New York Giants Giving 3 Points To Visiting Carolina Panthers

NFL News - August 17th, 2009 - Written by Ryan Smith

The Carolina Panthers won the NFC South division last year, but failed to win once in the playoffs. The New York Giants won the NFC East division last year, and also failed to win a game in the post season. These two teams will square off against each other, in their first preseason game of the 2009 NFL football season. Giants fans are excited to see Eli Manning back on the field after signing one of the largest contracts in NFL history. More importantly, Giants fans want to know how well he will perform with out wide receiver Plaxico Burress on the team? Carolina panthers fans, are looking at this first preseason game as an indicator of how the defense will perform in 2009, compared to their efforts in 2008.

The Panthers are traveling to New York as +3 point underdogs in their first preseason game. The Panthers will likely not play their starters to long, but the focus is on quarterback Jake Delhomme. Delhomme did not have a good year last season passing for only 15 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 2008. Delhomme might have trouble in the limited amount of time he will see in this game, because wide receiver Steve Smith is listed as probable. Steve Smith experienced a minor shoulder injury last week in practice, but with his toughness, he will most likely play in a few snaps. Last years surprise rookie running back Jonathan Stewart, is also listed as probable for this first preseason game against the Giants, and the Panthers run game might suffer with his absence. Since it is the first preseason game, most of the reserve players will play the majority of the game.

The Giants get their first preseason game at home in 2009, and the Giants faithful are looking forward to seeing which wide receiver will fill the shoes of Plaxico Burress. The Giants spent their first round draft pick, the 29th pick overall, on Hakeem Nicks, the 6 foot wide receiver from UNC. Nicks is expected to take over as the number one wide receiver as the season gets older. The New York Giants also have Domenik Hixon at wide receiver, and Steve Smith at wide receiver, Smith is listed as probable in this game against the Panthers. The Giants also have wide receiver David Tyree returning to the football field in 2009, after missing all of last season with an injury. Tyree is most known for the "helmet catch" he made in the Super Bowl against the Patriots in 2007. That catch continued the last drive of the game for the Giants, who eventually won the Super Bowl, ending the winning streak of the Patriots. The Giants are a -3 point favorite in this game for good reason, The Giants played the Panthers late in the season last year on December 21, 2008, and the Giants won that game with a final score of 34-28. Just like the Panthers, this is the Giants first preseason game, so the reserve players will play the majority of the time.

Paramount online sportsbook, Bodog, has released odds on the Over and Under in this game, and it surprisingly low. Bodog has the Over and Under at 32 1/2 combined points for both teams. It' shard to estimate how many points will be scored in preseason games, because the starting players only play a limited amount of snaps. The reserve players on both teams will play almost three full quarters in this game, so the out come is totally based upon the back ups ability to play football. This is sure to be an exciting preseason football game no matter the out come, as these are two of the best teams in the NFC.

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