New York Giants Get Week 1 Victory, Suffer Major Losses in Injuries

The New York Giants got a victory against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon, successfully opening up their new stadium in the regular season.

Aside from the defense and Eli Manning loving Hakeem Nicks in the red zone, almost everything looked awful for the team.

Maybe it's just me being a pessimist, but I can't feel confident this team would beat anyone with a decent offense.

They just gave up the ball on offense way too many times; combine that with the horrible kickoff coverage, and you get the Panthers having an average starting position of around their 40-yard line.

It's a wonder the defense could hold them to 16 points (plus a safety, which doesn't go against the defense).

That being said, they still have time to get the running game going.

If the defense is going to play that well all year, this team has a chance to seriously contend for the division title, despite being picked to finish third or fourth by all major media outlets that don't have Peter King working for them.

The Defense Has Something To Prove

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 12: Chris Canty #99 of the New York Giants celebrates after sacking Matt Moore #3 of the Carolina Panthers during the NFL season opener at New Meadowlands Stadium on September 12, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Pho

I cannot express with any words how impressed I was with the defense, but I'll do by best.

From the very start, they completely dominated the best one-two punch of running backs in the league in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, allowing only 89 rushing yards for the game.

Chris Canty played out of his mind in run stopping. He completely shut up any critics and showed why the Giants invested so much money in him.

He was in the backfield on almost every play and if he continues to pair with Barry Cofield like he did yesterday, NO ONE will be able to run the ball against them.

They made Jonathan Goff's job so much easier than it had to be.

The most refreshing aspect of the game was they seemingly reversed the problems they had in 2009.

They were basically allowing a touchdown every time a team got in the red zone, but the Giants not only held them to field goals three times in the first half, but they also collected three interceptions in the end zone.

Deon Grant played fantastic despite the fact that he was demoted to backup in lieu of Kenny Phillips.

He played a ton yesterday, probably due to the fact that Aaron Ross was inactive because of his foot injury.

When the defense went to five or more defensive backs, Fewell had all of his playmakers in the game, and it paid off.

If the defense continues to be opportunistic like they were yesterday, they will have all aspects of a great defense covered; stuff the run, pressure the QB, cause turnovers.

Best stat of the day: The defense allowed zero points off four turnovers by the offense.

Offensive Line, Receivers, and Special Teams Nearly Cost Them The Game

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 12: Hakeem Nicks #88 of the New York Giants goes up for a his second touchdown reception against Captain Munnerlyn #41 of the Carolina Panthers on September 12, 2010 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New J

The first problem I had was watching the offensive lineman fail miserably to open up any holes for the running backs in the first half.

I don't know the numbers, but I swear it felt like the Giants were in the negative in rushing yards after the first half.

They seemed to do OK in protecting Eli, allowing only one sack and very few QB pressures, so at least they have something to hang their hats on.

However, they had better shape up before playing some real defenses like the teams in their divisions, all of whom looked pretty good on Sunday.

The receivers annoyed the hell out of me yesterday because they are the only reason for Eli's three interceptions.

You could make the case that Eli overthrew Ramses Barden on the last one, but the ball hit him in the hands, and you absolutely have to come down with those.

On three separate occasions, Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden, and Ahmad Bradshaw dropped passes that were right to them and fell straight into the hands of a defensive back.

Nicks made up for it with his three touchdown catches, but he still has to be more consistent if he wants to emerge as a legitimate star.

Again I'm not 100 percent on the numbers, but I think they had six dropped passes. That is six too many.

The special teams was perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the whole game, because if it weren't for the defense forcing five turnovers, this game would have probably gone the other way.

Matt Dodge showed some promise in the preseason, but he is still having trouble getting any hang time whatsoever. One of his punts felt like it was in the air for less than two seconds.

He also sets up for WAY too long, which resulted in a blocked punt for a safety. You'd think if he set up long, he'd at least get some air under it.

What was even worse was the kickoff coverage. The biggest blunder was allowing the return man to get to the 50-yard line after the offense scored a go-ahead touchdown.

This allowed the Panther offense to run no-huddle and down the field and put their lone touchdown on the board.

A better team would have won this game.

Despite The Victory, The Giants Suffered a Big Loss

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 13: Kevin Boss #89 of the New York Giants celebrates with teammate William Beatty #65 against the Philadelphia Eagles at Giants Stadium on December 13, 2009 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images

News broke this afternoon that 2009 second-round pick William Beatty has a fractured foot and could potentially miss the rest of the season.

This is really sad news for the player and the team. Not only was Beatty going to have an increased role in the offense (which was accelerated due to Kevin Boss getting hurt and not having a third TE), but the team is already very limited at the Tackle position.

Hopefully, he can come back late in the season, but they won't want to cause any long term problems in doing so.

Kevin Boss was also hurt on the third play of the game, when Eli Manning soared a pass over his head and the safety hit Boss from behind.

Boss was on the ground for several minutes before walking to the locker room under his own power.

Tom Coughlin said today that he also had a concussion last season, and he also had one in 2008, which caused him to miss the last game of the season.

A third concussion means the NFL will force the Giants to be very careful with him, so he might not be able to play in the first big test when the Giants travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts.