Packers Time Capsule: The Packers log a dominant win over the Giants late in 2019

The last time the Packers faced the New York Giants, they needed a bit of a pick-me-up. The previous weekend, they’d been thoroughly embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers. The defense was bad, Aaron Rodgers was worse, and the 49ers thoroughly trounced the Packers on national television.

The Packers needed a get-right game. They got it in New York. Their 31-13 win over the Giants in Week 13 of the 2019 season tied their Week 7 win over the Raiders for the largest margin of victory in Matt LaFleur’s first season as head coach.

Normally, I try to look for some larger narratives in these looks into the past. There isn’t one here. The Giants were overmatched and the Packers took full advantage, dominating New York on both sides of the ball.

After forcing a punt on the Giants’ first drive, the Packers marched 72 yards in seven plays for the game’s first score, an eight-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams. The Giants evened the score on their next drive, but that was about as good as it got for the G-men because it was all Packers the rest of the way.

Allen Lazard scored perhaps the easiest touchdown of his career, Davante Adams notched another, and Marcedes Lewis caught his first score with the Packers to finish Green Bay’s work on the scoreboard for the day.

On defense, a bunch of different guys got in on the action. Darnell Savage got a pick, as did Kevin King (his fourth of a career-high five interceptions that season) and Tramon Williams (the 30th and final interception of his multi-part stay in Green Bay). It was the second of three times in his career so far that Daniel Jones has thrown three interceptions in a single game.

The result set both teams on courses they’d follow through the end of their respective seasons. For the Packers, it was the first of five straight wins to close the regular season and a key part of the conference winning percentage tiebreaker that earned them a first-round bye in the playoffs. The New Orleans Saints also finished 13-3, but had to travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings in the Wildcard round, losing in overtime.

The Giants, meanwhile, still had a month to go in the death march that would bring an end to Pat Shurmur’s run as head coach. They did get a little bit frisky late, winning games against Miami and Washington in Weeks 16 and 17, but even that was a curse. Finishing 4-12 (and behind Washington), the Giants dropped to fourth in the draft order. They still managed to get tackle Andrew Thomas, who has logged 33 starts at tackle so far, but they missed out on the chance to draft Chase Young, who may have been in play had the Giants not found a way to win a couple of meaningless games late in the year.