Green Bay Packers @ New York Giants
Final Score: Packers 27, Giants 20
Writer: Geoff Ulrich @thefantasygrind (X.com)
This was a back-and-forth game between two teams with offenses that have some solid pieces but lack the elite playmaking that could have driven the score into the 50s against two struggling defenses. Jameis Winston‘s season debut went about as expected, with him throwing a late INT to seal the loss for the Giants. Jordan Love was his usual up-and-down self with a small injury concern and then a very clutch late TD throw. The better team won, but Packers fans shouldn’t be overly optimistic. They allowed another below-average team to gain a bunch of rushing yards, and their offense continues to lack any creativity in the passing game.
Three Up
- Christian Watson — The Packers’ best WR. Should ball the rest of the season with Tucker Kraft out.
- Tyrone Tracy Jr. — Big yardage. Looked more like the 2024 version.
- Emanuel Wilson — Very underrated stash play.
Three Down
- Matthew Golden — One catch in his return.
- Wan’Dale Robinson — Volume took a hit in the first game with Winston.
- Luke Musgrave — Terrible game. Not a Kraft replacement.
Green Bay Packers
Quarterback
Jordan Love: 13/24, 174 Yards, 2 TDs | 2 Carries, 7 Yards
Jordan Love had an up-and-down game. He was under 60% completion and had to come off for a stint in the red zone (Malik Willis threw a TD pass). However, he also had a couple of amazing throws and got very little help from his receivers, who had some bad drops.
Love’s best work came later in the game, and his best throw was undoubtedly the end-zone fade he threw to Christian Watson from about 20 yards out. These are the sort of plays you’d like to see the Packers more often with Watson back, because Love is generally one of the best downfield passers in the league, but the Packers don’t really let him air it out until it’s crunch time or they’re behind.
Whatever the case, Love delivered when the Packers asked him to in this game, and if he hadn’t come out or his receivers had better hands, he’d likely have put up better stats. For fantasy purposes, the loss of Tucker Kraft is a huge blow, as none of the Packers’ other TEs have anywhere near the same potential. He’ll need to utilize Watson more like he did in this game and hopefully get more help from Matthew Golden, whom he did connect with on one nice 22-yard lob downfield on play action.
Malik Willis: 2/2, 6 Yards, 1 TD | 1 Carry, 16 Yards
Running Back
Josh Jacobs: 7 Carries, 40 Yards | 1 Target
Josh Jacobs got ruled out with a knee injury just before halftime. He looked fine beforehand and was likely in for a solid day. No news has dropped as of writing as to the severity, but nothing about the injury seemed season-threatening. He has been dealing with lots of injuries of late and missing practice, so seeing him out for a week or two wouldn’t be shocking.
Emanuel Wilson: 11 Carries, 40 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 9 Yards
Emanuel Wilson is a very underrated back. He’s the same size as Jonathan Taylor and has underrated speed and mobility for a back of his size. His best run came in the red zone when he caught the Giants by surprise with his agility and stayed upright through the tackles and just sort of glided into the end zone.
I’d stop short of saying he’s a perfect Jacobs replacement, but he’s perfectly capable of being the Packers’ lead power back and will likely get some support from Chris Brooks, who is more of a passing back. The Packers leaned on Wilson down the stretch, and I’d expect a big workload for him if Jacobs misses next week.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Christian Watson: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 46 Yards, 2 TDs
It’s pretty amazing how quickly Christian Watson has come back into peak form. He only saw five targets in this game as the Packers still seem intent on giving players like Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks more usage, but he came down with two TDs, one of which was a great grab over two DBs in the corner of the end zone that put Green Bay in the lead for good in the fourth quarter. The other TD was just him sitting down in the middle of the field and grabbing a somewhat risky Willis throw from the 2-yard line in tight coverage.
The Giants have poor corners, so seeing Watson dominate in this spot wasn’t overly shocking, but you would have also hoped that the Packers would have been ready to get him the ball 7-8 times with Kraft out. Whatever the case, injuries are forcing their hand, and I expect Watson to have a big end of the year. He’s the Packers’ only true alpha left on offense with Kraft out and now potentially Jacobs out for a week or two as well. He should be in for a big end of season, and this week was a great start, even if he only saw five targets.
Matthew Golden: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 22 Yards
Even with Kraft out, Matthew Golden could only manage three targets and one catch. His 22-yard catch was a simple lob downfield from Love, who bought some time rolling out and then hit Golden in stride after Golden managed to get some separation, but ran directly out of bounds after the catch. He was a ghost for large portions of the game.
I want to say this week is a good buy-low spot for Golden, but I would just be speculating on gut feel. The Packers need people like him to step up with Kraft out, and his talent is bound to shine through for some big games at some point, but it might be in 2026.
Romeo Doubs: 8 Targets, 4 Receptions, 53 Yards
Romeo Doubs had a brutal drop on third-and-11 at one point when the game was close, and struggled to get going for the most part. He’s a nice secondary option, but the Packers treat him like he’s a legit WR1 by giving him 7-8 targets a game every week, which they did again vs. N.Y. Sometimes he comes through for big games, and other times he disappoints. This week was more disappointing as he had the drop and only converted 50% of his targets.
