Giants’ Eli Manning in familiar position

The forecast for Green Bay on Sunday calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-20s. That’s balmy compared to the bitter-cold NFC championship game at Lambeau Field four years ago, when the New York Giants won in overtime, 23-20.

Then, the mercury dipped to minus-23 and Eli Manning’s stock was on the rise, even though he didn’t throw a touchdown pass in that game.

“If there was ever a game I thought should’ve been canceled because of weather that would’ve been it,” Fox’s Troy Aikman recalled. “I was amazed that they were even able to play and I didn’t think either team would be able to throw the ball. Eli threw it amazingly well. That was an impressive performance.”

Manning was reluctant to relive that situation this week.

“I think this is a whole new situation,” he said. “It’s a new year, a new team, new players going against a new team.”

The Giants need Manning to be on his game Sunday, as he has become increasingly vital to their success, the club making the transition from a largely running team to a passing one.

Manning threw each of the Giants’ 589 passes this season, setting a franchise single-season yardage record with 4,933 yards passing. He also ranks third in consecutive regular-season starts (119), behind his older brother, Peyton (208), and Brett Favre (297).

Experience counts

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said his team’s march from the sixth-seeded NFC team to the Lombardi Trophy last season not only prepared the players to go 15-1 this season, but also gave them some perspective on the Giants’ frame of mind.

“I think we learned a lot last year being a six seed and having to go on the road,” Rodgers said. “You take on a different attitude as a team as the road team going into a hostile environment. I think that prepares us for the mind-set that the opposing team is going to have. It is a different feeling and last year we just got in and this year we had a run and got a bye. So it is a different feeling, but last year really helped.

“I think it helps us because we made the run, we know what it is like and we know the pressure that we are going to be under. It is a little different feel because we were the big underdog starting in the postseason last year and we made a run. We are the No. 1 seed now, so it is a different feeling.”

Life starts at 30

Green Bay has won a record 13 NFL championships and has a .644 winning percentage in the postseason (29-16), the best in league history.

With one more playoff victory, the Packers will join the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers as the only franchises to reach the 30 milestone. Teams with the most playoff victories (*still in 2012 playoffs): Dallas Cowboys, 33; Pittsburgh Steelers, 33; Green Bay Packers*, 29; Oakland/L.A. Raiders, 25; San Francisco 49ers*, 25.

Another view

Fox analyst and former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson, on the difficulty of winning back-to-back championships: “After you win the first one, then you are definitely under the microscope from day one after that. If the defending champions win a close game against somebody that everyone thinks they would beat easily, there’s nothing positive in the media. It’s all criticism of what happened to them, did they get lazy, are they complacent, did they work in the off-season, did they do too many books and radio shows?

“You also have to deal with the ‘what about me’ concept. Everybody in the organization thinks they should receive more accolades or a bigger raise. It’s very difficult to do it a second time.”

By the numbers

How teams compare statistically. Stats are per-game averages, except for sacks and turnover differential, which are for season (league rank in parentheses):

Category / Giants / Packers

Points scored / 24.6 (9) / 35 (1)

Points allowed / 25.0 (25) / 22.4 (19)

Pass offense / 295.9 (5) / 307.8 (3)

Rush offense / 89.2 (32) / 97.4 (27)

Pass defense / 255.1 (29) / 299.8 (32)

Rush defense / 121.2 (19) / 111.8 (14)

Sacks / 48 (3) / 29 (27)

Penalties / 5.9 (11) / 4.8 (2)

Turnovers / +7 (8) / +24 (2)

Farmer’s pick

This game should have all of the offensive excitement of Green Bay’s 38-35 victory at the Giants last month. The difference this time could be New York’s defensive line, which has been dominant. If they can get to Rodgers, the Giants could pull off the upset. Giants 34, Packers 31.