There is no doubt that the Packers will see a heavy dose of Saquan Barkley on Sunday. And, we can expect the Giants to test whether and how the Packers adjust to the Patriots exploitation of the Packers newfound defensive weakness up the gut.
The Packers are still searching for their identity: how do they win games? Their light box approach to date suggests that defensively they want to try to prevent quick explosive scores and try to create third and long situations where they can become more aggressive in order to get the ball back. Offensively, they have implemented a grinding run game that creates explosives with schemed short pass plays. Put together, this approach theoretically results in low-scoring games and the Packers confident that their superior quarterback will provide them with the upper hand in the end. On paper, this strategy can make sense, particularly against high-flying playoff-bound teams like the Chiefs. The Packers hope that the failure of the strategy against just this type of team in the form of the Vikings was a week 1 anomaly.
The problem with this strategy, as we have seen, is that it can provide an inferior team with a strong run game (the Patriots) with perhaps their only real path to victory: a close game that boils down to who makes the last mistake. It would appear that this is the Giants only path to victory as well. As @BruceIronsNFL has articulated (http://www.packersforthewin.com/3-questions-packers-vs-giants-2022-week-5/), will Joe Barry finally stack the boxwill Joe Barry finally stack the box? On paper, this revised approach makes the most sense as it places stress on a poor Giants passing attack to win against the Packers superior corners. If they do load the box, will the Packers also open up the passing game in order to further force the Giants to move away from Barkley? The chess match will be fascinating to watch and tell us a lot about the Packers’ identity moving forward.