New York Giants and Carolina Panthers hoping to improve record – NFL Preview
After losing their respective season openers, both New York Giants and Carolina Panthers bounced back to win their Week 2 games and are now hoping to build a winning momentum as they face each other for Week 3 game on Thursday, September 20, 2012, at Bank
of America Stadium, Charlotte.
Both teams did well to improve their performance in Week 2 game, but Giants in particular need to further step up their defensive game.
Their defensive flaws were very much evident in both the games and had it not been for good comeback performance from quarterback Eli Manning, Giants might have gone 0-2.
Apart from improving their defence, the Giants also have some tough issues to address on the offence. Many of their key players will not be part of the squad owing to respective injuries.
They might feel absence of wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who aggravated his foot injury in Week 2 game and missed the ensuing practice sessions as Giants prepared for Panthers.
However, the good development for the defending champions is that Manning seems to have found his rhythm. He was incredible against the Bucs and gained 510 yards in the game.
The Giants quarterback needs to be even more alert against Panthers. Manning has acknowledged that Panthers have a strong defence that has so far played reasonably well. He said of Panthers defence:
"They're doing a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback whether with the blitz or whether with the front four. They show a lot of different coverages, different types of zone blitz, so they do a good job of making the quarterback hold the ball and
have receivers work in the second lanes."
Panthers, on the other hand, also need to improve their game-play at certain positions. Although Giants defence has not been able to stage any miraculous performance so far, Panthers must refrain from complacency that was the cause of defeat for many teams
when they faced Giants last season.
Panthers struggled badly on offence in the season opener against Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but they did surprisingly well to win Week 2 game against New Orleans Saints. Their quarterback Cam Newton also showed some better skills, but he has still not met the
expectations. He said after winning Week 2 game:
“Our defence did an excellent job. Even though we played good enough to win the football game, there are some things to shore up."
Newton said to his teammates about Week 3 matchup:
"Everybody has to be able to be seen giving unbelievable effort so that the fans will give their support."
By the looks of the things, it is expected that the game will be dominated by the offence of Giants and Panthers. The team that improves its defensive play will have strong chance of winning the game.
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