Giants vs. Packers: Three things to remember

As the Giants prepare to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and the players prepare to bombard you with the usual mix of trash talk and cliche, here are three story lines to keep your eye on:

(1) A deceiving defense

One of the most amazing non-Tebow-related elements of this season is just how porous the defenses have been on some of the best teams in the league. Heck, the AFC's top-seeded New England Patriots have given up at least 20 points 12 times this season. And while Green Bay has done that ONLY nine times, many stats point to the Packers as having the most putrid defense in all of football: (1) they've given up 411.6 yards-per-game, dead last, and (2) they've given up 6.3 yards-per-play, second to last.

But don't get the idea that Clay Matthews and company couldn't slow down a turtle. Dig a little deeper and you see there's reason to fear Green Bay's defense, a unit that is fairly good in two key areas: preventing points and ruining the running game allowed.

Green Bay ranks 14th in rushing yards allowed (1,789), giving up 111.8 per game. They're also tied for sixth in the league with 10 rushing touchdowns.

And though the Packers are prone to letting opposing teams rack up huge amounts of yardage, turning those yards into points is another story. Green Bay is 14th in the league in total points allowed (359).

One reason for the discrepancy is Green Bay's ability to force turnovers. While other teams may get pass-happy on the Packers, Green Bay leads the league with 31 interceptions, keyed by Charles Woodson (seven) and Charlie Peprah (five). Tramon Williams and Sam Shields each have four.

(2) Passing fancy

So do those defensive numbers mean Eli Manning should be more cautious throwing the football? Absolutely not!

Of Green Bay's 31 interceptions, 16 have come against the young and the struggling: Oakland (4), Detroit (3), San Diego (3), Denver (3) and Carolina (3). Five teams have faced Green Bay this year and had one or fewer interceptions, among them the Giants. Drew Brees and the high-flying New Orleans offense didn't give up a single pick. But Brees did throw for 396 yards and three touchdowns.

(3) It all comes back to one

Historically, the Giants vs. Packers match-up is a bit one-sided. In 37 games dating to 1940 (including playoffs), the Giants are 14-23 against the Packers. They don't have a winning record anywhere, going 6-8 on the road and 8-15 at home. With Manning as a starter, the Giants are 1-3. In the playoffs, the Giants are 1-3, losing to the Packers in 1944, 1961 and 1962.

But the only historical touchstone with any relevance to this game might be the one that occurred one frigid night in January 2008: a 23-20 overtime victory that sent the Giants to the Super Bowl and sent Brett Favre retiring for the first or second time (we lost count).

That game showed that Manning and the Giants can play and win in the cold confines of Lambeau Field in January. But it's important because it also gives us some clues about why 2012 could be different.

For one, Lawrence Tynes was only able to kick his game-winning field goal in overtime because Favre threw an interception. Even in his best year, Favre threw at least seven interceptions, and that didn't occur until 2009. His previous career-mark was 13. Aaron Rodgers is a different beast. While putting the ball in the air enough to throw for 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns, he still managed to keep to just six interceptions this season.

The Giants also fumbled five times in that game, losing only one. Don't expect that kind of luck again. This year the Packers have forced 13 fumbles and recovered seven.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled playoff programming.