The Giants opened their brand new stadium with a 31-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers. This game was important to the Giants for many reasons, first game in the new stadium, multiple players coming back from serious injuries(Kenny Phillips and Keith Bulluck) and because the last time these teams met Carolina embarrassed the Giants in a 41-9 demolition. In the rematch the Giants showed that the defense is no longer the sieve that it was last year, and the offense, drops and all, is picking up where it left off last year. Here are some notes from the game.
-Hakeem Nicks showed his play-making ability with 3 TD receptions. He got separation consistently and showed great ball skills, pause.
-Ahmad Bradshaw had a good game, some big losses on runs hurt his numbers a little but expect that to happen because of all his cut back and reverse field runs. He finished with 76 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries.
-Eli Manning had a really good game he was accurate and made good decisions but 3 interceptions off of drops will hurt you. He also had 3 touchdowns and showed his mastery of the offense.
-The defensive secondary for the Giants looked like a strength this week with 3 interceptions and held Matt Moore to a 42% completion percentage and 32.6 passer rating. They were swarming around the ball and safeties Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle looked like a nasty combination.
-The defensive line looked suspect in the first half but got tons of pressure in the second half with four sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The Giants rotation is so deep with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka all making plays, it might be too early to say they have returned to their Superbowl form but look for a big improvement from last year.
-Special teams is a big issue right now for the G-men, punter Matt dodge was kicking ducks like he has all preseason and kickoff coverage was terrible giving the panthers great field position most of the game.
Overall the Giants played well, they played sloppy at times but they looked in control for most of the Game. They will be playing the Colts next week, if they want to win that game they will definitely need to keep those turnovers in check because Peyton Manning will not throw 3 interceptions in the end zone...you can take that to the bank.
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