New York Giants: 3 Standouts from Week 5 vs. Panthers

The New York Giants suffered an agonizing 33-31 loss to the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon in Charlotte. Here are three Giants standouts from that game.

The New York Giants are in trouble — big trouble. The G-Men slipped to 1-4 on the season with a gut-wrenching 33-31 setback to the Carolina Panthers (3-1) Sunday afternoon when Graham Gano booted a team-record 63-yard field goal with one second remaining to send Big Blue to an agonizing defeat at Bank of America Stadium.

The Giants face a long path back to playoff contention now, a very long and bumpy road indeed.

Here were three standouts for the G-Men vs. Carolina, despite the losing effort.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Aside from a fumbled punt return, this is why the Giants are paying the mercurial star all those megabucks. The three-time Pro Bowler was tremendous. All Odell Beckham Jr. did was record eight receptions for a season-high 131 yards and a touchdown. But he also tossed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley in the second quarter to knot the score up at 10 apiece.

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This is what superstar players do — take over a game and do everything they can to propel their team over the top. It took one of the longest field goals in NFL history to spoil a monumental effort from the LSU product. He was the main reason that Big Blue tallied over 30 points in a game for the first time since the Tom Coughlin era.

Saquon Barkley

Another day, another excellent performance from the exhilarating rookie from Penn State. Not only did Barkley haul in Beckham’s 57-yard touchdown toss, but he added 48 yards on the ground and a second receiving score, this time on a 15-yarder from Eli Manning (22-of-36, 326 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions).

Barkley now has scored five touchdowns this season (three rushing, two receiving) and is a prime candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Although he averaged just 3.2 yards a carry against Carolina, his receiving skills and athleticism make him a very dangerous weapon out of the backfield. The Bronx native is certainly living up to the hype as this year’s No. 2 overall draft pick.

Janoris Jenkins

Although the Giants allowed 33 points, the seven-year NFL cornerback enjoyed a strong performance with four tackles (three solo), two passes defended and a 27-yard interception return. Jenkins now leads Big Blue with two interceptions and five passes defended this year. He’s third in total tackles (26), including 21 of the solo variety.

The North Alabama product is enjoying one of his finest seasons and is an emotional sparkplug in New York’s defensive backfield. He’ll need to continue to step up his game against Alshon Jeffrey and the Philadelphia Eagles this coming Thursday night in a huge NFC East battle at MetLife Stadium.