Coming to a 100-yard playing field near you: The New York Giants starring in The Dead Zone.
It’s a horror show, all right, watching how the Giants operate when they get inside the red zone (the opponents’ 20-yard line). They get there more than almost any other NFL team — their 41 trips are tied for second-most in the league — but in those 41 trips, the Giants have scored just 18 touchdowns.
Their 43.9-touchdown percentage is 26th in the league. By contrast, tonight’s opponent, the Packers, know how to reach the end zone. Led by Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay is second in the NFL (behind the Saints) in red-zone touchdowns, succeeding 67.9 percent of the time.
“Just score,’’ Ahmad Bradshaw said when asked what the key was for the Giants. “That’s the key for every red-zone team or every red zone. Any time you’re in the red zone, you should score and that’s just what we have to work on. Just finishing the drives and the plays and I think we’ll be fine.’’
As fantasy football owners no doubt know by now, Bradshaw no longer is the Giants’ primary option near the goal line. Andre Brown, who has seven rushing touchdowns, gets the call more often than Bradshaw (four TDs). In the past four games, Brown, has scoring runs of 1, 1 and 2 yards — the only offensive touchdowns for the Giants in those games.
“Power, speed,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said when asked what he likes about Brown. “He’s pushed it in the end zone for us. Ahmad has done that as well.’’
* The Giants hope tonight’s game comes down to a kicking contest. Lawence Tynes leads the NFL in scoring with 109 points and in field goals with 28. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby is having a rotten season. He has missed seven of his past 13 field goal attempts and has kept his job despite a public outcry to find someone else.
* One of the reasons Rodgers has been sacked so often (32 times) is he refuses to throw the ball when he’s in harm’s way.
“He doesn’t throw the picks, he’d rather take a sack than throw an interception,’’ linebacker Chase Blackburn said. “We have to hit him and make those sacks count, make him feel our presence. Keep him in the pocket because once he gets outside that’s when he gets dangerous.’’
* Safety Antrel Rolle on the Packers’ do-everything Randall Cobb: “He’s a very explosive player and a very gifted player. You can put him at multiple positions. He is a guy who is definitely peaking right now. With Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball it doesn’t make it any easier.’’
* Beating the Packers never is easy. They are 24-4 in their last 28 regular-season games, an NFL-best winning percentage of .857 in that span. … Since 2010, the Packers are No. 3 in the NFL with 109 sacks. The Giants (119 sacks) and Rams (111) are Nos. 1 and 2.