Despite the Giants’ brief resurgence, the Packers’ offense was almost unstoppable even after losing Jordy Nelson for the game thanks to a hit to the ribs that he took in the first half. Nelson, the team’s top wide receiver, had just 1 catch for 13 yards, but Cobb more than made up for his absence by catching 5 passes for 116 yards. He tied the playoff record with 3 receiving touchdowns, and Davante Adams was nearly as good, contributing 7 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

In a televised interview, Rodgers did not mince words when describing his struggles up until the final three minutes of the first half.

“I was bad in the first half,” Rodgers said. “I was struggling to find a rhythm, they were covering really well, I took some sacks.”

Rodgers cited his own problems with holding onto the ball in the pocket too long with creating some of the problems, but was in a jovial mood despite enduring five sacks from the Giants’ hard-hitting defense.

The Packers’ defense, meanwhile, held tough holding the Giants to a pair of field goals despite a huge early yardage deficit, and then closed the game out strong. Manning finished the game having completed 23 of 44 passes for 299 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, never looking comfortable on Green Bay’s side of the field. Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. struggled against a banged-up Packers secondary, dropping two passes in the first quarter and failing to have an impact in the second half.

After a wild-card weekend of games that were seemingly never in doubt, much was made about the potential competitiveness of this game, and it delivered for the most part despite the lopsided result.