WHEN THE GIANTS HAVE THE BALL

This should be the easy part.

After losing wide receiver Sterling Shepard to a torn ACL a few weeks ago, Giants will also be without wide receivers Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, and Wan'Dale Robinson with various injuries. To be clear, these guys aren't battle injuries and listed as questionable; they have all been designated as out and will not play. That's a lot of receiving talent out.

Plus, Giants rookie right tackle Evan Neal is going through some growing pains and gave up 3 sacks to DeMarcus Lawrence when the played the Cowboys a couple weeks ago. Rashan Gary has been lining up on that side and should have a field day rushing the passer.

Daniel Jones is just plain not good enough to make this passing game function with that talent.

However, the Giants can run the ball.

Daniel Jones, himself, is productive running, ranking 31st in the NFL in rushing yards - ahead of some team's number one running backs like David Montgomery and Rhaeem Mostert. Jones has been dealing with an ankle injury, but appears over it after showing no signs of limping in practice Friday, when he was a full participant in practice and had his injury designation removed from the report.

However, the real talent in the Giants offense is a rejuvenated Saquon Barkley.

An elite talent with speed and power, he made a highlight film in September and currently leads the NFL in rushing. The Giants offense will be centered around him and will probably feature a lot of misdirection to take advantage of Jones's running ability.

The Packers are going to need to put on their big boy pants, stack the box, and hunker down against the run to win. Kenny Clark can have a big game against the Giants interior line, but he won't be able to do it alone. 

With Jaire Alexander off the injury report, the Packers should be able to sit in man coverage with great corners and easily shut down low depth receivers, allowing them to keep seven or even (gasp) eight men int he box.

Adrian Amos plays a lot of run support, but his status is in doubt after a concussion last week. If he sits out, Rudy Ford might be called on to play more as a box safety, or the Packers could use TJ Slaton to run a 4-4 front. 

WHEN THE PACKERS HAVE THE BALL

Who knows?

We've seen a lot of uneven play from the offense, which - surprisingly - might be the 3rd best performing unit on the team so far. They've made big plays running and passing, but they've been inconsistent. They abandon the run when it's working, they struggle to get the passing game moving, they have a lot of turnovers and some big drops.

But it's starting to come together and now that we're out of September, we should see more cohesion.

The biggest factor may be the Packers offensive line getting healthy. They match up well against the Giants, who will be without starting end Azeez Ojulari and may also miss defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who is listed as Questionable with a knee injury.

The Giants haven't faced powerhouse offenses this year, but they also haven't given up more than 23 points in a game.

They have a solid defense (against less-than-elite teams), which is a big reason why they've been able to surprise the league en route to a 3-1 record. They haven't given up more than 266 yards passing in a game, but they are allowing a lot of rushing yards (28th in the league).

The Packers can play into that and use the ground game to make sure the defense doesn't get tired from tackling Saquon Barkley 30 times. The Giants run a nickel base, so pounding AJ Dillon and following that up with a lot of Aaron Jones runs is probably wise.

Still, the Packers will take some shots as they get their passing game moving against a defense that hasn't notched an interception yet.

Maybe Christian Watson wows the English by catching a deep ball...

OTHER NOTES

Traveling internationally can make it harder for guys playing through injury - asides from the regular rigors of travel, rest and treatment schedules have to change (Adrian Amos and Devonte Wyatt may have a harder time because of this).

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Packers haven't hit all cylinders on offense yet and their very talented defense has suffered from bad play-calling (particularly in Weeks 1 and 4) that gave up more yards than they seemingly should have.

Traveling across an ocean won't get them back in rhythm, but the Giants are beat up and really nowhere near as talented as the Packers.

Sadly, I think this is going to be the next step in muddling through an uneven early-season stretch than a breakout game against an inferior opponent.

Still, the Packers are clearly the better team and have shown the ability to beat lesser opponents even when they make mistakes.

Packers 24, Giants 16