Panthers vs. Giants live updates: Graham Gano’s fourth FG lifts New York to 19-16 win
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The Carolina Panthers (0-1) face the New York Giants (1-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Charlotte Observer has sportswriters Ellis Williams and Scott Fowler covering the game live in New Jersey. Live updates are below:
Run and done
The Giants got the ball back after yet another inefficient offensive series for the Panthers, and after an offside penalty on the first play after the two-minute warning gifted them a first down, the Giants handed the ball off up the middle twice and then Daniel Jones scrambled for a first down, effectively ending the day for the Panthers.
Four-for-four for Gano
Another Giants drive stalls in Panthers territory, and for a brief moment the Panthers backed the Giants up almost to midfield after a holding call, but New York crept back inside the 40, and then Graham Gano hit his fourth field goal of the afternoon, this one from 56 yards, to put the Giants back in front by three, 19-16. Panthers are on the clock with 3:34 to play, three timeouts plus the 2-minute warning. Buckle up.
Eddy Pineiro answers
We’re back to a tie game after a long Christian McCaffrey run set the Panthers up deep in New York territory. But the drive stalled as the Panthers fell to 2-for-11 on third-down plays. Still, Steady Eddy was there and the game is once again tied. Pineiro hit a 38-yard FG. That run by McCaffrey put him over 100 yards on the day, his first 100-yard rushing game since the Washington game a year ago..
Graham Gano show continues
The New York Giants, save for one solid drive that produced their only TD, have stalled in Panthers territory. Their savior to this point? Graham Gano, who belted a 52-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter — his third of the day — to put the Giants on top, 16-13. On the Giants’ 58-yard scoring drive, they ran nine plays that included a 15-yard Saquon Barkley run, a 13-yd Jaycee Horn PI, and a 24-yd Daniel Jones-David Sills completion.
Giants take their shots
On four consecutive plays, one of them a penalty for pass interference and one of the a completed pass for a first down. The Panthers have done a great job bottling up Saquon Barkley, so the Giants are trying to exploit something else. Not much has really been there, either.
Giants score TD, tie game
After falling behind early in the third quarter, the Giants came right back to tie the game, 13-13. Quarterback Daniel Jones suddenly got hot on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, and ended it on a 16-yard TD pass to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Both teams now have scored one TD in the third quarter’s first six minutes, after neither team could score a single TD in the game’s first 30 minutes.
The rest of the quarter was scoreless, though. The Panthers came up with their third sack of the game to end one New York possession, but the Giants pass rush bothered Baker Mayfield, and Carolina couldn’t get anything else going despite good field position. The game was tied at 13-all as the fourth quarter began.
Mayfield hits Moore on lightning drive
The Panthers couldn’t have opened the second half any better. After holding the Giants to a 3-and-out, they took only three plays and 60 seconds to go 67 yards for the game’s first touchdown. The drive was all Mayfield and wide receiver DJ Moore, who had minus-2 receiving yards in the first half.
But on Carolina’s first offensive play of the second half, Mayfield found Moore behind the defense for a 29-yard pass play in which Moore made a nice adjustment on the ball. On the next play, Mayfield stepped out of trouble and scrambled for 17 yards, with an illegal contact penalty on the Giants adding yardage. And then, on 1st-and-10 from the New York 16, Mayfield found Moore again as he cut right toward the front corner of the end zone. His defender fell down trying to keep up, and Moore hauled the ball in for a 13-6 Carolina lead — the Panthers’ first lead of the game.
Panthers tie game late in the second quarter
Carolina tied the game after Pineiro made a 32-yard kick with 56 seconds remaining in the first half.
His kick capped a 10-play, 34 yard drive that started after the Panthers defense forced another Giants’ three-and-out.
At halftime, the score is tied 6-6.
Shi Smith injured on punt return
Smith was injured with 5:19 to play after returning a punt near midfield. It appeared a Giants player landed on top of Smith at the end of his nine-yard return.
