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Weinke sets franchise record for passing yards in Panthers loss

Dec 10, 2006 - 9:40 PM CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Chris Weinke made his first start in more than four years and set a franchise record for passing yards. It didn't help the Carolina Panthers snap out of their funk.

Weinke threw for 423 yards and a touchdown, but was also intercepted three times as the Panthers fell to the New York Giants, 27-13, in a game that could go a long way to determining a wild-card berth in the NFC.

Carolina (6-7) lost its third straight while the Giants (7-6) snapped a four-game losing streak and remained tied with Philadelphia and Atlanta for the NFC wild-card spots.

The Panthers posted a 23-0 win over the Giants in last January's wild-card round, but were missing starting quarterback Jake Delhomme and cornerbacks Ken Lucas and Chris Gamble for the rematch. Delhomme suffered a sprained right thumb in last Monday's loss at Philadelphia and Lucas and Gamble are hobbled by strained hamstrings.

Weinke, who is best known for winning the Heisman Trophy at Florida State in 2000, filled in for Delhomme and completed 34-of-61 passes, including a 36-yard touchdown to Drew Carter in the second quarter.

"It never feels good when you don't win the football game," Weinke said. "To me it doesn't matter how many yards you throw for. I'd be the happiest guy in the NFL if I had thrown for 80 yards and we won the game."

But Weinke was intercepted three times in the second half - two of them by safety Gibril Wilson.

"We have to keep it going," Wilson said. "Anytime you win you get a little confidence. This will get the whole team's morale up. This is exactly what we needed."

Eli Manning took advantage of Carolina's depleted secondary, passing for three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Manning lofted a 28-yard scoring pass to Plaxico Burress 12 seconds into the second quarter and connected with tight end Jeremy Shockey on a two-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left in the quarter to give the Giants a 17-10 halftime lead.

"We knew their cornerbacks (Lucas and Gamble) were inactive, but they still have great players out there," Shockey said. "Eli made some great throws to Plaxico and he made some great catches."

Manning also tossed a three-yard scoring pass to David Tyree with 6:59 left in the third quarter to increase the advantage to 27-10. That was set up by Wilson's first interception.

Tiki Barber rushed for 112 yards on 20 carries. New York's all-time leading rusher, Barber eclipsed the 10,000-yard mark (10,046) in his 10th season.

"We have a chance to control our own (playoff) destiny, so we needed to win this one in a bad way," said Barber, who has rushed for 1,282 yards this season. "Winning neutralizes the pressure we were under."

The Panthers managed just 45 rushing yards. That forced coach John Fox to attempt more passes than he would have preferred with Weinke, who last was the team's starter in 2001 when the Panthers finished 1-15.

"Our mindset early was to come out and establish the run," Weinke said. "But when you're playing catchup, you are forced to become one-dimensional."

The 34-year-old Weinke had attempted just 13 passes in the last four seasons. He more than quadrupled that on Sunday when he broke Steve Beuerlein's club record of 373 yards against Green Bay in 1999.

"Chris is capable," Fox said. "He has been on the shelf for awhile. But we didn't score enough points and turnovers were a factor."

The Giants played without perennial Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan (sprained foot ligament) for the fifth straight game.

Barber rushed five times for 22 yards and Tyree caught a 12-yard pass to set up a 32-yard field goal by Jay Feely with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

Burress caught a 28-yard touchdown pass over rookie cornerback Richard Marshall to increase the lead to 10-0.

Weinke then completed three passes for 66 yards on Carolina's ensuing possession, capping it with his touchdown pass to Carter.

John Kasay kicked a 37-yard field goal with 3:02 left in the second quarter to tie the game.

But Manning directed a nine-play, 79-yard scoring drive in 2:35. He completed a 25-yard pass to Shockey before connecting with the tight end on the go-ahead touchdown.

Barber broke off a 20-yard run to set up a 29-yard field goal by Feely with 10:44 remaining in the third quarter.