It’s week 5 and the Giants are already playing their second must win game of the season. Week 3 against Houston was a must win and the team showed up. They dropped a total dud last week against New Orleans. Now the Giants have to beat a talented Panther team in Carolina to avoid a 1-4 start. Losing this game basically means an already dead season would be over.
So exactly how can the Giants beat the Panthers?
Wham, Bam, and stopping Cam
If the Giants want to beat the Panthers, it’s all gonna start in the trenches on defense. If they can’t stop Cam Newton in the air and on the ground, the offense won’t even have a shot in this one.
Through 3 games, Cam Newton is playing good football. He has 5 touchdowns and 1 INT in his last two games. Getting to Newton early and often will be very important. If the Giants can shake his confidence early, they should be able to knock him off his game.
The Giants will have to hit (wham), sack (bam), and stop Cam. We have to have some sort of pass rush and we can’t allow the read option to totally burn us. Seriously though, the read option has been in football for years and we can’t stop it for the life of us. WHY!?
Let it Sling RUN THE DAMN FOOTBALL
Giants fans and Odell Beckham Jr. are screaming for the Giants to throw the ball deep. This Giants team isn’t winning a shootout. The line isn’t good enough in pass protection and the defense has too many weakness in the pass rush.
The Giants have to control the time of possession through running the football. Shurmur needs to go back to his roots. Last season Minnesota ranked 2nd in rushing attempts and 3rd in time of possession. Let’s feed Saquon early and often and hope that opens up the passing game a bit.
O-B-Just throw Odell the ball
The Giants offense has to stop getting cute and Eli needs to start trusting his best weapon. While McaPoops offense was absolutely terrible, he had the right idea of feeding Odell early and getting the ball into his hands as much as possible. The Giants haven’t utilized Odell enough early in games. There are quarters where Beckham has completely disappeared – not because he’s not getting open but because he’s not the first read and not getting the ball thrown his way.
If the Giants want to win football games, they need Odell to get involved as much as possible.
Final score prediction: Panthers 24, Giants 17 – Until the Giants prove me wrong, I’ll be picking against them. I had high hopes for this season and they’ve already been crushed.