Giants 36, Panthers 7
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Picking up where they left off in their last game, the New York Giants steamrolled the Carolina Panthers, in part by unleashing a new weapon.
Andre Brown ran for a career-best 113 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Giants cruised to a 36-7 victory Thursday night at Bank of America Stadium.
The Giants, who got five field goals from Lawrence Tynes, won for the second game in a row after losing their opener. The Panthers are 1-2.
Brown, a third-year player who has rarely been on active NFL rosters, had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs among his 20 carries.
His rushing and quarterback Eli Manning's pinpoint passing put the Panthers in an early bind, as the Giants led 20-0 at halftime.
Manning completed 27 of 35 passes for 288 yards, and he wasn't needed the last seven minutes, when former Panther David Carr took the snaps.
Ramses Barden posted 138 receiving yards on 10 catches for the Giants.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw three interceptions, all of them in New York territory.
Carolina's Joe Adams fumbled the second-half kickoff, and that resulted in Tynes' third field goal - this one from 30 yards -- and a 23-0 lead.
The Panthers broke through with an ensuing 13-play drive that took nearly 6 1/2 minutes, with Newton leaping for the touchdown from 1 yard out.
By the time Carolina had the ball again, less than a minute remained in the third quarter and the Giants had tacked on another field goal from Tynes.
Adams fumbled a fourth-quarter punt, resulting in a fifth Tynes field goal.
Tight end Greg Olsen notched 98 receiving yards, his highest total in two seasons with the Panthers.
New York took control of the game in the first half.
Manning completed 17 of his first 20 passes for 176 yards, with Barden on the receiving end of several of the big gainers.
Brown scored on a 1-yard run as the Giants staked a 17-0 lead with 12:03 to play in the first half. A 49-yard field goal by Tynes pushed the margin to 20-0, which was the halftime score.
It was a vastly different start from the previous game for the Giants, who rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Tampa Bay four days earlier. Manning threw three first-half interceptions in that game.
Brown, a former North Carolina State star, gained 77 yards on seven carries in the first quarter. That eclipsed his total from six previous career games for the much-traveled, little-used running back.
Brown picked up another 11 yards to complete New York's scoring drive early in the second quarter. He ended up with 96 first-half yards on the ground.
Barden had 123 first-half receiving yards.
The Panthers' first three possessions ended with punts, and their next possession died on Jayron Hosley's interception after Carolina moved inside Giants territory with less than two minutes to go in the half.
The Giants drove for a touchdown on the game's opening possession, with Manning finding tight end Martellus Bennett for a 14-yard touchdown play. That completed an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
New York's lead went to 10-0 on Tynes' 47-yard field goal to cap the team's second drive.
The Giants were without injured running back Ahmad Bradshaw and receiver Hakeem Nicks, who would have been playing in his hometown.
Notes: The Panthers used Garry Williams as the starter at right tackle in place of Bryon Bell. ... There hadn't been a September meeting in five years between the NFL's reigning Rookie of the Year (Newton) and the previous season's Super Bowl MVP (Manning). ... The Panthers have given up a touchdown on their opponent's first possession in all three games this season.
