Giants-Packers Preview

The New York Giants' trip to Green Bay to face the Packers is dripping with story lines.

Will Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham keep his poise and bounce back from the worst game of his career? In Monday night's loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Beckham was limited to three receptions for a career-low 23 yards. After scoring 25 touchdowns in the first 27 games of his career, Beckham hasn't found the end zone in four games this year.

"I think he'll respond well. I think he'll be excited to get out there and play again," Giants coach Ben McAdoo said. "I think a short week is a great week for a lot of reasons, and coming off of a tough loss at Minnesota, I think he'll be excited to get back on the field."

Beckham has a chance to get back on track against the Packers. After being frustrated by Washington's Josh Norman and Minnesota's Xavier Rhodes, Beckham will attack a Packers pass defense that ranks 29th in yards allowed. That unit has had trouble coping with the loss of cornerback Sam Shields, who figures to miss his third consecutive game with a concussion. Last year's first-round pick, Damarious Randall, has struggled to adapt to life as the team's top cornerback, with Minnesota's Stefon Diggs and Detroit's Marvin Jones having big days mainly at his expense the past two games.

"I know we've been struggling -- me in particular has been struggling," Randall said. "The great thing about that, I'm not struggling because of the receivers. I'm struggling because of myself. I know I'm going to bounce back."

While Randall tries to bounce back, McAdoo is coming back to Green Bay, where he worked as tight ends coach from 2006-11 and quarterbacks coach in 2012 and 2013.

If he was feeling nostalgic, he wasn't showing it.

"I haven't given it much thought," McAdoo said. "It's a quick week for us this week, playing on Monday night, fast turnaround. I'm sure I'll have some thoughts and emotions when I walk through the tunnel for the first time."

Few coaches know the inner workings of the Packers' offense and the man who runs the show, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, better than McAdoo.

However, neither McAdoo nor Rodgers thought that knowledge would make much of a difference on Sunday.

"They're running a similar offense to us, so that kind of goes both ways," Rodgers said. "They obviously have an idea of what we're trying to do and vice-versa. I wouldn't say there's a major advantage there. The people that know me the best, thankfully, are still on this staff. I've worked with Mike (McCarthy, the head coach) for 11 years now and Tom (Clements, the associate head coach) directly for six years. As long as we can hold onto those guys, I feel a little bit better about not all the secrets getting out there."

As for Rodgers, does one of the game's top quarterbacks have a weakness that can be exploited?

"No," McAdoo said.

A quarterbacking matchup between Rodgers and Eli Manning is about as good as it gets. Rodgers is a two-time MVP. Manning is a two-time Super Bowl champion. Rodgers, coming off a four-touchdown first-half performance vs. Detroit, owns the highest career passer rating in NFL history. Manning is two touchdowns away from becoming the eighth player in NFL history with 300 touchdown passes and is one win from No. 100.

McAdoo saw a common tie between the two.

"I think the competitive drive, the consistency in preparation, being able to articulate what's happening on the field and the ability they have to see the entire field is always something that's unbelievable to me, and just how slow the game is for them."

Manning is 2/3 in regular-season games against the Packers -- 1-2 vs. Rodgers -- but is 2-0 in the playoffs. The Giants won 23-20 in overtime to capture the NFC Championship in 2007 and 37-20 in the divisional playoffs in 2011. Both games were at Lambeau Field. The first was played with a kickoff temperature of minus-1; the second ruined the defending Super Bowl-champion Packers' 15-1 regular season.

"I obviously have some good memories in playoff games there," Manning said, "but obviously trying to make some new memories and bring some good memories to some of the players who weren't part of those teams."