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Giants (1-1) vs Panthers (1-1)
Last week the Giants managed to come back against
Tampa Bay in a dramatic fashion to win their game 41-34. Eli Manning and his top
two receivers had to break a few records for that to happen, but the fans went
home happy.
The Panthers lost a division game to Tampa Bay in their opener,
but then came back last week to win against another division team. They left the
New Orleans Saints with an 0-2 record for the first time in five years as they
outscored them 35-27. Carolina
Panthers.
They're up next in the NFC South,
same as Tampa Bay, Atlanta and New Orleans as the Giants work through this division.
The Bucs turned over their whole coaching staff this year. The Panthers went through
all of that last season so their players have had some time to understand the
new systems. They actually did well last year ranking first in passing, sixth
in rushing, and second in points.
Those good numbers did not translate for
the defense however, as they ranked in the bottom six teams in giving up yards
and points. Carolina finished out at 6-10 which was still an improvement on the
2-14 they had the year before. Now they have one win and one loss against division
teams and like the Giants they will have a few extra days to prepare for their
next division opponent after this upcoming game. NY
Giants.
Is there football etiquette in
the NFL or unwritten rules of sportsmanship? Before the season started the Patriots
claimed tight end Jake Ballard. The Giants were thinking he'd clear waivers and
they'd be able to sign him right back and put him on injured reserve. "There
aren't any unwritten [rules]," Belichick said. "Any time you put a player
on waivers, you know there are 31 teams out there that can take him if they want
him. We all know that. There's no secrets about that."
Then last Sunday
head coach Greg Schiano defiantly insisted "there’s nothing dirty" and
"there’s nothing illegal" about the way he ordered his defense to dive
helmet-first at the Giants offensive linemen's knees on the final play to run
out the clock. The NFL confirmed that Schiano did not violate any written rules
with the controversial play, no matter how much of a "cheap shot" the Giants thought
it was. Panthers Offense.
They were back on track after having that
bad outing against the Buccaneers. Once again quarterback Cam Newton, the NFL
Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011, was effective and able to show why he was
awarded that honor. Unlike his first game, 4 yards rushing on 5 attempts, Newton
had 71 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 runs. His arm was good for 14 completions,
253 yards and 1 touchdown, opposed to 23 completions, 303 yards and 1 touchdown,
but 2 costly interceptions the week earlier.
Steve Smith, in his 12th NFL
season, had 7 receptions for 106 yards in their first game and 3 for 104 last
week. He still pulls double coverage but that makes Brandon LaFell more dangerous
and he had the only touchdown in week one and made a number of big receptions
against the Saints, including one run for 25 yards. The running game seems to
involve quite a bit of quarterback Cam Newton, but also DeAngelo Williams and
Jonathan Stewart, who combined for 120 yards and 1 touchdown. They run behind
free agent pickup, fullback Mike Tolbert. He and Stewart caught all three passes
tossed their way for 40 yards and 1 touchdown. Panthers
Defense.
They didn't look too good at the
start when they allowed Drew Brees to go 80 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown.
On the very next drive Brees threw short to tight end David Thomas and safety
Charles Godfrey cut in front for an interception and 9 yard touchdown. Brees was
never comfortable after that and even though he got off 49 passes there was constant
pressure and he was hurried. He threw one more interception and ended up with
a quarterback rating of 72.2. They rotated their linemen in and out of the game
and Charles Johnson is their main pass rusher coming into this season with 20.5
sacks. Cornerback Chris Gamble played great last year and has 27 career interceptions
to back up his reputation. They look better than last year, but still give up
a lot of yards per game and the Giants accumulated 604 yards of total offense
on Sunday. Giants Offense.
Some of Eli Manning's passes ended up
in the wrong hands last week or he would have broken more passing records than
he did, but he broke enough to win the game. Hakeem Nicks earned the NFC Offensive
Player of the Week honors for his 10 catches that netted 199 yards. Victor Cruz
was no slouch with his 11 catches and 179 yards. Both had touchdowns as well as
Martellus Bennett who is starting to show his worth at tight end. Bennett caught
5 passes for 72 yards and the blocking was there for Manning who was not sacked
on the day (51 passes) even with David Diehl out after the first quarter.
However the blocking worked out, the running game picked up after third-string
running back Andre Brown stepped in when Ahmad Bradshaw was sidelined in the second
quarter. Brown finished with 71 yards on 13 carries and his first career touchdown.
Second-stringer David Wilson was pulled in the first game after fumbling and only
saw 3 carries for 6 yards on Sunday. You'll get to learn a lot more about these
two on Thursday night since Ahmad Bradshaw is out for this game. Giants
Defense.
They're on a short work week,
but can't afford to have any jet-lag going up against the tricky multitasking
offense the Panthers put on the field. They need to get a more consistent pass
rush going and play better pass defense in the secondary. Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora
and Jason Pierre-Paul have just one sack to date. The Giants have been 'almost'
there a number of times in the past two games but still can't get to eager to
make something happen Thursday against an athletic quarterback like Cam Newton.
The secondary has had their share of injuries and long pass plays keep coming
their way. To date they've given up 5 passing touchdowns which is the 2nd most
in the league, and long yardage per each completion. The 9.6 yards per completion
puts them at 3rd in the NFL. Overall
Here you have it, an 8:20 p.m. Thursday nights game with the defending Super Bowl
champion New York Giants traveling to Carolina without starting running back Ahmad
Bradshaw, starting right tackle David Diehl and wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and
Domenik Hixon. The Panthers will be revved
up coming off their win over New Orleans and seeing their first prime-time game
at home since a 24-17 loss to Miami in 2009. The Giants could be hoping for the
best here against an unproven Carolina defense while giving their troops plenty
of time to recover for the big division game against the Eagles on Sept 30. NFC
East
On Sunday the Cowboys will host the
Buccaneers at 1pm at the same time the Reskins play host to the Bengals. The Eagles
travel to Arizona to face the Cardinals at 4:05pm. The Cowboys, Redskins and Eagles
are all favored to win their games. The Giants are not. From
thirty two to sixteen to six.
There are
only six teams that remain undefeated after only two weeks. In the AFC you have
Houston and San Diego. In the NFC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Arizona and San Francisco.
Over the past eight seasons, the Super Bowl
winners were undefeated after two games six times. The Giants were the exceptions
in 2002 and 2011. 
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Team Giants Store, and
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TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants are 12-6-3 in Thursday games. Giants
Eli Manning's 510 passing yards was the 2nd-most ever in a single game by a Giants
quarterback. Giants Hakeem Nicks 199
yards was a career high last week (previous was 165).
Giants in 2 games have run 10 plays within the 5-yard line for minus-six yards. Panthers
only division wins last year were against the Buccaneers. Panthers
had their first win over New Orleans since 2009. Panthers
Steve Smith's 17.6 yards per catch in 2011 was his 2nd career highest.
In
2008 he averaged 18.2 yards and currently has 10 catches for 210 yards for 21
yards per catch. Panthers Steve Smith
(knee) had limited practice on Tuesday. Panthers
Cam Newton has fumbled in each of the two games, turning the ball over one time.
Next Games
Sept 20 - Giants at Carolina.
Giants Tickets
- Buy
or Sell
Sept 30 - Giants at
Eagles.
Giants Tickets - Buy
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