Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Panthers’ hopes hinge on stopping Barkley
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants and Carolina Panthers have had so many consecutive losing seasons that the results of an opening game can be blown out of proportion.
Take today’s game at MetLife Stadium between the Panthers (0-1) and Giants (1-0).
Coming off a 4-13 record in 2021 and with Brian Daboll entering his first season as coach, little was expected of the Giants after five consecutive losing seasons.
Surprisingly, the Giants beat two-time defending AFC South champion Tennessee 21-20 on the road last week with a late touchdown and two- point conversion. For many fans, gloom and doom was replaced with hope for a miraculous turnaround in 2022.
Carolina, which has had four consecutive losing seasons, was beaten by Cleveland 26-24. It was the team’s eighth loss in a row and it sparked some calls for the firing of Coach Matt Rhule, who is 10-24 in two-plus seasons.
What’s interesting is the fine line separating winning and losing. The Giants won because the Titans’ Randy Bullock missed a 47-yard field goal on the final play. The Panthers lost because Browns rookie Cade York kicked a 58yard field goal with 8 seconds left.
Still, there are different feelings in the cities.
Giants safety Julian Love said the excitement in the New York metropolitan area is noticeable.
“People are proud to put on the Giants gear and go to work on Monday,” Love said. “You feel that. But then you got to also realize it’s just one game of 17 this year. So we are far from where we want to be and we have a lot to improve on. But it’s hard not to just feel proud of kind of what it means to this community.”
Carolina also wants to win badly, especially with three home games to follow.
“Having a win under our belts would be big, just in terms of turning a page on the losses,” tight end Ian Thomas said.
Carolina’s run defense was gashed for 217 yards and 5.6 yards per carry in Week 1 by Nick Chubb and the Browns.
Things won’t get any easier in Week 2 as they face Saquon Barkley, who finally looks healthy and ran for an NFL-best 164 yards against the Titans.
The Panthers struggled with tackling against the Browns — they missed 18 of them, resulting in 190 yards after contact.
“We really worked on taking better angles to the ball and wrap and roll,” Panthers linebacker Damien Wilson said. “All the basic tackling mechanics. I feel like taking the right angle is about 70% of it, then 20% is contact and the other 10% is driving your feet.”