. “We’ve played them and we played them tough. We’ve got to have a good game plan, go in there and give it our all.”

The Green Bay Packers, who own the league’s best postseason winning percentage (.644, 29-16), open the playoffs at home – where they went 8-0 during the regular season – aiming to become the ninth defending champion to win the Super Bowl the following season. Green Bay won a franchise-record 15 games and scored a team-best 560 points, the second-most in a season in NFL history.

The Packers are led by Pro Bowl quarterback AARON RODGERS, who set an NFL single-season record with a 122.5 passer rating, throwing for a franchise-record 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns. Rodgers, who was the MVP of Super Bowl XLV, is one of the top postseason quarterbacks in NFL history, ranking first all-time in passer rating (112.6), completion percentage (67.8 percent) and yards per pass attempt (8.72).

“Last year’s run is really going to help all of us,” says Rodgers. “It’s the playoffs now so the focus has to go up, the urgency goes up and the preparation is more refined.”

GIANTS: 

Playing in 31st postseason, most in NFL history. Head coach TOM COUGHLIN has led NYG to 5 postseason appearances, tied with BILL PARCELLS for most in team history.

Giants had 2 players selected to Pro Bowl: QB ELI MANNING (2nd) & DE JASON PIERRE-PAUL (1st)

QB Manning passed for 277 yards, 3 TDs & 129.3 rating in WC last week. Has 11 postseason TD passes, most in team history. Ranks 2nd in club playoff history with 1,574 pass yards, 136 comp. & 225 att. Had franchise-record 4,933 pass yards & 8 300-yard games in reg. season. Has 22 career 300-yard games & passed PHIL SIMMS (21) for most in team history. Recorded 7th consecutive season with 3,000+ pass yards & 20+ pass TDs, most in team history. Had 15 4th quarter TD passes in reg. season, most ever in season, topping HOFer JOHNNY UNITAS & PEYTON MANNING

RB BRANDON JACOBS ties for 2nd in club postseason history with 3 rush TDs & needs 1 to tie JOE MORRIS (4) for most. Since start of 2005 (incl. playoffs), has 59 rush TDs, tied for 4th most in NFL. RB AHMAD BRADSHAW is 1 of 7 players in NFL with 1,800+ rush yards (1,894) & 80+ receptions (81) since start of 2010 season

WR HAKEEM NICKS had 6 catches for 115 yards & 2 TDs in WC last week, his 1st career playoff game. Ranked 2nd on team in reg. season with 76 catches, 1,192 yards & 7 TDs. Only player in team history with 75+ catches, 1,000+ yards & 7+ TDs in consecutive seasons. WR VICTOR CRUZ had team-record 1,536 rec. yards in reg. season, 193 more than previous mark (1,343, AMANI TOOMER). Had team-high 9 rec. TDs in reg. season, incl. 99-yard TD in Week 16, tied for longest in NFL history. Had 5 rec. TDs of 65+ yards in reg. season, 2nd most in season in NFL history (6, HOFer ELROY “CRAZYLEGS” HIRSCH, 1951). Had 7 100-yard games in reg. season, most by Giant in season. Cruz (1,536) & Nicks (1,192) are 1st set of Giants to each record 1,000+ rec. yards in same season. WR MARIO MANNINGHAM has 19 career rec. TDs & 13 have been 20+ yards, incl. 27-yard TD in last week’s WC

DE Pierre-Paul ranked 4th in NFL during reg. season with 16.5 sacks. Joined HOFer LAWRENCE TAYLOR & MICHAEL STRAHAN as only Giants with 16+ sacks in season. DE JUSTIN TUCK had 2 sacks in SB XLII, tied for most in postseason game by Giant. In past 23 games (incl. playoffs), DE OSI UMENYIORA has 20.5 sacks & 11 FFs. Has 3 career postseason sacks.

Team had 20 reg.-season INTs, most by NYG since 2000 when club advanced to SB XXXV. CB COREY WEBSTER led team with career-high 6 INTs in reg. season. Had INT in 2007 NFC Champ. vs. GB. Has 2 career postseason INTs.

