Late offensive surge leads Giants over Panthers

The New York Giants recorded their second win of the season Sunday after a pair of embarrassing double-digit losses.

The Giants are back in the win column.

Thanks to a second-half offensive surge and a strong defensive performance, the Giants defeated the Panthers 25-3 after the score stood at 5-3 for much of the afternoon.

The victory came despite various injuries to the Giants offense. Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, Saquon Barkley, and Andrew Thomas all missed the matchup with health-related issues. Thus, Daniel Jones, Devontae Booker, and Darius Slayton needed to lead the offense against a tough Carolina defense.

That’s exactly what they did, at least in the final quarter and a half.

Jones finished with 203 yards and one touchdown on 23-of-33 passing. He developed a nice rapport with Slayton, who led the team with 63 yards on five receptions.

The third-year quarterback has put together a good season thus far, and while his Week 7 numbers weren’t eye-popping, he was still able to produce without much of his supporting cast against a talented defense.

Jones is really proving he’s the long-term answer at the quarterback position in East Rutherford.

Finally, a pass rush

Hey look, the Giants actually rushed the passer on a consistent basis and only allowed three points. Who would’ve thought?

Patrick Graham’s unit was able to get to the quarterback (both Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker played for the Panthers) six times and, as a result, not as much heat was on the secondary. New York allowed just 173 total yards, 117 of which were through the air.

We’ve been saying it all year — you can credit much of the Giants’ struggles on that side of the ball to the lack of a true pass rush. This is the NFL; if you give any quarterback time to operate and go through their progressions, they will dial it up.

The Giants on Sunday didn’t provide Darnold or Walker with much time at all, and it was a crucial development in the win.

Numerous quarterbacks have constructed notable performances against the Giants defense. Darnold, however, threw for just 111 yards with an interception on 16-of-25 passing.

Rookie Azeez Ojulari led the team with 2.5 sacks. Leonard Williams additionally recorded 1.5 sacks.

Follow Ryan Honey on Twitter: @RyanHoneyESNY

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