Panthers just stole a victory with a 63-yard field goal
The Carolina Panthers are undefeated at home to start the 2018 NFL season, and they can thank kicker Graham Gano for bailing them out against the New York Giants in Week 5.
It looked like the Carolina Panthers were poised to enter their Week 6 contest against Washington at 2-2, because they were losing 31-30 with just seconds left in the fourth quarter. Facing 3rd-and-10 after a spike an an incomplete pass, Panthers kicker Graham Gano stepped up to attempt a 63-yard field goal.
Against the odds, Gano nailed the kick to go 4-for-4 in the game and gift the Panthers a 33-31 win over a Giants team that finally looked lively on offense. The win moved the Panthers to 3-1 in a competitive NFC South, meaning that their lone loss in 2018 has come on the road. Meanwhile, the Giants are 1-4 and in need of a turn-around on a short week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Panthers scraped by a 300-yard passing game from Eli Manning, who hooked up with Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr. for touchdown passes. Beckham Jr. went over 100 receiving yards in a huge bounce-back game, and he made an even bigger statement with a touchdown pass to an open Barkley on a slick trick play.
Although Carolina wasn’t quite as dynamic on offense, they found a way to win. Cam Newton tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Curtis Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, who are huge bright spots for this offense going forward.
Devin Funchess led the team in receiving, again, with 53 yards on four receptions, and McCaffrey added 58 rushing yards to his five receptions for 38 yards and touchdown in the passing game. It’s a surprise that the Panthers managed to score 33 points without a true standout performer on offense, but they will take the win any day.
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Relying on a kicker to hit 63-yard field goals as time expires isn’t wise, but it’s always good to have a solid kicker who can deliver in crunch time. Gano is perfect on field goals and extra points this season He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 after leading the league with a 96.7% field goal percentage, and it doesn’t seem like the former Washington kicker will slow down any time soon.
Carolina will hope they can get the job done against Gano’s old team in Week 6 without any heroics from the kicker, but with the way he’s playing, Ron Rivera and Co. can certainly count on him to deliver the goods in the fourth quarter.