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Giants (6-7) vs Panthers (13-0)
Last
week the Panthers continued to roll over the rest of the teams in the NFL with
a solid 38-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons. The undefeated team has clinched the
NFC title and earned a first round bye.
On Monday night the Giants ended their
three game losing streak. They took the lead in the fourth quarter and and managed
to hang onto it for a 31-24 win over the Miami
Dolphins.
Giants
- Dolphins Wrap-Up
The
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers play in the
NFC South and were the first team in their division to win the title twice in
a row - 2013 and 2014. Now they've upped that number to three in 2015. Sill the
Panthers have yet to put together back to back seasons with a winning record.
How is that possible? Last year they won their division with a 7-8-1 record, so
they'll have to wait until next year to see if they can add that extra notch to
their belt with consecutive winning seasons. Despite getting into the playoffs
last year with a losing record, they weren't one and done. The Panthers beat Arizona
before losing in Seattle to the Seahawks, who later moved on to their Super Bowl
match with the New England Patriots.
Ron Rivera replaced John Fox as the head
coach in 2011 has led a 2-14 team to three division titles, and now has them unbeaten
with a 13-0 record. Coming into this season he was 33-33-1 with the team including
playoffs, and now wins have become the norm. Some will point out that only two
of Carolina’s 13 victories have come against teams currently above .500. That
won't change if they are successful against the Giants this week, Atlanta (6-7)
next week or Tampa Bay (6-8) the week after. Panthers
Offense
Despite sustaining a number of injuries last year coming off an ankle surgery,
broken ribs in preseason, and broken back bones from a car accident in December,
quarterback Cam Newton missed only two games. Newton's numbers have been fairly
consistent over his career with the Panthers. His completion percentage is just
over 59 percent and he averages over 5 yards a carry. This season his rushing
average has dipped, but over the past five games Newton's had a hot hand, completing
69 percent of his passes.
Half of Newton's career high 28 touchdowns have gone
to tight end Greg Olsen and wide receiver Ted Ginn. Olsen has the most receptions
on the team (65) for the most yardage (969) by a wide margin. Ginn is next with
37 catches for 645 yards. Running back Jonathan Stewart, who leads the team with
242 carries for 989 yards and 6 touchdowns, is out for this game. The next leading
rusher is Newton, who has carried the ball 111 times for 480 yards and 7 touchdowns. Panthers
Defense
All the teams that face the Giants
know that they have to stop the Eli Manning to Odell Beckham Jr. show. The Panthers
have 40 sacks on the year, the third-most in the league, but it's hard to get
to Manning before he throws. They have possibly the best cornerback playing today.
Josh Norman hasn't allowed a touchdown since
the first game and Beckham has pulled in 12. Norman
has made four interceptions, returned two of
them for touchdowns and he'll be tracking Beckham in this game. Norman's been
successful against top wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Dez Bryant, Julio Jones,
Mike Evans and T.Y. Hilton.
This defense allowed Drew Brees to throw three
touchdown passes on them two games ago, but really cracked down last week with
their shutout game with Atlanta. They had two interceptions, two fumble recoveries
and registered five quarterback sacks. Their run defense has them ranked fourth
and they'll be up against the Giants' 32nd-ranked ground game. If they make that
work, Manning will be throwing more passes. Starting cornerback Bene Benwikere
suffered a broken leg in the game last week so that's a concern for their secondary. Giants
offense
Eli Manning was named the NFC Offensive
Player of the Week after his 337-yard, four-touchdown game on Monday night. Odell
Beckham Jr. added another spectacular catch to his highlight reel. It was a touchdown
in the endzone that was so close it required a Tom Coughlin challenge flag review.
Beckham also had another to total two and included 166 yards. Manning continues
to hit Beckham no matter what the coverage and it has paid off. He leads the league
with six touchdown passes of 50 or more yards and five have gone to Beckham.
Along
with Manning's speedy delivery, the offensive line has been able to limit his
sacks to 21. They'll need more of that playing against this Panthers team. They
had some measure of success last week moving away from the 'pack of running backs'
mentality that seems to confuse them more than their opponents. Rashad Jennings
got the most carries and I'd like to see Shane Vereen line up with him on some
plays as an alternate running back-receiver to keep defenses guessing. Giants
defense
They catch a big break with Carolina's
top running back Jonathan Stewart being sidelined for this game. Also, tight end
Greg Olsen injured his knee last week against
the Falcons and though he'll play, it could limit his effectiveness. If Cam Newton's
backup runners can't do the job, and it turns out that he can't rely on Olsen,
his go-to receiver, then Newton would be inclined to run the ball more. This of
course will still be a problem for the Giants. Even the threat that Newton might
keep the ball instead of handing off to Mike Tolbert or Fozzy Whittaker might
be enough to freeze a defense. They also flip the ball to their receivers who
take off on a run.
The Giants rank dead
last in giving up passing yards and aside from Olsen, they will have to keep an
eye on Ted Ginn. He caught only two passes last week and both were for long touchdowns,
74 and 46 yards. Jason Pierre-Paul has improved the Giants pass rush, but Newton
can make you pay if you miss on taking him down with his running ability. Two
games ago Newton was sacked once but took numerous hits and was ordered to undergo
concussion testing. The Giants just signed Barry Cofield and while his experience
level is a big plus, you can expect him to be limited in his first game. Overall
You'd
get laughs if you said that the Carolina Panthers are facing their worst nightmare
- the New York Giants. Why would anyone think that an unbeaten playoff bound team
could take a loss to the 6-7 Giants? Giants' fans know that they play up or down
to their level of competition. Earlier in the season the Giants took a 52-49 loss
in New Orleans to the woeful Saints. Two games later in the Meadowlands the New
England Patriots were lucky to leave town with a close 27-26 win and still alive
with their unbeaten record.
That's how this team plays and nine of the Giants
games this season were decided by a touchdown or less. The four that had the bigger
swings were actually three wins by the Giants against just one loss.
Now Carolina
comes to town with their unbeaten record, anxious to keep that going, but still
thinking about the bigger picture down the line. They've locked up the division
and have a first round bye. Home-field advantage throughout the playoffs is a
possibility with a win over the Giants. They're getting dinged up on offense with
their leading runner and receiver and certainly don't want to add to that by risking
their quarterback. If the Giants can play tough on defense and if they are lucky
enough on offense to get an early lead, things will get interesting. The Panthers
might consider a run for an unbeaten season record small change in their bigger
quest to get to the Super Bowl. NFC
East Games
Saturday at 8:30pm Jets (8-5)
at Cowboys (4-9)
Sunday at 1:00pm Bills (6-7) at Redskins (6-7)
Sunday at
1:00pm Panthers (13-0) at Giants (6-7)
Sunday at 8:30pm Cardinals (11-2) at
Eagles (6-7)
There are no NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
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Notes.
Giants
were on the receiving end of a 38-0 shutout to Carolina in 2013. The Panthers
38-0 victory over Atlanta last week was their first shutout since then.
Giants
Beckham has logged more than 100 receiving yards in six straight games. Panthers
have won 17 consecutive regular-season games over the past two years. Panthers
have rushed for more than 100 yards in 24 consecutive games. Panthers
are the ninth team in NFL history to start 13-0 - eighth in the Super Bowl era. Panthers
are on track to match the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0) and 2007 New England Patriots
(16-0) for a perfect regular season record.
Next Games
Dec 27 - Giants at Vikings.
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Jan 3 - Eagles at Giants.
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