Yahoo! Sports offers a breakdown of the Week 1 matchup between the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers. Here is Yahoo's bottom line.
The Panthers offense went the entire preseason without scoring a touchdown in four preseason games, leaving nowhere to go but up as Matt Moore(notes) officially takes over for jettisoned Jake Delhomme. The passing game was a major point of emphasis in Carolina but there's been little in the way of results in the summer. The Giants concentrated hard on upgrading what was a shabby 2009 pass defense, signing safeties Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant and getting a return to health of safety Kenny Phillips. The DeAngelo Williams-Jonathan Stewart dynamic rushing duo has dominated the Giants in recent years and could do so again, as until proven otherwise the revamped Giants defense is not the vice-grip run defense it was in previous years. The Giants expect and need Eli Manning to out-play Moore and to make some plays on the outside with Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. This is the first-ever regular-season game at New Meadowlands Stadium and the Giants want some payback from a year ago, when the Panthers in the last-ever Giants home game at Giants Stadium ruined the farewell with a resounding 41-9 crushing of the Giants.
My take: If the Giants can't handle a Carolina offense that did not score a preseason touchdown it could be a long season for the guys in blue.