Carolina @ New York preview
MetLife Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 22, 2013 ) N.Y. Giants 0, Carolina 38
The New York Giants played spoiler to the last NFL team to complete a perfect regular season, and they’ll try Sunday to prevent the visiting Carolina Panthers from joining that club. The Giants look to bolster their hopes of winning the NFC East title and hand the Panthers their first regular-season loss in more than a year.
The Panthers rattled off four straight wins to cap the 2014 regular season and sneak into the playoffs, and they’re three wins from joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0) and 2007 New England Patriots (16-0) as the only teams to go undefeated. The Giants knocked some of the luster off the Patriots’ perfect regular season by beating them in the Super Bowl – a fact that isn’t lost on the Panthers. “It does go back to the fact that it’s really not about going undefeated, it’s about winning the Super Bowl,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera told reporters. “That’s the thing that you have to really focus on, is really what is the goal.” Carolina already has clinched the NFC South title and a first-round bye and can lock up the conference’s top seed with a win and an Arizona loss at Philadelphia on Sunday night, while New York is tied with Washington and Philadelphia atop the NFC East.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Panthers -5.5. O/U: 48
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (13-0): If Carolina is going to remain unbeaten, it will have to do so without workhorse running back Jonathan Stewart (989 yards, six touchdowns), who injured his foot in last week’s 38-0 win over Atlanta. That’s a big blow to the league’s No. 2 rushing offense, which will count on Fozzy Whittaker and Cameron Artis-Payne to complement quarterback Cam Newton. It might not matter if the Panthers’ defense is as dominant as it was last week, when it held the Falcons to 230 total yards and forced four turnovers.
ABOUT THE GIANTS (6-7): New York snapped a three-game skid with a 31-24 win at Miami on Monday night, as Eli Manning had his best game of the season with 337 yards on 27-of-31 passing and four touchdowns. The Giants likely will need another big game from Manning with their stagnant ground game facing one of the league’s top run defenses. Last week also marked a strong rebound for the league’s worst pass defense, as the Giants held Miami to 235 yards through the air – the second-lowest total against them this season.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Newton has five career games with at least three passing touchdowns and one rushing score, one shy of the NFL record shared by Steve Young and Jack Kemp.
2. The Panthers lead the NFL in interceptions (21) and takeaways (33) and have forced multiple turnovers in nine games this season.
3. Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. has topped 100 yards receiving in six straight games, totaling 43 receptions for 796 yards and eight touchdowns over that span.
PREDICTION: Panthers 23, Giants 20