GOLDEN RECEIVERS
Packers have fleet of dangerous wideouts
GREEN BAY, Wis. — At least on paper, the Giants’ vaunted secondary will meet its match here Sunday.
Though plenty of factors went into Aaron Rodgers and the Packers rebounding from a 4-6 start to win the NFC North, their embarrassment of riches at wide receiver looks like the best place to start.
As tremendous as Rodgers is in his own right, it doesn’t hurt that the Canton-bound quarterback practically has reliable pass-catchers coming out of his ears as Green Bay prepares to play host to the Giants in a wild-card matchup at Lambeau Field.
“It’s an explosive group, no doubt about it,” Rodgers said this week. “To be able to just plug in people [at the receiver position] and not miss a beat is great. It’s a blessing. We’re a complete offense now.”
Rodgers famously guaranteed the Packers would “run the table” after that 4-6 start, and he was able to back that up with the current sixgame winning streak — and quiet the skeptics who wondered if he was regressing — thanks in large part to his array of receivers.
The veteran trio of Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Randall Cobb led the way in 2016, combining for an astounding 232 receptions for 2,864 and 30 touchdowns, but there are plenty more where that came from in the Packers’ seemingly endless well of pass-catchers.
Perhaps the best example of that is undrafted rookie Geronimo Allison, a player Green Bay had cut at the end of the preseason before bringing him back to the practice squad then promoting him near midseason.
Stepping in seamlessly for the injured Cobb in the final two weeks of the season, Allison had four receptions for 66 yards in a Week 16 win over the Vikings before taking a star turn in a decisive Week 17 victory over the Lions, catching four passes for 91 yards and what proved to be the winning TD.
Cobb is expected to return for Sunday’s game against the Giants, but fill-in performances like the one by Allison are why no one doubts the Packers’ receiving corps still would be in good hands without Cobb.
And it is not just the wideouts. Green Bay has a pair of reliable tight ends in Jared Cook and Richard Rodgers, and all of their running backs can catch, too.
How ridiculously deep is the Packers’ passing game? Rodgers completed throws to 16 different receivers — an absurd number — during the regular season.
This season wasn’t even the best example of the Packers’ depth at wide receiver. That came last season, when the speedy Nelson — their most prolific wideout and Rodgers’ favorite target — was lost for the year to a knee injury suffered in the preseason.
Nelson’s absence certainly was felt, as Green Bay plummeted to 25th in the league in passing, but Rodgers still finished with 31 TD passes as the Packers finished 10-6 and nearly advanced to the NFC Championship game before falling in overtime to the Cardinals in the divisional round.
Nelson made a seamless comeback, catching 97 passes for 1,267 yards and a league-leading 14 TDs this season, but the Giants will have to worry about a lot more than him Sunday in what is expected to be a frigid Lambeau setting.
Adams also is a scary matchup, especially around the end zone, after a breakout third NFL season in which he smashed his career bests with 75 catches for 997 yards and 12 TDs. Adams had just four TDs in his f irst two seasons combined.
Then there is Cobb, Allison and even Jeff Janis, whose numbers this season — 11 catches for 93 yards and a TD — are eye-popping for a fifth receiver whose primary role is on special teams.
“I know I wouldn’t want to have to stop all of our receivers,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. “That’s what you call a thankless task.” bhubbuch@nypost.com