Smith stayed down for awhile. He left the field under his own power and is currently in the blue medical tent.
Panthers’ first points come via Pineiro
The Panthers are on the board. Kicker Eddy Pineiro made a 31-yard kick with 12:15 left in the second quarter to pull Carolina back within a field goal of New York.
Carolina marched 58 yards on 13 plays before Pineiro capped the drive. The kick was set up by a Shi Smith drop inside the red zone. Smith ran a shallow cross and may have had room to pick the first down but he did not compete the catch. Carolina trails, 6-3.
The Panthers were about to go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 48 on their next drive, but rookie offensive tackle Ickey Ekwonu messed up the snap count and was flagged for illegal motion. Carolina had to punt instead.
Anderson fumble sets up Giants
The Panthers committed two turnovers in the first five minutes, with wide receiver Robbie Anderson getting the ball stripped away on the team’s first offensive possession at the Giants 40 on a third-and-long. By then, Chuba Hubbard had already fumbled away the opening kickoff, which resulted in a 3-0 New York Giants lead after Carolina’s defense bailed Hubbard out with a stop.
This time the defense was up to the task again. The Giants converted a fourth-and-1 on their way to a first down at the Carolina 5. But linebacker Frankie Luvu tackled Daniel Jones for a six-yard loss on second down and then Brian Burns sacked Jones on third down, forcing another Graham Gano field goal. The Giants lead, 6-0 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
Chuba Hubbard fumbles kickoff
The Panthers couldn’t have started much worse, as running back Chuba Hubbard fumbled the opening kickoff and the New York Giants recovered, eight seconds into the game. The Panthers’ defense survived the sudden change, making the Giants go 3-and-out, without a first down.
Former Carolina Panther Graham Gano then hit a 36-yard field goal for the Giants, who led, 3-0, with 12:50 left in the first quarter. Hubbard was subbing in for regular kick returner Andre Roberts, who is injured and isn’t playing. The Panthers used Hubbard on the second kickoff of the game as well, and this time Gano booted it into the end zone.
Panthers inactives announced
The Panthers’ inactive list was revealed 90 minutes before game time and wide receiver Shi Smith will play. There were really no surprises on the list. Smith was on the injury report Friday with a groin problem, but was declared active and will likely be the Panthers’ punt returner and as the third wide receiver in the three-wide set.
Other Panther inactives were: Linebacker Brandon Smith, defensive end Amare Barno, defensive tackle Phil Hoskins, offensive lineman Cade Mays and wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. Terrace Marshall Jr. or Rashard Higgins will be the fourth receiver.
The Panthers will wear their all-white jerseys and pants combo today, which should help combat the heat from the artificial turf at MetLife.
The Giants will start quarterback Daniel Jones, who grew up in Charlotte and was a major Panther fan when he was young. Jones led the Giants to a convincing 25-3 win over Carolina in 2021.
Hot, sunny day for game
It will be an unseasonably warm day at MetLife Stadium for this one. There’s no chance of rain in the forecast, and the weather is expected to be about 80 degrees at kickoff, but rising into the low 80s throughout the afternoon. Lured by the Giants’ opening-day win and the pretty weather, there is a lively pro-Giants crowd outside MetLife Stadium.
Previewing Panthers vs. Giants
Some links from the week that was, ICYMI:
Can the Panthers slow down star running back Saquon Barkley? Here are key matchups to watch.
Baker Mayfield started to figure some things out in the second half of Week 1. Can he and the Panthers carry that momentum into MetLife Stadium?
Panthers wide receiver Shi Smith landed on Thursday’s injury report. The team held him out of practice on Friday. He is questionable to play but the team is optimistic he’ll be able to go.
Want to listen to Panthers-Giants game preview? Here is our Week 2 edition of the Panthers Tracks podcast.
This story was originally published September 18, 2022 at 10:55 AM.
