Michael Boley's fourth-quarter interception made any hope of a comeback all but end right there for the home team.

But the truth is that it became clear early on that it was going to be difficult to slow down the Giants in Carolina, especially once the defense was able to build off the offense's opening drive touchdown and force a punt on their first stand.

"We came out early and kind of put a nail in it," Boley said. "It kind of worked out in our favor."

A head coach couldn't draw it up any better as Boley and his defense matched the offense's first 20 points by shutting out Cam Newton and the Panthers in the first half. Carolina's only points came on its first possession of the third quarter, but New York went right back to humming along.

Boley did the same and notched six tackles and split a sack with Jason Pierre-Paul. That all came before Boley snatched his third interception of the season – one in each game – with 13:42 remaining in the contest, in which the Giants had built up a 26-7 lead at that point.

"I was just sitting back in Cover 2," Boley said. "They ran a similar route early in the game, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

He seems to be doing that a lot lately, particularly in the clutch.

Boley intercepted Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman last week in the closing seconds of the Giants' seesaw victory.

"The key to my success is really just knowing the defense and paying attention to what they're doing on the offensive side," Boley said. "That's kind of helped me so far."

It's also helping his team.

"As I said after the first game (a loss to Dallas), that wasn't Giants football," he continued. "We came out and we didn't play up to our standards. We're kind of trying to get back on the right path."

[