Stats That Mattered in the Giants 20-17 Loss to Carolina

The Giants' fourth-quarter comeback in Munich put them on the edge of a win against the Panthers until some consequential stats again shut the door.

Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) throws the ball under pressure from New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Just when the New York Giants' horrendous season couldn’t get any worse, you can bet it did in the form of a heart-wrenching 20-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Germany to drop them to the league’s worst record of 2-8 heading into their bye week. 

With the latest loss under their belts, the Giants fly back to the United States, bearing a five-game losing streak and the No. 2 slot in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Like last Sunday’s defeat at the hands of the Washington Commanders, the Giants offense looked stuck in the mud for the first 30 minutes of action as Carolina pulled out to an unerasable 10-0 lead. 

New York would have their responses in the second two frames to set up overtime in Munich, but along came the untimely miscue that would put the ball right into the hands of Bryce Young and company for a quick and easy 36-yard field goal by Eddie Pineiro that sealed a gut-wrenching loss in a campaign full of them for the Giants. 

Everything could have gone wrong throughout the contest, but none stood out more than quarterback Daniel Jones's disappointing performance. The gunslinger struggled with many of his aerial deliveries, which hurt the offense by causing damage in the red zone. He left with another dismal stat line, featuring two interceptions, which brought his total to seven on the season. 

It’s now been three consecutive weeks where Jones had been gifted at least one opportunity by his defense to lead the Giants on a comeback, but only to come out fruitless against one of the NFL’s most porous defenses. There was some questioning as to whether he would be benched at the halftime mark, and now that question will carry into the second half of the year as the team continues to crumble behind him. 

Still, Jones’ afternoon wasn’t the only culprit for blame as all three phases dedicated their own mishaps to let victory slip away from their grasp. If there is one thing the Giants are learning, it’s that football is a game of inches and minute stats that determine who has the edge. These were the biggest ones that gave it to Carolina and led to one of the most embarrassing showings in recent franchise history.

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Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) throws the ball against the Carolina Panthers in the first half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One week after Daniel Jones did the unthinkable with a zero-yard passing line in the first half against Washington, his fate repeated itself, and the Giants passing offense put themselves in another early hole against Carolina. 

Despite having five total possessions in that span, the Giants managed just 46 yards through the air, and it had much to do with the throwing woes of the quarterback. It started on the team’s opening drive when Jones missed Jaylin Hyatt on a deep route on the left side, which was luckily helped by a Jadaveon Clowney offsides penalty.

Two plays later, Jones would have a wide-open Malik Nabers separate himself from the opposing corner on a fake and comeback route. He looked towards his No. The option with the throw completely sailed over Nabers’s head and out of play to spoil a first down conversion and settle the drive at their own 38-yard line. 

It continued on the Giants' three ensuing drives, two of which had pairs of incomplete passes and were capped off in five plays or less. The second possession had the ugliest missed opportunity, though, as Brian Daboll tried to get cute with a flea flicker pass design that Jones wrecked with his poor field vision, leaving a wide-open Wan’Dale Robinson flying across the field with no ball in his hands and another punt to the Panthers

Jones executed two decent drives amid his woeful ones, each lasting seven and eight plays, respectively, but both didn’t result in his arm creating points on the scoreboard. Instead, it only kept his stat line at eight touchdowns on the year and a QBR of 34.2, which paled in comparison to the younger and less experienced Bryce Young, who went 15 of 25 for 126 yards and a rating of 58.8. 

The Giants finished the day with Jones passing for under 200 yards and not one receiver over 51 yards, which was held by Robinson and his five snags, which led the position. This continues another dismal campaign for the team’s offense, which, if it can’t throw, is going to have a hard time winning games in this league.

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Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) is pressured by Carolina Panthers cornerback Dane Jackson (23) in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Three times, the New York Giants had the chance to even the score with the Carolina Panthers in the first two quarters, and thrice, they failed in their three visits to the enemy’s territory. 

As mentioned, the first instance came on the Giants' first possession of the contest. Daniel Jones and the New York huddle got moving quickly, with 40 yards in three plays, but it only resulted in a fruitless drive as Jones airmailed his wide-open receiver, Malik Nabers, to stunt the drive at the Panthers’ 38-yard line and send Jamie Gillan out for his first duties of the afternoon. 

After Carolina went up 10-0 on consecutive scoring drives, the Giants would get reintroduced to playing with a seemingly compromised Graham Gano at their kicking spot. Jones would again lead his team seven plays and 35 yards down to the Carolina 25-yard line behind a couple of nice passes to Jaylin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson for 27 combined yards and his own gash for 10. 

However, as if the period of extra rest and recovery never mattered, the veteran Gano stepped up for what has been a chip shot field goal in his past and sent it fluttering wide right. The Giants deficit remained at ten after the 25-yard try, and all left to complete the trifecta was the omnipresent turnover. 

And that lovely event happened two possessions later, with the Giants knocking on the door of the endzone looking to notch their first score and cut the Panthers’ lead to 3. Jones and company pushed the pigskin all the way to the Carolina 21. 

Then Jones's errant throw was ricocheted into the air by Jadaveon Clowney’s helmet and picked off by safety Xavier Woods, who took it back four yards and preserved his team’s lead for at least the halftime break. 

The consecutive failures only add to the miserable season the Giants have had at scoring points every Sunday. They entered the game averaging 15.4 points per contest and held the league’s worst redzone scoring percentage of 40 percent, which is their worst in the last five campaigns. 

