The Panthers moved the ball well, but they kept making big mistakes that kept them off the scoreboard.  Chris Weinke got the start and completed 34 of 61 passes for 423 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 16 yards.  DeShaun Foster carried the ball 8 times for 23 yards (2.9 ypc).  DeAngelo Williams only carried the ball 2 times for 1 yard (0.5 ypc) and he caught 4 passes for 45 yards.  Drew Carter had a fantastic game with 8 catches for 144 yards and a TD.  Steve Smith had an off-day with 5 catches for 67 yards.  Keyshawn Johnson added 5 receptions for 51 yards.  TE Kris Mangum caught 4 passes for 45 yards.

The Giants carried the football 35 times for 135 yards (3.9 ypc).  The Giants also completed 17 of 33 passes for 172 net yards passing.

The Panthers couldn’t afford this loss as it dropped them to 6-7 on the season.

The Giants are looking horrible lately as they’ve lost 4 games in a row and have given up 111 points in those games!  The Panthers have lost two in a row but they were both on the road.  The Panthers are 4-2 at home on the season and have won their last two by a combined 39-10 score.

Look for the Giants to run the football with Tiki Barber (1,170 yards rushing) and Brandon Jacobs (369 yards rushing) against the Panthers run defense which is allowing 108.3 yards rushing and 3.9 yards per carry on the season.  In the passing game, look for Manning to throw the ball alot to Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey as they try to keep the passing short.

Look for the Panthers to lean on the running game with Chris Weinke getting the start on Sunday.  DeAngelo Williams (409 yards rushing) has been playing well since he got healthy and he should do o.k. against a Giants defense that is allowing 105 yards rushing per game.  Look for Weinke to throw the ball deep alot to Steve Smith (66 rec, 958 yards) and short to Keyshawn Johnson (57 rec, 674 yards) as the Giants allow 218.5 net yards passing per game.

I lean towards the Panthers in this football game.  The Giants look lost and the Panthers have played well at home this season.

The Panthers went into the draft wanting to draft a running back with the potential to start because DeShaun Foster is so brittle.  DeAngelo Williams fell into their lap in the draft and the team couldn’t believe their luck.  The Panthers brought him alond slowly letting him return kick-offs and being the third down back.  Foster injured himself, as usual, and now Williams is getting the chance to be the man and he’s producing.

Williams has played in 9 games this season, but only has started twice.  He has carried the ball 87 times for 409 yards (4.7 ypc) and a TD.  He has also caught 20 passes for 200 yards (10.0 avg) and a TD.  Williams also has returned 18 kick-offs for 363 yards (20.2 avg), but he won’t be doing that again for awhile, because he’s to important to the offense.

This loss has to hurt the Panthers confidence.  Jake Delhomme had the team driving at the end of the game and threw an interception in the Eagles end-zone to end the game.  Delhomme completed 27 of 37 passes for 269 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs.  DeAngelo Williams had the best game of his career as he carried the ball 17 times for 74 yards (4.4 ypc) and he caught 7 passes for 101 yards and a TD.  Keyshawn Johnson had a good game with 4 catches for 65 yards and a TD.  Steve Smith caught 4 passes for 54 yards and a TD, he also ran once for 15 yards.

The Panthers defense was awful.  They did well against the run, but Jeff Garcia threw all over them.  The Panthers held the Eagles to 98 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.6 ypc).  The Eagles completed 21 of 39 passes for 304 net yards passing.

This was a severe blow to the Panthers playoff chances as they fell to 6-6 on the season.

I know alot of people have been on his back about dropped passes this season, but he has caught 62 of them for 904 yards.  Part of the problem for Smith was that he missed the early part of the season with the hamstring injury that he had, and that could have made him a little timid in the early going.  I think he’s going to come on with a rush at the end of the year and help get the Panthers into the playoffs.

These two teams have been disappointments so far this season.  The Panthers are 6-5 on the season, but are only 2-3 the last five weeks.  The Eagles are 5-6, and have lost 5 of their last 6 football games.

Look for the Panthers to attack the weakness of the Eagles defense with DeAngelo Williams running the football against them.  The Eagles have allowed 139.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this season.  Don’t think for a minute that the Panthers won’t be throwing bombs to Steve Smith (62 rec, 904 yards), it’s just a question of whether or not he will catch it.

The Eagles also might look to run the ball a little more this week with Brian Westbrook (839 yards rushing) an Correll Buckhalter.  The Panthers run defense is allowing 109.2 yards rushing per game, so the Eagles should have some success on the ground.  If the Eagles can keep Julius Peppers (11 sacks) away from Jeff Garcia, they could have success throwing the football.

Playing on a hunch, I would pick the Panthers to win this game.  Remember though, they lost to the Redskins on the road last week….so I wouldn’t be that surprised if the Eagles won the game outright.