Panthers Offense Non-Existent in 4th Straight Loss
East Rutherford, NJ - The Carolina Panthers dropped their fourth consecutive game on Sunday, falling to the Giants 25-3.
Carolina's offense had a terrible outing last week against Minnesota and it carried over into this week's game at New York. The Panthers were just 2/8 on 3rd down conversions and had just 121 yards of total offense in the first half of play.
Matt Rhule stuck to his word, at least on the first drive of the game about wanting to run the football more. Chuba Hubbard did some good things, nearly breaking one loose before getting tripped up. The drive fell apart at about the New York 30 which forced Rhule to bring out Zane Gonzalez for a 45-yard field goal. Gonzalez's kick banked in off the left upright to give the Panthers the first points of the game.
Carolina's next possession ended in a three-and-out and a very bad, 28-yard punt by Ryan Winslow, giving the Giants terrific field position.
On the second offensive series of the game for New York, a touchdown was wiped off the board after the play was reviewed and showed that tight end Kyle Rudolph stepped out of bounds prior to reaching the ball across the plane. That would go on to be a big call considering the Giants didn't get any points out of that drive. A pair of runs by Devontae Booker sandwiched by an incompletion from Daniel Jones through the back of the end zone caused a turnover on downs at the one-yard line.
As poor as the Panthers' offense has been, you already knew this was going to be danger and they couldn't escape it. Ian Thomas was flagged for a false start on the first play and then two plays later, Sam Darnold had pressure up in his face and threw the ball into the ground with no receiver in the area, resulting in a safety.
Early in the 2nd quarter, former Panthers kicker Graham Gano kicked one in from 49 yards out to give the Giants a 5-3 lead. Later in the quarter, the Sam Darnold to DJ Moore connection started to heat up with a pair of completions combining for 33 yards. However, Darnold threw an errant pass into triple coverage in the red zone that was intercepted by James Bradberry, killing the drive.
The Giants took a 5-3 lead into the half. Yes, you read that correctly. 5-3.
While Carolina's offense continued to be in a rut, the Giants took advantage and pushed the game out to a two-score lead. It all started with a 14-yard dump-off pass to running back Devontae Booker to move the chains on 3rd & 12. Joe Judge then dialed up some trickery with Jones handing it off to Booker who then handed it off to Dante Pettis to throw one downfield to quarterback Daniel Jones for a gain of 16. New York then went to speed option play that netted them 11 yards on a pitch from Jones to Booker. Jones capped the drive off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis who rolled over a defender and into the end zone.
Another bad punt by Winslow (34 yards) set the Giants up with a fairly short field. New York moved the ball, but not much. They did, however, tack on another field goal from Graham Gano from 53-yards out. That kick gave him the franchise record for the most made 50-yard field goals (10).
With the Panthers' offense stuck in limbo, Matt Rhule yanked quarterback Sam Darnold from the game and replaced him with P.J. Walker. Walker ended the day 3/14 for 33 yards and was sacked three times.
Graham Gano hit his third field goal of the day and Devontae Booker rushed in a 19-yard touchdown to put the game well out of reach for the Panthers. Giants won by a final score of 25-3.
The Panthers will be on the road once again next Sunday in Atlanta to take on the Falcons.
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