Keys to the Game (Dec. 1)

The Green Bay Packers (8-3) travel to take on the New York Giants (2-9) at noon, Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. FOX televises the game.

Coaches

Green Bay — Matt LaFleur, first season (8-3). New York — Pat Shurmer, second season (7-20; 17-43 overall).

History

Green Bay leads 28-23-2 in regular-season action. Their last matchup came in the 2016 playoffs, with Green Bay cruising to a 38-13 victory to improve its postseason record to 5-3. The Giants won the last two games played in New Jersey, back in 2012 and 2013.

When the Packers have the ball

Green Bay took a step backward rather than a step forward after its bye. It will be up to LaFleur to find some answers for a unit that went 0-for-13 on third down with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and averaged a woeful 2.82 yards per play in the blowout loss at San Francisco.

The Giants might provide some relief. They rank 29th in points allowed per game (28), 27th in total defense (377.5 yards per game) and 31st in yards per passing play (8.08). They have been stout against the run (No. 7 with 3.93 yards allowed per carry) and superb in the red zone (No. 6 with a 47.2 percent touchdown rate).

The unit’s strength is its defensive line — a statement that was true before the trade-deadline acquisition of Leonard Williams, the sixth pick of the 2015 draft and a 2016 Pro Bowler with the Jets.

Dalvin Tomlinson, first-round pick Dexter Lawrence and B.J. Hill are the starters in the Giants’ 3-4 alignment. Tomlinson and Lawrence have 2.5 sacks apiece. While Hill is listed as the starter, Williams played 46 snaps on Sunday at Chicago compared to 20 for Hill.

The linebackers are Markus Golden and Lorenzo Carter on the outside and Alec Ogletree and David Mayo on the inside.

Golden is by far the unit’s most productive player with team-leading figures of 7.5 sacks, 10 tackles for losses and 16 quarterback hits. Ogletree has 54 tackles and five passes defensed and Mayo has added 48 tackles.

DeAndre Baker, Janoris Jenkins and Corey Ballentine are the corners, and Jabrill Peppers and Antoine Bethea are the safeties.

Jenkins leads the team with four interceptions and 13 passes defensed. Baker (first round) and Ballentine (sixth round) are rookies and have played like it. According to Pro Football Focus, Baker has allowed a 144.3 passer rating with six touchdowns vs. zero interceptions. After playing just 10 snaps in the first eight games, Ballentine has been thrust into the slot position the past three weeks. He’s allowed a 124.5 rating for the season, and the Bears targeted him frequently.

Peppers (76 tackles) and Bethea (75) are the team’s leading tacklers. Both have one interception. Peppers, who was acquired in the trade that sent receiver Odell Beckham to Cleveland, has three of the team’s five forced fumbles. A hip injury could keep him out of Sunday’s game.

When the Giants have the ball

With rookie Daniel Jones having replaced longtime starter Eli Manning, the Giants are scuffling along on offense. New York has lost seven straight and failed to score 20 points in four of those games. It is 24th in scoring (19.7 points per game), 25th in total offense (315.0 yards per game), 22nd in rushing (95.5 yards per game) and 22nd in passing (219.5 yards per game).

Jones, the sixth pick of this year’s draft, has been OK. He’s 22nd in quarterback rating (87.8) and completion percentage (62.5) and 32nd in yards per attempt (6.41). In a Week 10 loss to the Jets, he threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns. After a Week 11 bye, he threw for only 150 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears.

As the No. 2 overall pick last season, running back Saquon Barkley took the NFL by storm with 1,307 rushing yards (5.0 average), 91 receptions for 721 yards — a league-leading 2,028 yards from scrimmage — and 15 total touchdowns. An ankle injury, however, has kept Barkley in check. He has a team-high 461 rushing yards but just a 3.9-yard average and two touchdowns, and he’s added 35 receptions for 259 yards and one touchdown. That puts him on a pace for 1,047 scrimmage yards and 4.4 total touchdowns.

“Watching film of myself, I allowed — I don’t know what it was — for me not to be me,” Barkley said before Sunday’s loss at Chicago, a game in which he rushed for 59 yards and added 1 yard on two catches “That’s what I’m getting back to this week. I’m going to go out there and ball and have fun.”

Tight end Evan Engram has been the best target, with a team-high 44 receptions for 467 yards and two touchdowns. He missed the last two games with a foot injury. Given the Packers’ struggles against tight ends, there’s no doubt they’re hoping he’ll be out again.

Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton are the primary receivers. Shepard missed five games with a concussion but returned to catch five passes against Chicago. He has 30 receptions for 282 yards and one touchdown in five games.

In seven games with the Giants, Tate has 36 receptions for 450 yards and four touchdowns. He suffered a concussion against the Bears. Slayton has 31 catches for 461 yards and a team-high five touchdowns, including 10 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns vs. the Jets.

The Giants’ line has been a disappointment. In 2018, they lured Nate Solder away from New England with a five-year, $62 million contract and used a second-round pick on guard Will Hernandez. In 2019, they acquired right guard Kevin Zeitler from Cleveland in the Beckham trade. Still, the Giants rank in the bottom third in the league in rushing yards and sacks allowed. Solder has allowed a league-worst nine sacks, according to PFF.

Special teams

Will this be the week when Green Bay’s punt return does something positive? The Packers have lost 11 yards on punt returns this season — including two returns for minus-3 yards by Tremon Smith vs. the 49ers. Giants punter Riley Dixon is averaging 47.0 yards per punt. Of his 45 kicks, 19 have been returned for a 5.9-yard average.

Kicker Aldrick Rosas has been terrible, with three missed extra points and 0-for-3 on field goals of 40 yards or longer. His kickoffs, however, have been tremendous; the Giants are allowing just a 14.8-yard average on returns.