Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
New York Giants, Carolina Panthers Tied at the Half, 6-6
East Rutherford, N.J.: The New York Giants and Carolina Panthers are tied 6-6 at the half of their game at East Rutherford, the Panthers erasing a 6-0 Giants lead to start the game.
The Giants points came off back-to-back Panthers turnovers, the first of which came on the opening kickoff when linebacker Carter Coughlin forced a fumble by Chuba Hubbard, which rookie safety Dane Belton recovered.
Belton, making his NFL debut, returned the ball to the Panthers’ 22-yard line, but the Giants offense could not move the chains, settling for a 36-yard field goal by Graham Gano for the first points of the game.
Then on the Panthers' first offensive series of the game, they coughed the ball up again, this time on a 3rd-and-22. Quarterback Baker Mayfield’s pass to receiver Robbie Anderson was forced loose by Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes and recovered by cornerback Adoree’ Jackson to give the Giants starting field opposition on the Panthers’ 40-yard line.
While the Giants were able to move the ball this time--they drove down to the Panthers’ 8-yard line--the 13-play drive stalled as the Giants got a little too cute with trying to get into the end zone. New York then settled for Gano’s second field goal of the game, s 33-yard strike right down Broadway, which gave the Giants a 6-0 lead.
The Panthers’ best drive of the half started late in the first quarter and spilled into the top of the second quarter. It spanned 13 plays and covered 58 yards. But on a big 3rd-and-9, Mayfield’s pass over the middle intended for receiver Shi Smith was dropped in the end zone, and the Panthers had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by kicker Eddy Pineiro.
The Panthers put one more strong drive together to close out the half, which began on the Giants' 48-yard line. The 10-play drive lost some steam thanks to a big 7-yard sack by Oshane Ximines that stopped the Panthers' momentum. Carolina then settled for a 32-yard field goal by Pineiro to knot the game up at 6-6.
Giants receiver Kadarius Toney, who only played seven snaps on offense last week, saw a slightly more significant role in the first half of this week’s game, getting two first-quarter targets he caught for no yards. On the flip side, Kenny Golladay, the Giants’ $72 million receiver, had one snap in the first half.
Giants running back Saquon Barkley, easily the star of last week’s win, had five carries for three yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones went 12 of 17 for 67 yards and was sacked once, but only had six points to show for it.
The Giants have 60 total yards of offense and only four first downs.
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