New York Giants Playoff Hopes On Line; Favored By 7 Over Panthers

NFL News - December 22nd, 2009 - Written by John

The New York Giants had their backs against the wall when they squared off against the Washington Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. Any aspirations of making the playoffs were riding on a victory on the road, and the Giants rose to the challenge.

After beginning the season 5-0, the Giants had stumbled their way to a 7-6 record entering the contest. From the opening drive, New York would thoroughly dominate the Redskins when Giants' QB Eli Manning led the offense on a 16-play, 80 yard touchdown drive. From there, the Giants never looked back as they routed Washington 45-12.

The Giants' opponent this week, the Carolina Panthers, are coming off an impressive win over the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, the Panthers scored 20 unanswered points to pull away to a 26-7 victory. Panthers' QB Matt Moore had an impressive night in his sixth start of his career, throwing for 299 yards and tossing three touchdowns.

The playoff campaign for the Panthers has already ended this season, but the Giants will be playing for their playoff lives on Sunday.

Eli Manning is having his best season statistically. Against Washington, Manning was lights out, completing 19 of 26 passes for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns.

New York is now seemingly getting back to a balanced offense. On Monday night, the Giants used the RB tandem of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw which kept the Washington Redskins' defense on their heels. In addition to Manning's stellar night, Bradshaw had 61 yards on nine carries including two touchdowns, and Jacobs added 56 yards on 10 carries, when it was all said and done on Monday.

Up until the Washington game, the Giants had struggled to produce yards on the ground, relying on Manning to drop back and pass. That gameplan had led ESPN NFL analyst Steve Young to question the Giants ability to "throw their way into the playoffs."

Defensively, the Giants haven't quite found their identity. The first five weeks of the season, New York was stout, giving up only 14 ppg. However, during the last seven games prior to the MNF win, they were surrendering nearly twice as many points to opponents.

This past week, the Giants' defense dominated the Washington offense. The up and down performance leaves the question of "Which Giants' defense will show up against the Carolina Panthers?"

An important match-up in this contest will be Giants' wide receivers versus the Carolina Panthers secondary. This season, Giants' WR Steve Smith has proven to be a reliable target for Manning, hauling in 90 receptions for nearly 1,100 yard, both career highs. Smith is a very good route runner and is definitely a big play receiver. If Smith is able to create plays, it could be a long day for Carolina. Another Giants WR the Panthers must pay attention to is Hakeem Nicks. The last two weeks against Washington and Philadelphia, Nicks had three receptions of thirty plus yards.

Carolina's secondary may be up to the challenge as they've only surrendered 193 yards per game through the air. The problem with the Carolina defense comes up front. Carolina has, at times, been susceptible to the run, allowing an average of 130 yards on the ground per game, New York will surely look to work the ground early and often.

Offense in particular has been a problem for the Panthers. With struggles at the QB position, the Panthers have developed a potent rushing attack. Led by RBs DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart, the Panthers have averaged 150 yards per game on the ground.

Besides run blocking, the Carolina offensive line will be in charge of taking pressure off of Panther QB Matt Moore, who will be making only his seventh career start. The Giants defense defense is known for using a variety of blitz packages, likely to confuse the young quarterback. For that reason, Carolina will look to get Williams and Stewart going early.

As the NFL Betting Lines stand now, the New York Giants are a solid touchdown favorite to defeat the Carolina Panthers this week. As listed at DSI Sportsbook, the game total is listed at an over/under of 42 1/2 combined points.

This game is scheduled to kickoff shortly after 1pm ET on Sunday, December 27th. The game will be played at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, which could possibly be the Giants last game ever played there, depending on playoff berths and seeding.