Eli Manning uses words to inspire Giants teammates

CHARLOTTE, N.C, -- Eli Manning normally brings the offense together after their pregame walk-through and gives them a few thoughts to keep in mind while they begin to focus on the game ahead. Thursday, when he pulled them in at the team's hotel, he looked around and saw that Hakeem Nicks, Domenik Hixon, David Diehl and Ahmad Bradshaw were not there.

That turned out not to worry him.

"I didn't call out anybody, I just said everybody has to do their job," Manning said of his speech. "We have playmakers. We have guys who are going to be able to make plays. We have to be patient and take what the defense gives us and when we have opportunities to get the ball down the field or break a run or make a big catch, guys are going to do that. That's what happened."

It certainly did. Ramses Barden caught 9 passes for 138 yards and Andre Brown had 113 yards running plus two touchdowns in the Giants' 36-7 victory over the Panthers.

"I don't think it was any big speech," Manning said. "It was what I normally do after we have a walk-through with the offense . . . It didn't change anybody's performance. Guys went out there and played well."

Maybe. But it was important for the younger, less-experienced players to know that the two-time Super Bowl champion believed in them.

"He provides the confidence for these guys when their opportunity comes," Tom Coughlin said. "He spoke before the game and said 'Hey, the guys who are here can do the job. We have playmakers on the field so the opportunities will come and we have to take advantage of it.' He puts a lot of confidence in the players as they come along and have their opportunity and their chance to play and I think they're inspired by that.