Carolina Defeats NY Giants In Preseason Opener
The first pre-season game for the Giants wasn't exactly smooth sailing.
The Carolina Panthers defeated New York on Saturday night, 20-10 in a game where the Giants defense outscored their offense.
Linebacker Michael Boley scored the Giants' only touchdown on a 56-yard interception return in the first few minutes of the game.
Eli Manning did not lead a scoring drive in his five series, completing 4 of 9 passes for only 36 yards. He also slightly overthrew Hakeem Nicks on what could have been a big third-down gain on the Giants’ first possession, forcing Lawrence Tynes to try a 56-yard field goal. Giants' backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels threw for 129 yards.
Tynes missed two field-goal attempts and had another blocked.
Cam Newton, the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft, led two field-goal drives in his NFL debut and Jimmy Clausen threw a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen for the Panthers.
Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn, had an up and down night. His accuracy was off at times but he also showed plenty of big-play potential to what was the league’s worst offense last season.