Week 3 is set to take off tonight on Thursday Night Football as the New York Giants travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to play the Panthers.
Preview:
Both teams are currently 1-1 records after shaky starts in their first two games of the 2012 NFL season.
The Giants rallied back as they had fans at the edge of their seats on Sunday. They fell behind early thanks to three interceptions by Eli Manning.
For some reason though, Giants fans did not panic, let alone the defending champs.
The Giants went on to outscore the Buccaneers 28-10 in the second half despite facing multiple scares as the clock was winding down.
The Giants' defense looked extremely weak once again. It could be argued that the Giants' offense created the issues for the defense, since every time they turned the ball over the Bucs started their drives with good field positioning, but the secondary got burned by Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams.
The Panthers are a threat to the Giants. They are fresh off a victory against the New Orleans Saints. Cam Newton finished the day with a total of 324 yards and two touchdowns.
Newton scrambles and his has a big gun, which will likely create issues for the Giants. The bad news for the Panthers, though, is that Newton is their leading rusher.
Andrew Brown has more rushing yards in 13 carries than DeAngelo Williams, the Panthers' back, has in 20.
Steve Smith is Newton's biggest weapon on the outside. The Giants can combat this with their combination of Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, who both lead the league in receiving yards this season.
Manning might not be a scrambler, but he is a big time quarterback. So the Giants have the edge on the offensive end.
Manning will be more under control in this game as Brown will bring balance to the Giants' offense. Manning will not throw three interceptions again, giving his Giants more opportunities to score.
Schedule: The Thursday Night Football game is set to air at 8:20 p.m. ET. Expect kickoff to be at around 8:30 p.m. ET.
TV: NFL Network
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