http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/football/.../p1_foster.jpg
DeShaun Foster ran for 151 yards on 27 carries.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Giants at their own game, in their own place.
Steve Smith scored a pair of touchdowns and Carolina rattled Eli Manning into four turnovers to lead the Panthers to a 23-0 win over New York in the first round of the NFC playoffs Sunday.
The Panthers did it with a stout defense and a strong running game -- the same principles the Giants used this season to win their first divisional title in five years.
Playing nearly as well as they did in their Super Bowl season two years ago, the Panthers (12-5) handed New York its first playoff shutout in 20 years.
"Everybody may say we're a Super Bowl team -- we're not," Smith cautioned. "All we are is a one-win playoff team."
Manning threw three interceptions, then fumbled late in the game in front of a nearly empty Giants Stadium. Tiki Barber was held to a season-low 41 yards rushing, while the Giants managed just 109 yards total offense.
New York became the first home playoff team to be shut out since 1980, when the Los Angeles Rams blanked Tampa Bay.
It was exactly the performance expected from a John Fox-coached team. He and the Panthers seemed to be ahead of the Giants on almost every play in his return to the Meadowlands, where Fox spent five years as defensive coordinator before taking over in Carolina in 2002.
"It was strange," Barber said. "They were in our huddle a little bit. They kind of had us dissected and figured out and we couldn't get anything going consistently."
DeShaun Foster ran for 151 yards by going straight at the Giants' depleted linebacker corps, kick-starting a running game that has been spotty all year.
"We wanted to get out there and establish the run early," said Foster. "That's how you keep their players off the field. We were just able to do that and it worked out for us."
Smith had 10 catches for 84 yards. He scored once on a 22-yard catch from Jake Delhomme, then ran a reverse in 12 yards for a second score.
But the game belonged to Carolina's defense, which was insulted earlier in the week when Osi Umenyiora said the Panthers had the second-best defensive ends in the NFL. The shot at Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker stung, and the entire unit responded.
Although Umenyiora and Michael Strahan combined for three sacks of Delhomme, Peppers and Rucker are the ones still playing.
"Taking away Tiki -- he's the thing that makes them go," Peppers said. "We had to get a handle on him, we got a couple hits on Eli early. I think that kind of rattled him."
Carolina forced five turnovers in all and kept New York's offense off the field. It allowed the Panthers to keep the ball a whopping 42:45.
"I believe we still have a lot to be proud of," Barber said. "We have no reason to hang our heads even though we showed the playoffs weren't what we were ready for."
Not on Sunday they weren't.
The New York crowd, so rowdy at kickoff, booed the Giants off the field after a frustrating first half. It continued most of the second half, until the crowd gave a sarcastic cheer after New York finally managed a first down -- one of just nine in the game.
Carolina used New York mistakes to aid most of its scoring.
They jumped out to a 7-0 lead after Justin Tuck was called for illegal contact on a third-down incompletion. It kept the Panthers' drive going, and they moved the ball efficiently with a mix of runs by Foster and Nick Goings to put the Giants on their heels.
The Giants then mistakenly tried to use single coverage on Smith while defending the run, and Smith easily beat Terrell Buckley into the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown reception.
Then, right before halftime, the Giants muffed a punt when the ball hit Gibril Wilson's knee and Carolina pounced on it. Four plays later, John Kasay kicked a 31-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead the Panthers took into the break.
New York unraveled in the second half.
After stalling out on their first drive, Manning was intercepted on the first play of the second drive when Ken Lucas stepped in front of Amani Toomer. Lucas, Carolina's big free agent addition this season, returned it 14 yards to give the offense the ball at the New York 12-yard line.
One play later, Smith took a handoff from Delhomme and reversed it around the right side of the field for his second score of the day and a 17-0 Panthers lead.
Manning was picked off again on the next series, one of Marlon McCree's two interceptions, when he took a ball intended for Jeremy Shockey at the Carolina 17. It ended the last real scoring threat New York mustered and shattered Manning's already shaky confidence.
"I didn't play well, and I made too many mistakes for us to win today," said Manning, who finished 10-for-18 for 113 yards. "It was not the way I wanted to come out and play."
He added: "I look forward to coming back and getting better."
A.Press
