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Keys to Victory

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Keys to Victory: Saquon does Saquon things; pressure Aaron Rodgers

KEYS-TO-VICTORY-SAQUON-BARKLEY

For history fans, Sunday's game in London is for you. Don't worry, though, if you're just here for the football. We have plenty for you, too.

The Packers enter Sunday's game against the Giants in London with a chance to upset the NFL pecking order that has stood for more than a century. The Packers have 785 regular-season wins and can break a tie with the Bears for most by a franchise in NFL history (Giants are third all-time with 709 wins).

The most recent time any team other than the Bears (known as the Staleys at the time) was in sole possession of first place on the leaderboard at the end of a day was on Dec. 3, 1921. The NFL was not yet called the NFL in 1921, the last season under the "American Pro Football Association" name.

The Buffalo All-Americans won on that day to improve to 9-0-2 on the season and 18-1-3 all-time. The Chicago Staleys did not play that day and were 7-1 on the season and 17-2-2 all-time.

Will there be a changing of the guard on Oct. 9, 2022?

The Giants and Packers kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET, a few hours before the Bears face the Vikings at 1.

More importantly, the Brian Daboll-led Giants are looking to improve to 4-1 for their own reasons. Here are three ways they can do so on Sunday:

Lean on Saquon

The Giants lead the NFL with 192.5 rushing yards per game, their most through four games since Vince Lombardi was the offensive coordinator in 1956. Fittingly, Saquon Barkley's league-leading 463 rushing yards and 570 yards from scrimmage are the most and second-most through four games in franchise history, respectively.

With a banged-up receiving corps and injuries to quarterbacks Daniel Jones (ankle) and Tyrod Taylor (concussion, the Giants will likely stick to their winning formula on the ground. Green Bay is 22nd in rushing defense, allowing 126.8 yards per game.

Win the turnover battle

Each possession counts when every game you've played in this season has been decided by one score. That goes double when facing Aaron Rodgers, who has the lowest career interception rate (1.3 percent) and sixth-highest touchdown rate (6.3 percent) in NFL history (minimum 1,500 attempts).

This season, only Indianapolis, Washington and New Orleans has a worse turnover differential than Green Bay at minus-3. The Giants are tied for eighth at plus-1 despite having no interceptions on defense yet. It is counteracted by a league-high six fumble takeaways and just five giveaways on offense.

Pressure Rodgers

According to Next Gen Stats, Aaron Rodgers' 28.6 passer rating under pressure this season is the second-lowest in the NFL behind Arizona's Kyler Murray (23.7). Rodgers' 79.8-percent gap between ratings with and without pressure is the largest in the NFL.

The Giants hope their pass rush is heating up at the right time. Wink Martindale has called blitzes on 41.9 percent of drop-backs, second-most in the league behind Detroit's 42.3 percent. Rodgers has not thrown a touchdown vs. a blitz this season.

View photos from the New York Giants' first three regular-season trips to Europe.

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