N.Y. Giants vs. Carolina Panthers
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No. 4 seed Giants, 11-5 (NFC East champion); No. 5 seed Panthers 11-5 (wild card)
Offense
Each offense revolves around one of the league's most indispensable players this season. Tiki Barber, was the league's second-leading rusher and finished fourth in the MVP balloting, but he hurt his ankle during last weekend's win at Oakland that clinched the NFC East title. TE Jeremy Shockey returns from an ankle injury. Panthers WR Steve Smith, led the NFL in receiving yards and was tied for the lead in catches and touchdown receptions. RB DeShaun Foster has taken over for Stephen Davis as the featured runner, and QB Jake Delhomme has a passer rating of 106.1 (with six TD passes and only one interception) in four career postseason starts.
Advantage: Giants
Defense
The Giants have the pass rushers -- DEs Michael Strahan, and Osi Umenyiora -- to get in Delhomme's face and force him into mistakes. But they're depleted at linebacker. One would think they would do everything they could to keep Smith from beating them. But they allowed Santana Moss to beat them a few weeks ago even though the Redskins didn't have a major threat at the other WR spot. Carolina has two superb pass rushers at DE in Julius Peppers, and Mike Rucker. The Panthers' three cornerbacks -- Chris Gamble, Ken Lucas and Ricky Manning -- match up well with just about any team's wide receivers.
Advantage: Panthers
Special Teams
Chad Morton had a key punt return for the Giants last weekend in Oakland. But they can't feel particularly good about entrusting a playoff game to PK Jay Feely, who's had an erratic season.
Advantage: Panthers
Coaches
Panthers Coach John Fox is a former Giants defensive coordinator and has Carolina back in the playoffs after it became the fourth straight Super Bowl loser to follow up with a losing season. The Giants' players have learned to tolerate and respect, but not quite adore, the tough tactics of Coach Tom Coughlin, and he's taken the club from a 6-10 record last season to 11-5 this season. But the Giants' coaches made some questionable moves in recent weeks, particularly during a loss to the Redskins when they forgot about Barber and allowed CB Will Allen to be embarrassed by Moss.
Advantage: Panthers
And the Winner Is
The Panthers have been about as inconsistent as an 11-5 team can be, but they're coming off a convincing win over Atlanta last weekend to clinch a playoff spot, and the Giants have had to patch together their defense lately.
Pick: Panthers
-- Mark Maske
