GREEN BAY – The Giants closed to within one score at the end of three quarters, pulling within 17-9 of the Packers on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
The Packers' defense began the third quarter with a stop. A tackle for loss against the run and a second-down sack by LB Clay Matthews led to a Giants punt.
Green Bay went three-and-out, though, and P Jake Schum's 32-yard punt gave New York the ball back near midfield.
The Giants were threatening after passes of 18 yards to RB Bobby Rainey and 13 yards to RB Paul Perkins. Packers LB Nick Perry sacked QB Eli Manning on first down from the 11, and New York had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by K Josh Brown. That brought the Giants within 17-9 with 5:26 left in the quarter.
The Packers went three-and-out again, and an unsportsmanlike penalty on WR Jeff Janis for going and staying out of bounds on the punt gave the Giants an extra 15 yards of field position and had them starting near midfield again.
Green Bay's defense stood tall, though, as DB Micah Hyde chased down WR Odell Beckham Jr. on an end-around for a 6-yard loss. It appeared Beckham was looking downfield to throw the ball, but he didn't and Hyde ran him out. LB Julius Peppers then batted a pass on third down, and the Giants punted.
With RB Eddie Lacy sidelined by an ankle injury, the offense finally got moving as RB James Starks ran for 10 yards and QB Aaron Rodgers found WR Davante Adams for 20 yards over the middle. A 21-yard pass to WR Randall Cobb converted on third down to get the Packers near the red zone as the third quarter expired.
