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Keys to Victory

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Keys to Victory: Giants look to make it 3 in a row

KEYS-TO-VICTORY-SAQUON-BARKLEY

As Joe Schoen said before the bye week, teams "can go one of two ways" when they start like the Giants did this season. The general manager was proud of the path they chose, winning back-to-back games entering the break. Their remaining schedule is strictly against NFC opponents, so they're "not out of it," Schoen said.

The Giants (4-8) will now look to extend their winning streak to three games against the Packers, who have won three straight of their own to climb back to 6-6 on the year. Here are three keys for the Giants to keep it going:

'Tis the season of taking

For all its complexities, football boils down to a handful of categories. Turnover differential is one of them, especially with these two teams. Jordan Love is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league right now, and not coincidentally, the Packers are surging. Love has at least 250 pass yards and multiple passing touchdowns in four consecutive games, the only NFL quarterback to have such a streak this season.

If that weren't enough, Love hasn't thrown an interception in the Packers' three-game winning streak and has the same touchdown-to-interception ratio (24-10) as Aaron Rodgers through 12 games of their first campaigns as starters in Green Bay. The Giants, on the other hand, forced nine takeaways in their back-to-back victories before the bye week.

"I think he's played good throughout the year," coach Brian Daboll said of Love in his weekly one-on-one conversation with Giants.com. "He knows where to go with the football, and he makes good decisions. He can make all the throws, he's athletic enough to have plays extended. He can make them with his arm, he can make them with his feet, and he has a really good deep ball. The first play of the Thanksgiving game (in Detroit), the 53-yarder to (Christian) Watson - he can stretch the field, run RPOs, good in the action game and has good technique in his ball handling. He's a good, young quarterback."

In DeVito they trust

Before the team dispersed last week, Daboll said the staff would have "plenty of meetings" about the quarterback situation for the final stretch of the season. The result of those discussions is that Tommy DeVito will start for the fourth consecutive week. The undrafted rookie is 2-1 with a 102.7 passer rating as a starter.

The Packers are ninth in the NFL in points per game (20.3) and have not allowed more than 24 points since Week 4. They have said the No. 1 priority this week is to stop Saquon Barkley on the ground, thus putting the ball in the hands of DeVito in his first NFL primetime start.

"The biggest thing is to keep progressing and keep improving," Daboll said. "The more you play, the more you see. He's made improvements along the way. Still has to keep improving and go out there and execute his responsibility to give our team a chance."

Don't dig an early hole

The Giants were outscored 40-3 in the first quarter of their previous two primetime games at home and must change that narrative to avoid a similar fate on Monday night. In their back-to-back marquee wins, the Packers jumped out to leads of 23-6 on the Lions and 14-3 against the Chiefs.

Stats to impress your fellow football fans

Barkley is 54 yards away from 5,000 rushing yards and 142 from surpassing Brandon Jacobs for fourth on the Giants' all-time rushing list.

  1. Tiki Barber – 10,449
  2. Rodney Hampton – 6,897
  3. Joe Morris – 5,296
  4. Brandon Jacobs – 5,087
  5. Saquon Barkley – 4,946

The Packers are 16-0 in the month of December under head coach Matt LaFleur. It is the second-longest by any team in the month of December in NFL history (including postseason), behind the Chargers' 18-game streak from 2006-2009.

The Packers are the only team in the NFL with three wide receivers (Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson) with at least five touchdown catches in 2023.

Green Bay's AJ Dillon has more rushing touchdowns in 18 primetime games (eight) than in 39 non-primetime games (seven).

Kayvon Thibodeaux has 52.4 percent of the Giants' sacks in 2023, the highest share since 2014 Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt.

View rare photos of the history between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.

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