2008 NFC Championship Game: New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

The Battered Giants Heat to the "frozen Tundra" of Lambeau Field to Take on the Brett Farve and the Packers

When these two teams met up in Week 2 of the 2007 season, no one could even dream that eighteen weeks later they would square-off for the right to play in the 2008 Super Bowl. Last weekend the New York Giants pulled off a major upset when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys. A day earlier, Brett Favre led the Green Bay Packers to an easy victory over the Seattle Seahawks. On Sunday these two improbable teams will face-off on the "frozen tundra" of Lambeau Field.

Green Bay won their game rather impressively. The Packers overcame a 14-0 Seattle lead by controlling the flow of the game. The Packers new found running game grinded down the Seattle defense and the clock, scoring on six straight possessions to win going away. The underrated Packer offensive line opened huge holes all day long, allowing Ryan Grant to run freely into the Seattle secondary. Grant ran for 201 yards against a very good Seahawk defense and when the Packers weren't marching down the field with their ground game, Brett Favre picked apart the Seattle defense with a mixture of short slants and mid-range passes.

The extended Green Bay drives kept the tired Seattle defense on the field and forced the Seahawk offense to watch from the sidelines. The Seahawk offense isn't built to mount large comebacks. Forced to abandon their game plan, the Seattle offense was out of sync and floundered badly. In all, the Packers game plan worked to perfection and the game was all but over mid-way through the third quarter.

The New York Giants struggled with the Dallas Cowboys running game in the first half. They made adjustments to shut down Marion Barber and put the ball in Tony Romo's hands. Considering the injuries to the decimated defensive secondary of the Giants, it was a daring move.

The Giants were able to stay with the Cowboys in the second half. With a mixture of runs and short passes, the Giants were able to slow down the Cowboys pass rush just enough to give Eli Manning the time he needed to make key 2nd and long and 3rd and long completions. The Giants took the lead late in the game and it was a lead they held when the clock read 00:00.