Panthers Drop Ninth Straight, Fall to Giants 19-16

The Panthers fall to 0-2 on the season.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Panthers' owned the NFL's longest active losing streak heading into today and it extended to nine after falling to the New York Giants 19-16.

5-3 and 6-6. Those were the halftime scores between the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers from last October and Sunday afternoon. For Carolina, they're fortunate it was a tied game going into half as they avoided disaster after turning the ball over on their first two possessions of the game. Chuba Hubbard fumbled on the opening kickoff but the Panthers' defense buckled down and held New York to a 36-yard field goal from Graham Gano. 

On 3rd and 22 of the next series, the Panthers played it safe by throwing a quick pass to Robbie Anderson that was going to result in a Johnny Hekker punt. However, the ball was ripped out by Darnay Holmes and recovered by Adoree' Jackson, giving the Giants the ball in plus territory once again. The Giants worked the ball all the way down inside the five-yard line before Frankie Luvu and Brian Burns blew up Daniel Jones on consecutive plays for a combined loss of 13 yards. Once again, the Giants settled for a 30+ yard field goal off the foot of Gano.

Once the Panthers stopped putting the ball on the turf, they found a little bit of success offensively. Christian McCaffrey moved the chains on a critical 4th and short near midfield on a pitch out to the short side of the field. Baker Mayfield followed that up with gains of 15 and 19 to Giovanni Ricci and Robbie Anderson, moving the Panthers into the red zone. The drive stalled out on a drop by Shi Smith over the middle of the field that likely would have gone for a first down. Eddy Pineiro chipped one in from 31 yards out to get the Panthers on the board.

Pineiro added another field goal just before the half to tie the game up at six but the Panthers missed a huge opportunity as Daniel Jones forced one along the sideline which went right through Frankie Luvu's hands. Had he hauled in the interception, there was a pretty clear path for him to house it for six.

After rushing for 238 yards in the season opener against Tennessee, the Giants were held to just a single yard on the ground through the first two quarters against a Panthers defense that allowed over 200 yards rushing to Cleveland. Carolina's defensive front was active, controlled the line of scrimmage, and most importantly, didn't miss many tackles.

Both offenses woke up (for a moment) to open up the third quarter beginning with the Panthers going 67 yards on three plays. Mayfield had a 17-yard scramble sandwiched between a couple of big plays to DJ Moore, the second of which went for a touchdown.

2s 🆙 pic.twitter.com/gxcFZVG6A6

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 18, 2022

New York answered the bell as Jones heated up completing four passes over 10 yards, including a 3rd and 9 conversion to Richie James and a touchdown pass to rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger off an RPO. 

A few possessions later, Jones came up with yet another big completion on 3rd and long, this time to David Sills for a gain of 24. New York would get eight more yards before settling for a 51-yard field goal to take the lead, 16-13.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Christian McCaffrey busted loose for a 49-yard run, nearly taking it the distance. New York defensive coordinator "Wink" Martindale dialed up some pressure, giving Mayfield a cloudy look on the next couple of plays which resulted in a pair of incompletions. Eddy Pineiro remained perfect on the day with a 38-yarder to draw the game even once again.

Saquon Barkley and the Giants' run game finally came to life, rushing for 32 yards to set up what would be the game-winning 56-yard field goal from Gano.

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