Giants Don’t Look So Hot in 20-10 Loss to Panthers: The Giants fell to the Carolina Panthers 20-10 on Sunday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Giants were certainly not crisp and looked very much like a team that has only had 11 practices (with the new additions only having seven practices due to the agreement that ended the lockout).
The Giants could not move the football as the offense seemed out of sync all evening. A missed pass, block, or catch was often the culprit that ended a drive. The Giants were only 3-of-16 on third-down conversion attempts (and 0-of-1 on fourth down). The Giants did not score a touchdown on offense.
On a positive note, WR Domenik Hixon looked good catching five passes for 86 yards.
“We didn’t get off to a great start,” said QB Eli Manning, who finished 4-of-9 for 36 yards. “We didn’t make any critical mistakes, didn’t turn the ball over, so those are positives. But we were never able to get into a great rhythm. We missed a few opportunities and made a couple mental mistakes. Those are the things that kept us from keeping drives alive.”
“In the first one, you really want to communicate,” LG David Diehl said. “You want to get on the same page. It’s good to get some short yardage situations. You want to have scoring drives and get some first downs. Unfortunately we didn’t do that today. We’ve got a lot to learn, but we’ve got some good film now to study to really see the things we need to improve on going into next week.”
There were flashes on defense, including a defensive touchdown on a 56-yard interception return by LB Michael Boley. The turnover was caused by pressure from DE Jason Pierre-Paul, who also had two sacks in limited first-half action. The Panther were held to a dismal 1-of-13 on third-down conversion attempts.
But the defense also gave up a quick, 3-play, 54 yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, a late 6-play, 66-yard touchdown drive, and allowed 342 total net yards.
There was shoddy tackling and special teams were – continuing a troubling theme from last season – not impressive. Blocking on returns was non-existent and PK Lawrence Tynes was 1-of-3 on field goal attempts, including missing a 37-yarder. He also had a 44-yard field goal blocked and was injured on the play with a thigh contusion.
Not playing because of injury were: TE/H-Back Travis Beckum (hamstring), WR Ramses Barden (ankle), WR Samuel Giguere (groin), OC Adam Koets (knee), OC Jim Cordle (knee), LB Clint Sintim (knee), CB Prince Amukamara (foot), CB Joe Burnett (hamstring), S Brian Jackson (back), CB Joe Burnett, and DE Osi Umenyiora (surly attitude).
Gerris Wilkinson Signs With Jaguars: Unrestricted free agent LB Gerris Wilkinson has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Giants did not tender Wilkinson before the lockout so it is assumed they were not interested in retaining his services.
Giants.com Q&A With QB Sage Rosenfels: The video of a recent Giants.com Q&A with QB Sage Rosenfels is available at Giants.com.
Article on LG David Diehl: Giants’ David Diehl Has No Problem With Position Switch by Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger