By Matthew Frank

In a somewhat strange game, the Giants defeated the Panthers 31-18 in a somewhat soggy debut for the new Giants Stadium (call it what you want, but I’m sticking to my guns here).  The Giants, and in particular the special teams, were very sloppy but pulled out a victory thanks to some big plays and the incompetent Matt Moore.

Eli Manning was good this game, but too many people are talking about what a great game he had.  Yes, two of the interceptions were not his fault at all.  But the third one, off the hands of Ramses Barden, was thrown way too high and behind him.  Also, he basically hung Kevin Boss out to dry in the first quarter.  Manning through the ball in such a position that he was basically begging BOTH safeties to come down and really hit Boss hard…and they sure did knocking him out for the rest of the game.  I realize that it was a free play due to a defensive offsides, but Eli has to make sure his players don’t get killed.  Of course, the passes he threw deep to Nicks and Manningham were some of the prettiest plays of the week so we have to keep those going.

The rest of the offense was decent, but the running game had some major problems.  The offensive line couldn’t get any penetration off the ball and the defense was constantly in the backfield.  Bradshaw actually had a very productive game squirting around the early pressure, but the line must do better on the initial push.  Steve Smith was basically doubled all game leaving Nicks open, and boy did he take advantage of that.  Nicks was dynamic constantly jumping over and around defenders making big plays on seem patterns over and over again.  Mario Manningham also had a great game showing a good pair of hands and making some nice plays.

The defense was ok, but I don’t know how many weeks you can count on making three interceptions in the endzone.  Kenny Phillips was outstanding making a huge, leaping interception and also catch the Carolina running back with a shoestring, touchdown saving tackle.  Rolle also played really well and was the ball-hawk we all expected him to be.  The line was very good against the run and late in the game really picked things up and got a lot of solid pressure eventually knocking Moore out of the game.  However, the same tendency to give up third and longs was maddening as well as Carolina’s last drive to end the first half.  Carolina easily drove down the length of the field to score a last second touchdown which, at the time, put them in the lead.  These types of drives and conversions have to stop as a good defense should consistently get the ball back in those situations.

Perry Fewell put the defense in a lot of strange looks including at one point having 4 defensive ends on the field.  I don’t know if this worked or not, but the mixing of packages from a formally predictible unit may be a good thing.

Finally, there were the special teams.  For which I can say: ugh.  Wow, they were really terrible.  Matt Dodge was awful as a punter.  Yes, the blocked punt wasn’t his fault, but when he actually did get the ball in the air there was almost no air time and the returner frequently took the low-line drives and got a lot of yardage.  Kick returns were an issue as well, as the returners frequently got to the 30 or so.  It got so bad that towards the end of the game, the fans were cheering “We want Feagles!”  Dodge better get his act together, or the fans may get their wish.

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