Panthers drop home opener 20-15 against the Giants

Charlotte, N.C.- The New York Giants took care of business on the road in week 2, spoiling the Carolina Panthers home opener with a 20-15 road victory.

What a difference a week makes, in week 1 this offense looked unstoppable and had little issues moving the ball down the field. In week 2, the defense created several turn overs, 4 interceptions to be exact, but the offense was only able to get one touchdown and the usually sure foot Graham Gano was only able to connect on 3 of 6 field goal attempts, one of those misses was because of a block.

Cam Newton had a terrible game  “It was tough trying to get into a rhythm out there today for sure, they did a god job of disguising there coverage’s today. My ankle was fine, a little sore, but nothing major.” Sore ankle or not, that is no excuse for this type of a performance going 14/25 230 yards to go with two picks and zero touchdowns, but to Cams defense he was harassed all day leading to 5 sacks and several hurried throws. “It was the first time we have played against them with there new head coach, and hats off to him he did a fantastic job mixing up his defense and coming away with two fumbles in the second half was huge and a big part of why they won. At times Cam pressed a little to hard and tried to make plays that just weren’t there, I’m going to have a talk with him and see where he is at mentally and I’m going to reiterate to the entire team ball security  .” Coach Miller speaking to the press after a tough loss. “It’s really frustrating to let this one slip away with how well our defense played, im proud of them, we had a few key guys injured SS Karl Joseph and FS Aaron Williams, but we had guys switch positions around and it worked out. So I was pleased with that.”

Yes you read that right, BOTH starting safeties went down, the worse being Karl Joseph, who just came over from a three way trade earlier this year (Panthers trade Benjamain part of 3 team trade.). Interestingly though I heard from an anonymous source that perhaps the Oakland Raiders weren’t up front with there young safeties previous injuries and he might have not even been fully healthy going into camp. Perhaps the league will take a look further into the matter.

Even with a loss there are some bright spots and reasons to be optimistic still. its only week 2 and they are tied atop the division with of course, those pesky Atlanta Falcons. McCaffrey might have started to turn things around he had 89 yards on 8 carries with a huge touchdown to take the lead early in the third. The defense played great defense yet again, and are showing no signs of missing Thomas Davis at all, they currently sit ranked 4th in all defensive categories, but we shall see how these two injuries effect there way to defend the pass for the next five weeks.

Defensive captain Luke Kuechly isn’t making any excuses though ” I expect us to still be a number one ranked defense, it hurts seeing those two go down, but we got capable players that can fill in while they heal, we saw Captain fill in and even come away with a pick, so no, i’m not worried one bit.” Still they will be looking to make a move in getting some extra help in the secondary, they might be bringing up SS Dezmen Southward from the practice squad to help shore up the defense, or perhaps they might be looking to trade with the Kansas City Chiefs or the Indianapolis Colts, seeing as they’re one of the few teams interested in veteran Jonathan Stewart.

They might play a wait and see approach though according to new COO Tina Becker ” We want to see all of our options instead of making a quick reaction, we want to see if maybe those guys can get back on the field quicker then there expected time table, and we also want to see how coach Miller utilizes his roster, we don’t plan on making any moves ahead of the week 3 match up against the Los Angeles Rams, if the defense looks like it is struggling then maybe we will press for getting a top notch talent via trade or free agency, but until then we will have a wait and see approach.” It has already been shown that she is not afraid to make a big trade if she feels it can help the team.