Again, it’s hard to keep beating a dead horse, but something has to give if the Giants want to compete and potentially win a couple of football games down the stretch of this year. 

The modern NFL doesn’t allow for teams to win consistently off defensive excellence. Soon, there has to be concern that the lack of scoring could turn Shane Bowen’s unit off and lead to an even bigger disaster for Jones and his weapons to overcome. 

From play calling to execution, the Giants success on offense has been limited to levels unforeseen in recent memory and the loss to Carolina gives no confidence it will be fixed anytime soon.

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Nov 3, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) walks off after defeating the New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium. / Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The Giants have been getting absolutely pummeled on the ground over the month, and the story was no different against the Panthers and their lead back, Chuba Hubbard. 

Hubbard, the 25–25-year-old ball carrier who had just been given a new extension by the team before leaving for Germany, put on a rushing clinic to pulverize a Giants defense that’s been miserable against the run. He added to his 818-yard campaign with a 28-carry, 153-yard, and one-touchdown performance, marking his best game of the 2024 season and his four-year career. 

The feat also handed Hubbard his third 100-yard game of the season. It was paired with quarterback Bryce Young’s 30 yards worth of scampers to provide Carolina with 188 yards of total production in the trenches and mark the Giants' fourth straight game with at least 149 rushing yards allowed to their opponent. 

Hubbard got his day going early, taking four of the Panthers eight plays for runs on their first possession. His first two carries rallied 29 yards and set Carolina up for a red zone visit where Bryce Young darted a pass over the middle to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for the first touchdown and a 7-0 advantage. 

On the Panthers’ next drive, Hubbard couldn’t be slowed down with four more carries, including one that gashed the Giants for 15 yards and pushed the Panthers into positive territory again. Young and his arsenal of receivers would take care of the rest of the work and end with a 53-yard field goal from Eddy Pineiro that made it 10-0 Carolina on top. 

The halftime break never made Hubbard’s work go numb, either. He returned and posted another 62 yards to keep the Panthers’ run game steady. He finished the game with an average haul of 5.5 yards, which matched his fourth-highest of the season, and he had four rushes of 10+ yards. 

After starting off with a good answer for any team’s rushing attack, the Giants’ defense has fallen apart in that phase. It is at the very bottom of the league in major rushing metrics, including last in average yards per carry at 4.3 yards. The trend carries over from last season when they were ranked 31st in the same stat and slightly better in total rushing yards and touchdowns. 

With the deficits that New York tends to have in their recent games, not controlling the run has killed their ability to stage comebacks and wearied out the defense that has had to fight to keep them in these contests. Fixing it seems to be more than a quick solution, and they have the entire two weeks ahead to work on closing that gap in their game. 

If they don’t, performances like Hubbard’s will translate to whichever running back is next on the block.

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Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) carries the ball on a 32-yard touchdown run against the New York Giants in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While every rookie is bound to make their first learning mistake in the NFL at some point in their debut, it was unfortunate Tyrone Tracy’s turn, and it came at the most untimely moment possible. 

The Giants’ fifth-round pick has been putting together an impressive rookie resume and one of the brightest campaigns of any player on the team in recent weeks. He entered Week 10 leading the position group with 89 carries for 442 yards and two touchdowns and had two 100-yard rushing outings in Weeks 5 and 8, respectively. 

Tracy came out and made it three contests on a mediocre Panthers’ run defense, churning 18 times for 103 yards, one touchdown, and an average carry of 5.7 yards, that was his third-best of the season. He also notched his second game in three weeks with a touchdown run of at least 32 yards, which have been the best highlights of his young career. 

It was all going well for the novice, who kept several of the Giants' key scoring drives moving into Panthers territory, including his 32-yard dash that cut the Carolina lead to 10-7 in the first half. Yet, when the time came to be the hero and command the charge downfield in overtime, Tracy met his first taste of pain and frustration when he committed his own rushing mishap.

In the overtime period, the Giants would win the coin toss and elect to receive the first possession with eyes on finishing the Panthers off with a comeback drive. Their very first play went right to the rookie running back and into the belly of Carolina’s defense, where two seconds later, the pigskin popped loose and made jaw-dropping contact with the turf at Allianz Stadium for Tracy’s first fumble of his debut season. 

The loose ball rolled on for ground until it was picked up by former Giants defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, who signed with the Panthers in free agency. He added the recovery to his seven-tackle and one-sack stat line and gave the Panthers the ball at the New York 23-yard line. 

Carolina took the ball another five yards closer to the endzone to set up Eddy Pineiro for the game-winning kick, and Tracy and the Giants were forced to watch as it sailed through the posts to solidify their eighth loss of the season, the second one cemented by a rookie's miscue. 

Fellow rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers knows the feeling all too well from his big dropped pass and told Tracy to have the right mindset as his team moves forward from the loss. 

“I told him, ‘That play doesn't define you,’” Nabers said postgame. “That one play doesn't lose us the game."

“As a group, you can't point the fingers at each other. It takes 11 men on that field to win a game.”

Unfortunately, the Giants haven’t received enough from all 11 guys, especially in big moments, to win many of their games in 2024. Tracy still shouldn’t get down on his mistake because he has been boasting other excellent numbers for a player his age and is being recognized for it.

Next. End the Jones Era Now. Giants Need to End the Daniel Jones Era Now . dark

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