Despite all of the above, he’ll keep getting solid targets, and this sort of game (four receptions, 50-plus yards) may even be somewhat of a floor for him with Kraft out and Watson now taking more primary coverage. Not a player I particularly love, but he’ll continue to be a factor for Green Bay.
Luke Musgrave: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, -1 Yard, Fumble
Had a brutal fumble where he was hit right after the catch and just coughed up the ball. The Packers really need him to step up, but he hasn’t done much of anything with Kraft out.
New York Giants
Quarterback
Jameis Winston: 19/29, 201 Yards, INT | 3 Carries, 10 Yards
The Giants were able to rely on their run game for large portions of this game, which allowed them to shield Jameis Winston for large portions of it. When the game was on the line, Winston then promptly moved the Giants downfield by taking some easy completions before trying to play hero and chucking a ball into the corner of the end zone, where it was intercepted. The ball was intended for Jalin Hyatt, who appeared to quit on the route, but Winston also decided to put the game on the line with a deep ball to a player who was WR6 on New York to start the year.
Overall, Winston struggled to find a connection with Robinson, but did manage some good gains going to Theo Johnson late and Isaiah Hodgins. I know he’s balled out as a backup before, but I’m not very bullish on Winston in this spot with New York. The Giants lack the sort of receivers he likes and seem to want to push him into playing more small ball, like they did vs. Green Bay.
If Malik Nabers were healthy, this would have been fun, but I don’t think 2025 Winston will be producing much fantasy magic.
Running Back
Tyrone Tracy Jr.: 19 Carries, 88 Yards | 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 51 Yards
Tyrone Tracy Jr. looked more like the 2024 version of Tracy we saw last year, when he was a versatile back and great at chewing up yards in the middle of the field. The Packers’ rush defense isn’t great, and he took full advantage, moving the sticks for the Giants on multiple occasions and keeping the ball out of Winston’s hands until late in the game (when he finally broke down and threw an INT). Doesn’t have great breakaway speed, but is a very good receiver and managed to get open multiple times vs. the Packers and break off bigger chunk gains.
I expect he’ll be relied on heavily from here on out, even if Jaxson Dart comes back. His main drawback is that his TD upside is lacking, with Devin Singletary being the preferred red-zone back and also having a rushing QB to contend with.
Devin Singletary: 16 Carries, 44 Yards, 2 TDs | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 3 Yards
Sort of crazy that both Giants backs got at least 15 carries, but it does speak to how poor the Packers’ rush defense was at stopping short conversions.
Devin Singletary was inefficient for the most part, except for in the red zone, where he converted on two short-yardage rushes, his best being a 5-yard scamper from the shotgun, where he showed that he still does have elite juke ability and danced into a hole big enough to allow him to find paydirt.
Expect his usage will suffer more when Dart gets back, but New York looks determined to keep him a big part of the rotation for now, despite him lacking in both the speed and power departments.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Wan’Dale Robinson: 9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 36 Yards
This was a rough game from Wan’Dale Robinson, who isn’t a huge body to begin with and struggled to get on track with an inaccurate QB who would rather chuck the ball downfield than make pinpoint short passes to a smaller receiver.
By default, Robinson is going to get volume given the Giants’ injury woes at WR, but if I were a Robinson owner, I’d be very mindful of the Dart injury progression this week and potentially have a backup in mind for Week 12 if he can’t play. He did manage to grab a couple of balls, but this wasn’t an issue of the Packers just shutting him down.
Isaiah Hodgins: 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 57 Yards
Isaiah Hodgins threw it back to 2022 when he burst on the scene as a Giants replacement receiver and lit it up for a few weeks, leading many (including me) to think he’d be a big factor for them the next season (he wasn’t, although injuries played a part).
Whatever the case, Hodgins really seemed to catch the Giants by surprise in this game. He was consistently getting open downfield for nice plays and caught a couple of nice balls in rhythm from Winston. It’s hard to say what his role will be the rest of the year if Darius Slayton comes back, but Hodgins is likely the best all-around WR they have after Robinson.
Could keep being fantasy-viable if he gets another week to start.
Theo Johnson: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 36 Yards
Theo Johnson took a step back from his career breakout game vs. the Bears the week prior. I’d be a little scared if Winston keeps starting as he didn’t do anything in this game until late when the Giants HAD to throw. Overall, it was a tougher matchup, but it didn’t seem like he was a huge priority for Winston, who would rather chuck the ball downfield to his WRs than check it down over the middle.
Jalin Hyatt: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 18 Yards
The Giants gave Jalin Hyatt another shot this week to carve out a role in this offense with Slayton out. His biggest contribution was running what appeared to be a poor or wrong route on the final passing play that resulted in the INT that killed the game for the Giants. Honestly would not be shocked if he was cut on Monday.