QB ELI MANNINGManning was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after completing 27 of 31 passes for 337 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in Miami. Manning's 87.1 completion percentage is the highest by a Giants quarterback in a regular-season game (minimum 20 attempts) and the second-best mark in franchise history behind Phil Simms' 88.0 completion percentage (22 of 25) in Super Bowl XXI. He is the first Giants quarterback to have a passer rating of at least 150 in a game since 2002 (Kerry Collins)."Well, we were able to finish a game," Manning said. "I think that was important. We've done it sometimes, but haven't been able to do it enough. We've been in a lot of close games and we were able to finish the game strong and have a great fourth quarter and make the comeback to get the lead and then hold onto it. That was good, but hey, it's a brand new week. It'll be a new situation and we have to go out there and play great football."

WR ODELL BECKHAM JR.Call him Mr. December. Odell Beckham Jr. has eclipsed 125 receiving yards and caught a touchdown in each of his six career games in the month of December. Beckham averages 9.3 receptions, 153.5 yards, and 1.7 touchdowns per game in December. Meanwhile, his upcoming matchup with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman is the one to watch on Sunday. "As far as I'm concerned, the Giants play the Panthers," Beckham said. "There's (10) other people on the field and everybody has a one-on-one matchup. So no matter who you're going against, the goal is to win your matchup and that's the plan for us is to try and win the matchup the most amount of times we can."

SAFETY COOPER TAYLORAfter releasing veteran safety Brandon Meriweather this week, the Giants move forward with Taylor, Craig Dahl, and rookie second-round draft choice Landon Collins. Coach Tom Coughlin said all three will play while nickel corner Trumaine McBride can also go back there to help the defense out. Meanwhile, Taylor, who has been released, signed to the practice squad, and then added to the active roster all in the span of two months, has progressed, according to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo."I think the intelligence part of it is coming around," Spagnuolo said of Taylor, who had five tackles (one for loss) last week. "He feels more comfortable. I thought I saw a more confident football player when he came back, I will say that. And I see him out there and now functioning really well, and that's great to see, love to see guys do that. It's helpful."

RB RASHAD JENNINGSWith the help of the run game, the Giants were able to finish off Monday night's victory in Miami. Rashad Jennings rushed 22 times for 81 yards, which were both highs by a Giants running back this season. "We had a couple get out of the gate early," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "Our big guys up front, they fought pretty well, didn't win them all. They had their hands full, but they battled. We got Rashad going, had a couple nice runs early. It was encouraging to see, and he got a nice workload because of it."Will Jennings receive the bulk of the workload again this week against Carolina's No. 4 run defense?"We'll see how the game goes," McAdoo said.

DT BARRY COFIELDThe Giants bolstered their defensive line today by bringing back tackle Barry Cofield, who played for Big Blue from 2006-10 and was on the Super Bowl XLII-winning team. Earlier in the season, the Giants had to place Johnathan Hankins on season-ending injured reserve with a pectoral injury, and now fellow tackle Markus Kuhn is week-to-week with a knee. Cofield played under Spagnuolo in his first stint with the Giants from 2007-08, but we'll see how much they use him early on as he gets acclimated back to live football.