GREEN BAY — Josh Jacobs is frustrated. What he is not doing is panicking.

While the Green Bay Pacers veteran running back is in no way pleased with how much the team’s running game has struggled — and he’s really ticked about the back-to-back losses the Packers have endured to the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles — Jacobs is not at DEFCON 1 on the Packers’ prospects for the final eight games of the regular season and into the playoffs.

And while he isn’t here to tell fans how to feel, Jacobs has no doubt the Packers can turn things around.

“I mean, we’ve lost, what, three games? And by a total of, what, nine points? It’s not the end of the world,” Jacobs said as the Packers (5-3-1) prepared for Sunday’s matchup with the New York Giants (2-8) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. “Obviously, we don’t feel like it’s the end of the world. We don’t feel like we’re panicking or anything like that.

“But it’s also something that we feel like as an offense, we have to address our mistakes to help this team — stop trying to rely on the defense to just bail us out and really, really get back to playing our brand ball, you know? That’s something that a win could definitely help build confidence and build trust in each other and things like that.”

With the Packers defense playing lights out and the offense searching for the light at the end of a dark tunnel, here are three aspects of Sunday’s game worth keeping an eye on.

1. ‘EVERY GAME’S A MUST-WIN’

Xavier McKinney has only been here for a year and a half, and Micah Parsons just got here in late August. Nevertheless, the two defensive stars are two of the clear-cut leaders in the locker room (along with Jacobs and others), and neither one of them was shying away from emphasizing how vital this game is to not only the Packers’ future prospects but also to the team’s psyche.

So while there’s technically no such thing as a “must win” in mid-November, since it’s not as if the Packers will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss, there’s no doubt that both McKinney and Parsons want their team to play like there is no tomorrow for them.

“I think it is a must win. I think we’ve put ourselves kind of in a sticky situation,” said McKinney, who was a first-team All-Pro safety last year in his first season with the Packers after four years with the Giants. “But it is what it is. Things happen. Obviously, things don’t go always as planned [or how] you want it to go sometimes, but you’ve got to make do [with] the circumstances that you have.”

All eyes will be on how the Packers respond to their two-game skid against a reeling Giants team that fired head coach Brian Daboll after four straight losses and will be missing a host of injured players, including starting quarterback Jaxson Dart (concussion).

“I think every game’s a must win. That’s how I was growing up. I don’t think you should allow any team [to beat you],” said Parsons, who faced the Giants twice a year during his four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. “I think you should have the same preparation, the same mindset, regardless of who you’re playing.

“You’ve seen it in this league. This league is unforgiving. It doesn’t matter who you are. On any given Sunday, you’ve got to line up with the same mentality as you do against your top opponent. It doesn’t matter. You see teams fall for it. ‘Oh, they don’t look good. They haven’t been playing well.’ I’m sorry, bro. The more we realize that [we can’t do that], the better we’re going to be.

“To me, this week’s a must win. Really, the next nine weeks should be must-wins, though. I want to be a top seed. I want to be in the playoffs. And those are [true] must wins. At that point, it’s win or go home.”

2. ‘I JUST TRY TO FOCUS ON MY NEXT KICK’

With veteran kicker Brandon McManus having woken up Saturday morning with discomfort and tightness in his problematic right quadriceps — resulting in him being added to the injury report and listed as doubtful for the game — the Packers will go back to their backup kicker, Lucas Havrisik, against the Giants.

Havrisik became something of a folk hero during his two-game stint when McManus’ injury first cropped up in early October, going 10-for-10 on his kicks (six extra points, four field goals, including a franchise-record 61-yarder) while McManus was out. The Packers won both those games, beating the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals.

In the three games since, McManus has made all five of his extra points but only 4 of 8 field-goal attempts. It’ll be up to Havrisik to keep his hot streak going after not kicking for three games.

“I really don’t celebrate them too much just because that’s the standard for us — making your kicks,” Havrisik said. “But every week, you’ve got to keep the same level of emotion of [being] even-keeled, just because it really doesn’t matter what you did last week. What are you going to do now? Obviously, it’s great, but I just try to focus on my next kick.”

3. ‘IT STARTS UP FRONT’

Head coach Matt LaFleur challenged the Packers offensive linemen this week to shake out of their inconsistent ways and to start leading the way for an offense that has lots its identity — not to mention its swagger and productivity — while scoring a combined 20 points in losses to the Panthers and Eagles.

“Absolutely, I think we have challenged them. I always think football — no matter who you’re playing for, where you’re at, what level — it starts up front,” LaFleur said at midweek. “So, you’re always challenging those guys. And those guys, I think they know we can do better. And we’ve got a great challenge in front of us. When you look at the front for the New York Giants, this is one of the premier fronts. So it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

Adding to the challenge that the Giants’ front four poses is the fact that the Packers lost center Elgton Jenkins to what is almost certainly a season-ending fractured fibula in his lower left leg.

Sean Rhyan takes over at center, meaning the Packers’ starting five figures to be Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Aaron Banks at left guard, Rhyan at center, Jordan Morgan at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle.

“We’ve got to fight through it. We say in [the offensive line room], ‘There’s five fingers, but it’s one fist together,’” Morgan said. “It starts up front, establishing the run. We’ve got to help Josh get those yards and protect Jordan at the end of the day.”

Added Rhyan: “We’ll take it on our backs. It does start with us, you know? You need a run game to open up the pass game, so we’ll take it and it’s on our back. We’re happy to have it. It’s the only way.”

But that has to be more than words, Tom said. The line cannot just talk a good game, it must deliver one.

“I mean, that’s what we say we want it to be, but obviously we’re not really doing that right now. So we’ve got to get it right,” Tom said. “You’ve got to get back to the fundamentals and have that mindset going into the game that we’ve got to execute up front for us to have a chance to be successful on offense.

“I mean, we can sit here and talk about it, but until we go out there and fix it, it’s really nothing more that needs to be said.”

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