PACKERS:

Have won 13 NFL championships, most all-time. Team’s .644 postseason winning pct. (29-16) is best in NFL history. Club has 29 playoff wins, 3rd most in NFL annals. Head coach MIKE MC CARTHY is 5-2 (.714) in postseason, 2nd best mark in franchise history (HOFer VINCE LOMBARDI, 9-1, .900). Won franchise-record 15 games, 6th team in NFL history with 15 wins. Packers were 6-0 vs. 2011 playoff teams. Team scored 560 points, most in franchise history & 2nd most all-time. Packers had 7 players selected to Pro Bowl: WR GREG JENNINGS (2nd), FB JOHN KUHN (1st), LB CLAY MATTHEWS (3rd), DT B.J. RAJI (1st), QB AARON RODGERS (2nd), C SCOTT WELLS (1st) & CB CHARLES WOODSON (8th)

QB Rodgers had 122.5 rating, best single-season mark in NFL history. Set NFL season record with 13 games with 100+ rating & 12 games with 110+ rating. Had franchise record 4,643 pass yards & 45 TDs. Is only QB in NFL history to pass for 4,000+ yards & have 6 or fewer INTs. In postseason, Rodgers has completed 118 of 174 (67.8 pct.) for 1,517 yards with 13 TDs vs. 3 INTs for 112.6 rating, highest in NFL history. Also ranks 1st in NFL playoff history with 67.8 comp. pct. & 8.72 avg. gain. Is 2-0 in career vs. NYG with 773 yards, 8 TDs, 1 INT & 121.2 rating

RB RYAN GRANT rushed for franchise playoff record 201 yards in 2007 Div. (1/12/08), 1 of 7 200-yard rush games in NFL postseason history. RB JAMES STARKS led NFL with 315 postseason rush yards last year

Packers had 5 WRs with 25+ catches each for 1st time in team history: JORDY NELSON (68), Jennings (67), JAMES JONES (38), DONALD DRIVER (37) & rookie RANDALL COBB (25). Nelson had career-highs in catches (68), yards (1,263) & TDs (15). His 15 rec. TDs were 3rd most by Packer in season. In 7 career playoff games, Jennings has 5 TDs & 3 100-yard games. Driver has 46 postseason catches & needs 2 to pass ANTONIO FREEMAN (47) for most in team history. Cobb led NFC & was 2nd in NFL with 27.7 KR avg.

TE JERMICHAEL FINLEY had 55 catches for 767 yards & 8 TDs & is 1st GB TE with 2 seasons of 50+ catches, 600+ yards & 5+ TDs

Since joining GB in 2006, CB Woodson has 37 INTs (2nd in NFL) & 9 INT-TDs (1st in NFL). Has INT-TD in each of 6 years with GB & is only player in NFL history with INT-TD in 6 consecutive seasons. Since 2010 (incl. playoffs), CB TRAMON WILLIAMS leads NFL with 13 INTs. Williams had 3 INTs in last year’s playoffs, incl. 70-yard INT-TD.

LB Matthews had 6 sacks & 3 INTs (1 TD) in 2011 & is 1st player in team history with defensive TD in each of 1st 3 NFL seasons. Had INT-TD in last game vs. NYG. LB DESMOND BISHOP led team in tackles.

S CHARLIE PEPRAH tied for 3rd among Safeties with career-high 5 INTs & had most INT return yards by S (147).

From the Dope Sheet:

THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT:

• Packers vs. New York Giants:
• All-time regular season: 27-21-2
• All-time, postseason: 4-2
• All-time, in Green Bay: 8-6-0
• Streaks: The Packers have won six of the last eight meetings.
• Last meeting, in Green Bay: Dec. 26, 2010, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 45-17

COACHES CAPSULES

• Mike McCarthy: 67-35-0, .657, (incl. 5-2 postseason); 6th NFL season
• Tom Coughlin: 151-121-0, .555 (incl. 9-7 postseason); 16th NFL season (8th with Giants)
• Head to Head: McCarthy 3-1
• vs. Opponent: McCarthy 3-1 vs. Giants; Coughlin 2-5 vs. Packers

LAST MEETING, IN GREEN BAY

• Dec. 26, 2010, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 45-17
• QB Aaron Rodgers returned after missing the previous game (concussion) to throw for 404 yards and four TDs.
• A pair of Green Bay WRs cleared the 100-yard mark, with Greg Jennings leading the way (7-142). Jordy Nelson added 124 yards on four grabs, highlighted by an 80-yard TD catch in the first quarter.
• FB John Kuhn scored a career-high three TDs, rushing for two and catching a TD pass.
• Green Bay’s defense recorded a season-high six takeaways, including four interceptions of Giants QB Eli Manning. The takeaway total matched the best mark under Head Coach Mike McCarthy (six at Chicago, Dec. 31, 2006).

Friday's Official Injury Report:

NEW YORK GIANTS

Status Report

OUT

LB Mark Herzlich (ankle)
PROBABLE

RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot, back), S Deon Grant (quadricep), CB Aaron Ross (concussion), RB Da'Rel Scott (knee), DE Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee), RB Danny Ware (concussion), CB Corey Webster (hamstring)

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Status Report

DOUBTFUL

LB Rob Francois (hamstring)

PROBABLE

T Bryan Bulaga (knee), T Chad Clifton (hamstring, back), WR Randall Cobb (groin), C Evan Dietrich-Smith (illness), WR Greg Jennings (knee), RB James Starks (ankle)