GREEN BAY – Tight end Marcedes Lewis ("Big Dog") and receiver Geronimo Allison ("G-mo") have two of the best nicknames on the Packers.
They've also been two of the unsung heroes on the Green Bay offense for much of the season, and a number of the little things they did showed up on film from the win over the Giants.
No one missed Lewis' first TD reception as a member of the Packers, so that's not featured here. The fourth-and-10 conversion to Allison wasn't missed either, but that is included because of a move that was easy to overlook while QB Aaron Rodgers was making an amazing throw off his back foot.
Here's a collection of the nickname duo's highlights, in chronological order as the game unfolded.
Play No. 1: Second-and-goal from the New York 8, first quarter, 8:49 left
Result: 8-yard TD pass to WR Davante Adams
This is a route combination that frees up Adams for the score, and Lewis (89) is right in the middle of it. Lewis crosses from right to left while Adams (17) and WR Allen Lazard (13) go the opposite way. As Lazard takes two defenders, LB Markus Golden (44) and CB Julian Love (24), with him to the outside, Lewis draws LB Alec Ogletree (47) out of the middle in the other direction. Adams simply sits down in the voided area, and with S Antoine Bethea (44) giving up the goal line by dropping halfway through the end zone, it's a touchdown.
Play No. 2: Third-and-5 from the Green Bay 39, first quarter, 2:37 left
Result: 15-yard scramble by Rodgers
It's an unconventional way to throw a block as Rodgers bolts the pocket to pick up the first down, but Allison (81) doesn't have upper-body leverage on CB Janoris Jenkins (20), so he uses the lower body instead. The result is a nifty way to run interference with his left leg without tripping the defender and drawing a penalty on what turned out to be the Packers' longest running play of the day.
Play No. 3: First-and-10 from the Green Bay 24, second quarter, 2:26 left
Result: 4-yard scramble by Rodgers
This is just a modest gain on a scramble, but it's worth showing because Lewis is matched up one-on-one in pass protection against Golden, the Giants' top pass rusher and leading sacker. The "Big Dog" clearly holds his own and shows why he's such a reliable blocker at the point of attack.
Play No. 4: Second-and-6 from the Green Bay 28, second quarter, 2:00 left
Result: 4-yard completion to RB Aaron Jones
The very next snap is, once again, not a big play by any means, but one that goes nowhere without Allison's aggressive and effective cut-block on Jenkins. With the way Adams and RT Bryan Bulaga (75) have set up their blocks on the outside, this play has a chance to rupture into a huge gain if Golden doesn't react from his defensive end position as quickly as he does.
Play No. 5: Fourth-and-10 from the New York 35, third quarter, 4:24 left
Result: 15-yard completion to Allison
The piece to watch here is the jab step to the outside – actually a double stutter-step it appears – by Allison at the top of his route. It gets CB Grant Haley (34) to take just a half of a false step the wrong way, allowing Allison to break open over the middle just in time for Rodgers to find him on what the QB afterward called the play of the game.
Play No. 6: First-and-goal from the New York 6, third quarter, 1:24 left
Result: 5-yard completion to Jones
Four snaps later, one more key block from Lewis. It comes on an outlet pass to Jones in the right flat when no one is open in the end zone. To Lewis' credit, he turns Jones' way as soon as the running back catches the ball and finds a way to get involved, helping fellow TE Robert Tonyan (85) take LB David Mayo (55) out of the play, which nearly gets Jones in the end zone.
