Ed Valentine of Big Blue View about the Carolina Panthers upcoming game against the New York Giants. Read on for his opinion on the demise of Eli Manning and the potential of Saquon Barkley. This game may not be as easy as some of us had hoped. You can find my answers to his questions here.Cat Scratch Reader: Barkley looks like he has had a successful start to his season. Is he living up to his draft position?Big Blue View: Saquon Barkley is a terrific player. He has hit the 100 yards from scrimmage mark in all 4 games and Sunday can become only the third player in NFL history to reach that mark in his first five games (Kareem Hunt Youth Mario Addison Jersey , 7 and Adrian Peterson, 5). So, yeah, no complaints. The Giants as a whole, though, haven’t been able to consistently strike the balance between running and passing, between giving the ball to Barkley and getting it to Beckham. That’s a work in progress.CSR: Be honest, how far past his prime is Eli Manning?SB Nation’s FanPulse is a survey of NFL fans across the league.BBV: I really don’t know. There are Giants fans who have been over Eli for years. Shoot, some were over him before he won a second Super Bowl. He’s completing a lot of passes http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-devin-funchess-jersey , but the offense isn’t going anywhere. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort of the Eli topic at Big Blue View. There’s blame on him, Pat Shurmur and the offensive line for the offensive struggles thus far. I think we will find out the answer to that question over the course of the season. The Giants have banked their hopes on him being able to get the job done for another year or two. We’ll see if they were right.CSR: Olivier Vernon is back. How big is that for the Giants?BBV: Well, I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that Vernon will be back. It looks like that will be the case, but we thought that last week, too. Vernon is their best pass rusher, so getting him on the field would be a major plus. As Shurmur said “when you have a fresh body that has the talent, the skill, and abilities of a pass rusher, it helps your defense.”CSR: The Giants record in close games this year is eerily reminiscent of Panthers teams from years past. Is this because of a consistent and identifiable issue or are they just a comedy of errors like the Browns?BBV: The Giants have just struggled to play good offense. Period. They are averaging 18.25 points and have not reached the 20-point mark in all three of their losses. It’s really that simple.CSR: What is your score prediction for this week and how does it happen?BBV: I hate to do it but I’m going to hold my prediction for Sunday at Big Blue View. If the Giants are going to win they are going to have to play better offense Shaq Thompson Jersey , generate more big plays. On defense, they are going to have to find a way to deal with the running of Cam Newton.The Carolina Panthers have a bottom-tier pass rush according to Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus released their ranking for each team’s pass rush heading into the 2018 season, and their opinion of the Panthers is... not favorable.Let’s take a look, shall we?My takeI think this ranking is lower than it should be. I’m not saying the Panthers have the best defensive line ever (I mean, they do, but I’m not saying that) or that they should be ranked No. 1 overall, but to put them at No. 22 is a little unfair. Using their very own numbers, having the No. 9 pressure percentage in 2017 should give them a better outlook in 2018 than No. 22 overall. Yes, Julius Peppers is 38 years old and had shoulder surgery in the offseason (he’s not human so this really shouldn’t count against them) Authentic C.J. Anderson Jersey , and yes, there is some questionable depth at defensive end. Those are fair points against the Panthers, but I think they’re good enough to crack the top 15, at least.What do you think, Panthers fans? Is No. 22 a fair ranking? Where would you rank them?