Can the underdog New York Giants pull off an upset of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday?

Here are six things to watch as the 1-3 Giants try to get their season turned around.Barkley’s touchesComing off a game in which Saquon Barkley ran the ball a season-low 10 times we can likely expect to see a heavy dose of Eli Manning handing the ball to the rookie running back on Sunday. Provided http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-alec-ogletree-jersey , of course, that the Giants are close enough on the scoreboard for the running game to matter.Barkley is averaging 14 rushing attempts per game, tied for ninth in the league in rushing attempts. In two games, though (Dallas, 11 and New Orleans, 10) the Giants have seemed to get away from the running game too quickly.After coach Pat Shurmur admitted during the week that Barkley should have gotten more carries vs. the Saints, don’t expect the same mistake vs. Carolina. The Giants need more big plays, and handing the ball to Barkley is one way to try and get them. Doing so might also help open up some avenues in the passing game.Big plays in the passing gameThrow ‘em short. Throw ‘em long. Throw ‘em somewhere in between. Doesn’t matter — at least according to coach Pat Shurmur and quarterback Eli Manning. Hit it right and you can generate big plays. Unfortunately for the Giants, they haven’t generated enough thus far. The Giants are 23rd in the league in passing plays of 20 yards or more, with just nine through four games. They are one of only three teams without a passing play of 40 yards or more. Superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the game’s highest paid wide receiver doesn’t have a touchdown and is averaging a career-worst 10.7 yards per catch. Thus far, Beckham has been a highly-paid possession receiver. Or even worse, a decoy.The Giants can talk about picking away at opposing defenses, staying ahead of the chains or on schedule on offense, but this is a team with two of the game’s great play-makers in Beckham and Barkley along with some quality ancillary options. They need to begin to find ways to get those explosive plays in the passing game.Defending the zone read Blake Bortles: 4 carries, 42 yards (a long run of 41 yards)Dak Prescott: 7 carries, 45 yards (a long run of 15 yards)Deshaun Watson: 5 carries Cheap Jon Halapio Jersey , 36 yards (a long run of 10 yards)Taysom Hill: 4 carries, 28 yards (a long run of 19 yards)That’s 20 carries for 151 yards, an average of 7.55 yards per pop, by quarterbacks running against the Giants this season.Sunday, the Giants face Cam Newton, who could end his career as the most prolific rushing quarterback of all time. Newton needs 27 yards rushing to surpass Randall Cunningham (4,482) for most rushing yards by a quarterback with a single team. Only Michael Vick (6,109) and Cunningham (4,928) have more rushing yards than Newton (4,456) among quarterbacks.You can bet that the Panthers will use a heavy dose of the zone read, which has bedeviled the Giants all season, and other designed quarterback runs until — and unless — the Giants finally show they can handle it.Defensive coordinator James Bettcher knows what’s coming.“He [Newton] is a very physical, big guy who at times in the zone option scheme, will take the matchup. You will be in the right spot, you’ll have the guy that’s supposed to be on the quarterback on the quarterback, and he will take the matchup at times whether that’s just pulling the ball, or maybe that’s giving the ball and taking the matchup http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-connor-barwin-jersey ,” Bettcher said. “He’s really smart with those kinds of things and they do a nice job putting him in some of those kinds of situations.”The Giants really haven’t successfully defended the zone read yet. Can they figure out a way to do it against perhaps the best quarterback who has ever run it? That’s not fun to think about.Here is part of what Chris wrote about the Carolina offense earlier in the week:Which brings us to McCaffrey Back to more of what Chris wrote earlier in the week:After Newton, the second-year back is clearly Carolina’s most important offensive player. “One thing about him, when I turn the tape on, I see an explosive guy who’s not afraid. He’s shifty, he can do all those things in space, but he’s not afraid to put his foot down, lower his pads, and he’s going to try and run someone over,” Bettcher said. “Those are the kinds of backs that as a defensive coach you have a lot of respect for, that when it’s time to put your pads down and get those tough two yards, this is a guy who’s going to put his pads down and get the tough two yards.”Can Olivier Vernon make an impact?Vernon, who had 6.5 sacks a season ago and has 44 in six NFL seasons, could make his season debut Sunday. The Giants, 30th in the league in sack percentage at 3.65 and facing a prolific running quarterback like Newton, could use Vernon’s help.Vernon said this week he wants to be certain he can move well enough not to be a liability. Vernon is the team’s most talented EDGE player. His presence vs. the Panthers would be a huge plus.Oh, those negative playsManning, Shurmur and offensive coordinator Mike Shula all talked during the week about the need for the Giants to eliminate negative plays. That seems obvious Cheap Will Hernandez Jersey , of course. Just how many negative plays have the Giants had on offense? Here’s how many:15 sacks (fourth-most in the league)14 runs for negative yardage (fifth-most)Four passes for negative yardage (that’s unofficial, by my count having gone through every play)Sixteen accepted offensive penaltiesThat is 49 negative plays in 279 potential offensive snaps, including the 16 plays that didn’t count because of penalties. That means that 17.5 percent of the time the Giants have gone backwards. You just can’t overcome that high volume of bad plays, especially when you are running an offense that is trying to minimize risk. The fan base for the Vikings stretches well beyond Minnesota, with strongholds in North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Iowa.It crosses the Canadian border, too. Just ask Brett Jones.Acquired in a trade with the New York Giants to help shore up a shaky interior of the offensive line, Jones joined the Vikings for practice on Monday after his completed physical exam consummated the deal. He smiled as he spoke afterward about the whirlwind he'd experienced as the final week of the preseason began, when the Giants pulled him off the field during drills on Sunday. Then the Vikings called him to arrange his travel."I was pretty surprised," Jones said, "and excited at the same time."As a youth on the Saskatchewan prairie, Jones rooted for the Vikings long before playing for them became a reality."There's a lot of purple up there," he said. "Growing up, this was probably the closest stadium we could get to."As an 18-year-old, Jones even bought a Phil Loadholt jersey to wear his devotion after the Vikings drafted him in the second round out of Oklahoma in 2009. He traveled south to watch a game that season against the Cincinnati Bengals at the now-demolished Metrodome."I just liked offensive linemen, and I didn't think anybody else would have that jersey so I picked that one," Jones said.After attending Regina University Cheap Eli Manning Jersey , Jones was the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award winner in 2014, his second year with the Calgary Stampeders.The Giants signed him in 2015, and he made his first NFL start at left guard in 2016. The 6-foot-2, 312-pound Jones started 13 games last season at center, but he fell behind Jon Halapio on the depth chart in training camp this summer and carried a $2.914 million salary the tight-against-the-cap Giants had to shed.The Vikings have scouted the CFL thoroughly over the past few years. Wide receiver Brandon Zylstra is a fellow CFL alum in training camp."It was a unique path. It was the only option I had," Jones said. "Coming out of college I was short, and I'm still short today, so it was tough for me. I had to prove that I could play by playing in the CFL, and then when I got to the NFL I had to prove I belong here. I've just been doing that each and every day."With center Pat Elflein still not back at practice following offseason ankle and shoulder surgeries and left guard Nick Easton likely out for the year with a neck injury, Jones was a welcomed addition. Joe Berger retired after starting at right guard last season."On tape he's pretty good. He's stout, strong, really gritty, good in pass protection, solid on the double teams," coach Mike Zimmer said.