Carolina Panthers 24, New York Giants 21
The Giants lost a tough battle last night with a good football team. The Giants probably were disappointed with their defensive effort but they are probably smiling about their running game on offense. Eli Manning started the game at QB and he completed 3 of 5 passes for 27 yards including a 7-yard TD strike to TE Jeremy Shockey. Anthony Wright followed and he didn’t look too good. He completed 5 of 11 passes for 49 yards and he carried the ball 3 times for 16 yards (5.3 ypc). Jared Lorenzen finished up the game and he looked pretty good. He completed 6 of 13 passes for 75 yards including a 10-yard TD pass to WR Anthony Mix. He also carried the ball 2 times for 12 yards (6.0 ypc). Brandon Jacobs (4 car, 15 yards) and Reuben Droughns (5 car, 17 yards….1 rec, 32 yards) each looked good running the ball in the first half. Ryan Grant looked good as he carried the ball 5 times for 44 yards (8.8 ypc). Derrick Ward missed almost all of last season with a foot injury but he looked good last night as he carried the ball 5 times for 29 yards (5.8 ypc) with a TD run. Rookie Ahmad Bradshaw carried the ball 5 times for 19 yards (3.8 ypc) and he caught the ball 3 times for 22 yards (7.3 avg). The Giants finished up the game rushing for 156 yards on 30 carries (5.2 ypc) and they completed 14 of 29 passes for 133 yards.
The Giants defense has a lot to work on after last night’s performance. The Panthers carried the ball 31 times for 154 yards (5.0 ypc) and they completed 14 of 24 passes for 199 yards. Still, the Giants had to be happy with what they saw on offense and they still have 3 weeks to tweak the defense.