Game Preview: New York Giants at Carolina Panthers, November 10, 1996

Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Carolina Panthers, November 10, 1996: Simply put, the Giants’ offense does not match-up well at all with Carolina’s defense and we expect this mismatch to dictate the outcome of the game.

Giants on Offense: Talk about a nightmare! The Panthers lead the NFL in sacks with 32, the Giants are second worst in the NFL in giving up sacks with 32. The strength of the Carolina pass rush is their outside 3-4 linebackers (Lamar Lathon with and Kevin Greene) and the weakness of the Giants’ line is the pass-blocking of their outside tackles (Greg Bishop and Scott Gragg). To make matters even worse, the Giants’ WR’s (Thomas Lewis and Chris Calloway) have trouble with CB’s that play tight man-to-man defense and bump them at the line of scrimmage and that’s exactly the style of play of the Panthers’ CB’s (Eric Davis and Tyrone Poole — guys who have done a number on Jerry Rice of all receivers). Thus, the Panthers’ game plan will be VERY simple — stuff the run on first and second down, and get after Dave Brown (or Kanell if Brown is knocked out) on 3rd down. The Giants’ tackles won’t be able to handle the two outside rushers and the Giants’ receivers won’t be able to get open. If the Giants have ANY hope of winning, Dan Reeves and George Nolan will have to come up with a great game plan and the WR’s and OT’s will have to play better than they have played all year. Ideally, the Giants should pass in obvious run situations and run in obvious pass situations in order to keep Carolina off balance. The Giants also need to get their TE’s (Cross and Saxton) and RB’s (Hampton and Way) more involved in the passing game. If Greene and Lathon have one weakness it is their pass coverage. The Giants will also face Dom Caper’s very confusing “zone blitz” schemes where DB’s sometimes blitz and DL’s sometimes drop into coverage. Dave Brown has got to do a better job in reading these complicated schemes and the Giants’ interior line has to do a better job of communicating on who will pick up which blitzer. If the Giants can’t dominate the game with the running game (remember, Wheatley is out), then the Giants don’t have a chance.

Giants on Defense: To win, the Giants’ defense might not only have to post a shutout, but they might have to score as well. At the very least, turnovers that create good field position for the offense are a necessity. Our biggest worry is that all the great press the Giants’ defense has been receiving lately will go to their collective heads. Carolina doesn’t have a strong offense and that’s what worries us. Overconfidence could be the Giants undoing on Sunday night. Most of the component parts of the Carolina offense are quite average (the receivers, the line, the starting RB’s, and the QB’s). However, the Panthers have some very dangerous players on offense: Wesley Walls is an outstanding TE (and QB Kerry Collins’ main security blanket), rookie WR Muhsin Muhammad is very talented, and rookie 3rd-down back Winslow Oliver is explosive (he’s a guy we were really interested in during the Draft this year). This is Carolina’s first trip to “primetime” and we expect their players and their fans to be fired up. If the Giants’ defenders aren’t ready to play, one or two TD’s by the Panthers (or even fieldgoals) might be enough to win the game for them.

Special Teams: Danger lurks here as well. Michael Bates leads the NFL in kick return yardage and is very dangerous. Winslow Oliver is an equally dangerous punt returner. P Mike Horan is slumping, PK Brad Daluiso is still a head case, the Giants’ punt return game went south when Toomer was lost for the year, and now their best kick returner (Wheatley) is out. The Giants’ coverage units need to be at their very best on Sunday night.

Outlook: This game scares us more than the Giants-Dallas rematch. We don’t think the Giants have any possible chance of beating the Panthers on Sunday. Their defense versus our offense, their first “primetime” appearance in their history, and the fact that they are 4-0 at home this year does not bold well at all. Carolina 31 – Giants 3.