Green Bay Packers Prepared, New York Giants not so much

Packers Prepared, Giants not so much 2017 images

Green Bay Packers Prepared, New York Giants not so much 2017 images

I doubt the yacht controversy involving the New York Giants had much to do with the loss they suffered at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

The Giants simply got outplayed, running into the hottest quarterback in the League on a super cold field.

Their offense was no match for the Pack who seemingly can throw up a Hail Mary in any big game and expect amazing things to happen.

One could argue that things like catching a long ball to end the half are just luck. I would argue that luck is the residue of opportunity and preparation. The fact that Aaron Rodgers has done the Hail Mary thing with success repeatedly (3 times in two years) shows it isn’t all luck.

And as good things happen to teams that are properly prepared, bad things happen to teams that were not so ready. Perhaps the Giants receiving corp would have been better prepared for a shirtless photo shoot at halftime or if a sailboat ran aground at Lambeau Field. Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz could have repaired the hull.

It simply doesn’t matter if the Giants wideouts were not distracted by their little trip seven days ago to Miami. The perception is that they were not ready to play a red-hot team in the Packers.

OBJ had his second-lowest yardage total ever with just 28 yards. And it’s not like the guy wasn’t in the game plan. He just did nothing with his 11 targets. He ended the loss with just four catches and two big drops.

Beckham finished the game behind four of his teammates in receiving yardage. Not a good look for a guy considered to be one of the three best wideouts in football.

For reference, the best wideout in football had 124 yards versus Miami, along with two scores. Antonio Brown was nowhere near a yacht with a galley full of weed and Adderall last week by the way. And if he was, he kept it to himself.

The Giants receivers accounted for 299 yards compared to 362 for Packers receivers. Three of the Giants’ boating enthusiasts / Justin Bieber fans accounted for less than half of the 299 though.

Beckham still defended the Miami trip after the game, saying that the trip had nothing to do with the result of the football game. That’s his position and he’s sticking to it.

However, he has to know that it would become a story. And if he didn’t know, he should have known. Or somebody close to him with some sense should tell him for future reference.

The emotional Beckham is now caught up in “Sheetrock Gate” as he apparently knocked a hole in the wall of the locker room after the game. And allegedly banged his head on a door according to grounds people for the Packers, per ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

Once again OBJ is a part of a bad story.

Until he realizes his best bet is to make headlines on the field, this will continue.

And it matters not that he feels like these off the field issues don’t affect the game. The fact is that he’s done more to create headlines off the field than on it lately.

Nobody cares what Randall Cobb did after this round one game. Or before. Why?

Because the dude caught three touchdown passes to help his team advance.

It’s easy to be part of a positive story. You just have to keep the main thing (football) the main thing.