Peyton presents major challenge for Giants' defense

The Giants' defense looked pretty good Sunday with three interceptions and four sacks. But that was against an inexperienced quarterback and a team with only one playmaking receiver. This week, against the Colts, that won't be the case.

Does anyone really think that Peyton Manning will make the same sloppy throws that Carolina's Matt Moore made at times?

"That's the biggest difference," linebacker Michael Boley said Monday. "Peyton has been at this for a while and his stats prove it. This past week, we had a young, inexperienced quarterback who we didn't get to see much film on. But this guy, he can do it all."

And after the Colts' 34-24 loss to the Texans, the Giants are likely to get it all. Not only will the Colts be fighting to stay out of the dreaded 0-2 hole, but Peyton Manning also is not the type of competitor who would take kindly to losing to his kid brother's team.

Regardless of the relationship between the quarterbacks, the Giants' defense must change direction entirely. Instead of focusing on a run-first team in the Panthers, they'll now start preparing for a Colts team that ran the ball 10 times and passed it 57 on Sunday.

"They're a little different," Mathias Kiwanuka said. "We understand what Indianapolis brings to the table. They're a high-ranked offense and a high-ranked team for a reason. We expect them to come out firing."

As Boley said: "[You] have to put track shoes on this week and be ready to run."

In Boley's case, he should be running more than he did against the Panthers. The Giants stayed in a "big base" look for most of the game to combat Carolina's penchant for running. That meant Boley was not on the field as a starter or much at all early on. He did play more toward the end when the Panthers were throwing in desperation.

This week, though, you can bet the Giants will not be in that "big base" look with Kiwanuka at linebacker. They'll probably be in more nickel and dime packages. They went with three-safety looks against the Panthers to combat the run. Corey Webster doesn't expect there to be many snaps this week when he's the only cornerback on the field.

"I think we'll all be on deck this weekend," Webster said.

That means Aaron Ross, too. Ross sat out the opener with a torn plantar fascia. He was able to practice last week but the medical staff wanted to give him at least one more week before going back into games. Part of that strategy also might have been to have him healthy as an extra cornerback against the Colts.

The Giants had three interceptions Sunday, all of them on passes into their own end zone.

"I don't know that I've been around a team that had three interceptions in the end zone," Tom Coughlin said. He also noted that despite the Giants' four offensive turnovers, the Panthers did not convert any of them into points. If they are given those opportunities, the Colts will.

Add the blocked punt that rolled through the end zone for a safety and didn't stop there for a potential Panthers touchdown, and it's very easy to say that minus a few breaks and bad decisions by the Panthers, the Giants' big opening-day win could have been a loss.

"It could have," Boley admitted. "Fortunately, we had those guys in the secondary who stepped up and made some plays."

They manned up against Moore. They'll need to do more against Manning.