Panthers recover Giants’ OT fumble and claim first consecutive wins since 2021

The Carolina Panthers recovered a fumble on the first play of overtime and defeated the New York Giants 20-17 on Sunday in Munich, Germany.

The German crowd, buoyed by beer and John Denver’s “Country Road,” seemed pleased with the match. However, from the soccer side, it was a tough match. It was a slow game between two teams with 2 wins and 7 losses, and they struggled to move the ball down the field.

After a relatively slow first half, the Panthers took the lead, with quarterback Bryce Young throwing to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a touchdown. Carolina added a field goal to start the second quarter. On the very next drive, Giants kicker Graham Gano missed a 43-yard field goal that would have decided the game by just one point.

The Giants entered the red zone late in the second half and finally had a chance to score, but a costly pick thrown by Daniel Jones bounced off linebacker Jadeveon Clowney’s helmet.

New York gained some momentum after halftime, scoring a touchdown on the first play of the second half to cut the deficit to three points. Carolina responded quickly, moving the ball 80 yards down the field and scoring another touchdown.

The Giants opened the final frame with another touchdown, with Jones running 2 yards to the end zone to score. New York’s luck continued as they recovered a Carolina fumble and got the ball back with eight minutes left in the game. But the excitement quickly died down when Jones threw another interception, picked off by Panthers linebacker Josey Jewell. Despite getting the ball back, Carolina was forced to punt after three ineffective downs.

Gano made a comeback with a field goal with 10 seconds remaining, tying the score at 17 minutes and sending the game into overtime.

Overtime started off tough for New York, with Carolina forcing a fumble and recovering the ball on the Giants’ first play of the extra session. All Carolina needed was a field goal, which the Panthers got, with Eddie Pineiro making a 36-yard kick to end the game. The Panthers won 20-17, improving to 3-7 on the season.

The NFL is set to return to Germany next year, along with several other countries. For the sake of the Germans, I hope the league will send better matches.