5 bold predictions for the Carolina Panthers at NY Giants in Week 2
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers DE Brian Burns gets 2.5 sacks
It’s no secret that the Carolina Panthers are relying heavily on Brian Burns this season. The team opted to let Haason Reddick walk in free agency for the Philadelphia Eagles and chose to rely on young players stepping up rather than spending money on an adequate replacement.
This allowed the Cleveland Browns to make Burns their focal point. The former first-round pick out of Florida State was double-teamed and chipped throughout the Week 1 contest, but the player was also a little wasteful when opportunities for sacks came his way.
Burns turning pressures into quarterback takedowns is how the edge rusher can leap from good to great. It won’t be easy, especially if players such as Yetur Gross-Matos and Marquis Haynes cannot produce consistently from prominent depth chart positions.
It promises to be another fascinating matchup for Burns this weekend. The New York Giants have a prolific tackle tandem in Andrew Thomas and first-rounder Evan Neal, who might have been Carolina’s pick had Ikem Ekwonu not fallen out of the top five.
With that being said, Burns has the motivation to make his presence felt in Week 2. Gaining 2.5 sacks would go a long way to assisting the Panthers to improve matters on defense after a lackluster opening day showing.