When the schedules were released, the Panthers’ Week 4 bye seemed less than ideal, but with the rash of injuries the Panthers have suffered in the season’s early going, this past weekend actually was something of a respite, giving the team a chance to get that bit healthier and giving the players brought in as cover time to learn the new system – especially as Trai Turner, Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd all returned to practice Monday. The downside of this bye week, regardless of where it falls on the schedule, is that it can lead to a certain degree of rustiness, and so the Panthers are fortunate in that their game back is at home and against a team that likely won’t feature in the postseason. That does not mean, however, that the Giants should be taken at all lightly, but rather that the Panthers might not need to be firing on all cylinders right from the get-go in order to progress to 3-1. Teams that are 3-1 after the first quarter of the season make the playoffs 62% of the time.
Teams that are 2-2? 35%
With that said, what are likely to be the key battle areas for the Panthers against the Giants, and what can they do to be a part of that 62%?
Big City, Big Stars
Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The Giants offense as a whole might not be firing on all cylinders right now; they’re coming off a game in which they only put up 10 meaningful points – their last touchdown came when they were down two scores with three minutes left – against the Saints and their previously 30th-ranked defense, but what they do have is an awful lot of individual talents. Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepherd and Saquon Barkley are all capable of putting up big numbers; the Panthers absolutely can’t afford to allow these players to make plays beyond the structure of the offense. What this means is that, while they obviously won’t be able to prevent these players from making plays completely, they can’t afford to make the mistakes which will allow them to turn three-yard plays into big chunk plays, and quality gains into long touchdowns.
At a basic level this will come down to tackling, which has been something of a hot and cold area for the Panther so far this season. If they are able to make their tackles on the back end and force the Giants into stringing together drives play-by-play rather than having chunk plays to fall back on to let them off the hook, they’ll have every chance of holding a relatively mediocre Giants offense in check.
If not, then they could be in for a long day on defense Sunday.
Pass Rush Presence
Part of the reason why the Giants have struggled on offense in spite of significant talent at the skill positions is the poor play they have had along the offensive line. Despite bringing in Nate Solder at tackle and rookie Will Hernandez to help what was a poor group in 2017, this unit has struggled to protect the quarterback again so far this season, allowing 15 sacks through the first four games. Right tackle has been of particular issue, with Week 1 starter Ereck Flowers being benched after just two games, but it is not as if his replacement, Chad Wheeler, has fared much better as – admittedly excellent – defensive end JJ Watt had his way with Wheeler throughout the Giants’ Week 3 game against the Texans; the Saints’ Damario Davis, who entered the Giants game without a sack, left it with 11 more tackles – two for a loss – and two sacks.
After allowing a 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game, the Giants only produced 113 yards and eight first downs over the next seven drives as they would fall down two scores to the Saints – the Giants rank in the lower third of the league in almost every offensive category, including sacks/pass attempt, where they rank 26th – allowing a sack on 9.93% of their attempts thus far in 2018.
This is particularly relevant as the Panthers pass rush this season has had some highs – six sacks against the Cowboys – but also some lows – no sacks and just two QB hits against the Falcons; while they did manage to get a couple of sacks and four QB hits against the Bengals, this is still a group that many have questions about. On the interior, there is clearly a lot of talent, but if they are unable to get the pressure off the edge that they enjoyed at times last season, they are going to find it very hard to stop many competent passing offenses regardless of the quality of their play in the secondary. Of course, the season is still very young and this could still prove to be a good pass rushing group, but if they struggle to put pressure on Manning on Sunday, that would likely suggest that the Cowboys game is more of an aberration than the Falcons game.
Up Next: Balance, Balance, Balance
