Panthers at Giants Line

Written by Steve Janus

The New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers are set to do battle this Sunday in week 1 NFL action. This is a very interesting matchup, as no one is really giving either of these teams a chance to do much of anything this season, despite the fact that they were the top two seeded teams heading into the postseason in 2008. Both teams finished last year at 8-8, so it’s not as if they were that far from making it back to the postseason. Looking at the NFL odds for this game, the Giants come in as 7-point favorites over the Panthers at home, with the total currently sitting at 41-points.

The Giants entered the 2009 season with big question marks surrounding the group of receivers they would send on the field, but were pleasantly surprised with the play they got from guys like Steve Smith, Mario Maningingham, and Hakeem Nicks. Quarterback Eli Manning had a career year throwing to the young receivers, as he threw for 4,021 yards and 27 touchdowns. The problem was the running game and the defense. The Giants have moved Ahmad Bradshaw into the primary running back role, leaving questions on exactly how they will use 2009 starter Brandon Jacobs. The hope is that the defense can return to the form that won them the Super Bowl under new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

If you can run the football, you have a chance to win in the NFL, and there might not be a better two headed monster than DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. If these two can get it going, they can carry the Panthers back to the postseason. For the Panthers will go with Matt Moore as their starting quarterback to start the season, but if he struggles look for rookie Jimmy Clausen to get the call and take over the offense. The Panthers took a big hit to the defense with the loss of Julius Peppers, but there are a lot of really good young players that are ready to make their name in this league, it will just be a matter of how fast they can mature and reach their potential.

Looking at the Odds: These two teams met up at the end of last season in Carolina, and the Panthers absolutely beat up on the Giants 41-9. The Panthers were without Williams in the win, but got a monster performance out of Stewart, as he ran for 206 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. Moore was also impressive throwing for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 15 of 20 passing.

While I don’t think the Panthers are going to run over the Giants in the opening week of this season, I do think they are going to cover the seven point spread that the oddsmakers have placed on this game. I look for both teams to be able to move the ball, but I believe the deciding factor that will keep the Panthers in the game is the rushing attack of Williams and Stewart. My final score prediction is Panthers 17, Giants 21.

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