The Giants had 67 big-play passes during the regular season. One of those was a 67-yarder to , which fired the starter's pistol at the beginning of the Giants' run at then-undefeated Green Bay.
Big Blue would go on to lose on a last-second field goal, but Beckum, who had just one reception prior to that game, provided a necessary spark in the Week 13 matchup.
"I think that nobody in the locker room that week thought that we couldn't win that football game," Beckum recalled the Wednesday before their playoff grudge match. "I think that Eli [Manning] made a good throw and I put us on the scoreboard first. I think our team fed off that. Unfortunately, we ended up losing on the last drive, but I think throughout the game, Green Bay knew that we were prepared for them."
Meanwhile, Green Bay's defense gave up 70 plays of 20 yards or more through the air in 2011, rendering the Packers last in the NFL against the pass. Despite leading the league with 31 interceptions, Green Bay gave up 300 yards per game.
Sure, the fact that the defense was usually playing with a lead might have something to do with it, but Beckum knows opportunities will present themselves this Sunday.
"I think the deep balls are there," Beckum said. "Obviously, they have a couple good guys, a couple standout players on defense, but we've got to capitalize on what they give us."
The Dec. 4 meeting with the Packers also gave rise to another unlikely protagonist, Chase Blackburn. The linebacker intercepted Aaron Rodgers four days after he was signed to the team.
Tom Coughlin was asked if the team will need a similar lift from a secondary character.
"We do, but it takes everybody every week," he said. "Some of the things that people don't see – the special teams plays, the blocking downfield, that type of thing – it has to happen at the highest level to create some of the things that have happened – the Travis Beckum play in the first game. Those kinds of things that you're talking to and referring to, I think you have to have those. Somebody, and we say this quite frankly, somebody who perhaps no one is really aware of the fact of what they do or what their contribution is, is going to have to step up and make a play to help us win."
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