The Panthers went into New York and showed the Giants why they are just two years removed from being the NFC Champs as the underrated Panthers defense shut out Eli Manning and the New York Giants.

The Giants came out flat and didn't look like the team that won the NFC East. On offense, Tiki was shut down early. He totaled 41 yards on only 13 carries as the Giants were forced to abandon the running game in the second half as the Carolina lead built.

Eli Manning didn't look any better. Manning was 10 for 18 in the game for 118 yards, but also threw three crucial picks. Two of them led to Carolina scores in the second half.

The Giants big offseason signing, Plaxico Burress, was held without a catch for the entire game, living up to his reputation in Pittsburgh as a player who disappeared in the big games. At times he didn't even be seem to be running his routes at full speed.

On defense, the Giants looked equally as bad. They let Deshaun Foster run for a franchise playoff record 151 yards on 27 carries. Foster had run for 100 yards only twice during the regular season. Nick Goings added 63 more yards on the ground. Many times the Panthers backs would get into the secondary before finally being touched.

All-pro Steve Smith supplied most of the Carolina scoring. He scored in the second quarter on a 22 yard pass from Jake Delhomme for the first score of the game. After a Carolina interception, Smith took an end-around 12 yards for the team's second touchdown. Smith finished the game catching 10 of Delhomme's 15 completions for 84 yards.

Carolina will head to Chicago for a rematch with the Bears. Chicago defeated Carolina in Chicago during the regular season.