The Carolina Panthers survived a second-half comeback by the New York Giants, eking out a 20-17 win in overtime in Munich. A Tyrone Tracy fumble on the first play in overtime would give Carolina a chip shot field goal to take the win back to Charlotte. Eddie Pineiro duly obliged, knocking over a 36-yarder in sudden death. 

After a dominant first quarter, it seemed the ‘home team’ would have little trouble in seeing off their foes. Chuba Hubbard dominated the game in the early going, routinely gashing New York’s rush defense. He rode three plays of more than 20 yards to record a final statline of 153 yards and a score. 

New York will rue missed opportunities. Their first half was marked by crucial errors by Daniel Jones, who routinely took sacks on key third downs, and scuppered two scoring drives with picks. 

Sunday’s game marked another successful trip to Germany for the NFL, on a day where Roger Goodell confirmed eight International Series games in 2025. While he didn’t quite confirm it, the Commissioner hinted at a game in Dublin. The UK, Germany, Spain, Mexico and Brazil will also host the NFL next season. 

Once again the 70,132 predominantly German fans were feverish in their support, making noise and belting out their favourite songs despite periods of patchy plays by both offenses. 

The game started with a whimper, as both the Panthers and Giants found little success in their opening drives. The only substantial gain came from a free play, where Daniel Jones attempted to find a streaking Jalin Hyatt, a play which resulted in a lengthy pass interference call against the Panthers. Jones would sail a pass on third down well over the head of rookie standout Malik Nabers. 

Starting from their own ten-yard line, Carolina compiled an explosive series to take the lead. Bryce Young connected on a 23-yard crosser to Xavier Legette to kick things off, before Hubbard gashed the Giants defense for two rushes of 26 yards. Young showed impressive poise in the red zone, jinking up through the pocket to find Ja’Tavion Sanders open along the backline of the endzone for the game’s opening score. 

Another stuttering drive by New York ended near halfway with a timely pass breakup by Panthers defensive back Mike Jackson. Again Young was able to traverse disadvantageous field position, connecting on a 29-yard pass to Jalen Coker for his own nine-yard line. Despite another darting rush by Hubbard, the Panthers would eventually settle for a 53-yard field goal attempt by Eddie Pineiro. His kick sailed through the upright, giving the ‘home team’ a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. 

Both offenses struggled to find their rhythm. A designed keeper appeared to give Jones confidence, but a pass breakup by Jaycee Horn on a pass intended for WanDale Robinson halted the Giants progress. Graham Gano, reactivated from IR for this game after a hamstring injury, pushed his 43-yard attempt wide right. 

While Carolina were unable to piece together any effective possessions, they were able to avoid catastrophic plays. Meanwhile, one Giants drive would end with Jones taking a D.J. Wonnum sack attempting a flea flicker on third-and-one while the next would result in an interception when Jadeveon Clowney deflected an errant pass into the hands of Xavier Woods. 10-0 Carolina at half time. 

Perhaps energised by the raucous German fans, both offenses reversed their fortunes with 10-play scoring drives. The Giants chipped away at Carolina’s defense to edge the ball downfield, before rookie sensation Tyrone Tracy Jr. cut back against the grain on an inside, finding paydirt from 32 yards out. 

Carolina took a more explosive route to the red zone, Hubbard and Young finding success on the ground with back-to-back rushes of 24 and 25 yards respectively. It appeared Young had added a second score on the day when he connected with David Moore in the back of the end zone, but an illegal formation penalty and a subsequent false start pushed the second year signal caller back. Unperturbed, Young would again connect with Moore to establish first and goal, before Hubbard plunged in for a deserved touchdown from a yard out. 

After trading three and outs, the Giants would piece together another mammoth scoring drive. Starting from their own five, Jones and his teammates pieced together a 13-play series kick started by gains of 19 and 23 to Nabers and Robinson respectively. Methodically moving the ball down the field, the Giants cut the Panthers lead to three on a designed run by Jones. Pulling the ball out of his running backs gut on a naked bootleg, Danny Dimes had just enough leg to beat the Panthers defender to the pylon. 

Carolina almost ceded the lead entirely to their foe, when Hubbard made a rare mistake, grassing the ball on an awkward tackle by Rakeem Nuñez-Roches and Dru Phillips. The fumble is recovered by D.J. Davidson. Just four plays later, Jones again wastes opportunity to put up points, throwing behind his tight end Theo Johnson, allowing Josey Jewell to snag a timely interception. 

After exchanging three and outs, the Panthers would again stutter when presented the opportunity to ice the game. With little over two minutes on the clock, the Giants needed 79 yards to take the lead. Jones attempted to gain that in a hurry, a potential 40 yard gain chalked off on review after Nabers appeared to corral the deep shot along the sideline. Unphased, Jones took what the offense gave him, dinking and dunking, setting up a 32-yard field goal for Pineiro with just ten seconds on the clock. This time, the returning kicker converted, sending the game to overtime. 

Tracy will ultimately bear the brunt of his mistake, a shame considering he showed explosiveness in the second half comeback. The Giants ended the day with three turnovers, a crucial statistic in a game where they managed to fight back valiantly.