Even with Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman on the other side of the ball, the human blanket treatment on Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. may be avoidable on Sunday when the two stars meet.



That would serve the Giants well. When matched against Norman this season, some of the league's top wide receivers (Houston's DeAndre Hopkins, Dallas' Dez Bryant, Atlanta's Julio Jones, Tampa Bay's Mike Evans and Indianapolis' T.Y. Hilton) have been silenced. This is what Beckham faces this Sunday when the Giants host the undefeated Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium.

Vs. Josh Norman: Hopkins (3 catches-35 yds), Evans (0-0), Hilton (1-15), Dez (1-6), Julio (4-33). Total 9-89, when matched up with Norman. — Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) December 16, 2015

Norman's already preparing for the matchup. So apparently are the Giants.



"Sure," coach Tom Coughlin said on Wednesday. "We'll see what happens but certainly I would think that would be the matchup and so you are going to have a very, very good defender against a very, very good receiver."



Unless, of course, the Giants are able to avoid the matchup. It seems possible.

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Norman hasn't followed No. 1 receivers into the slot this season. He's remained almost exclusively on the outside.



It's not a point that is lost on the Giants.



"He's having an outstanding year matched up against the opponent's best receiver a majority of the time, at least until he goes until the slot," Coughlin said.



Against some of the other top receivers he's faced, it barely makes a difference. Against Beckham it could be more of a factor.



Beckham has worked out of the slot on 23.7 of his routes this season, according to Pro Football Focus. That's 120 routes from the inside, mostly against teams' nickel cornerbacks.



Bene Benwikere was Carolina's slot cornerback. And he broke his leg last week. Whoever takes that spot is not Norman, who is second only behind Arizona's Tyrann Mathieu among cornerbacks with a 90.9 PFF grade.



The Giants hope Norman remains out of the slot. But whether he does follow Beckham there could be contingent on the situation.



"Well, we do use [Norman] to shadow though," coach Ron Rivera said. "So some of the things will dictate whether or not we're shadowing him or whether or not we're lining him up opposite him. We'll see how it goes. Again, we have to play the game. To me that is the most important thing."





Beckham vs. Norman is the matchup everyone wants to see. It's the substitute for the Revis vs. Beckham matchup that never materialized this season.



But it should be the matchup the Giants want to avoid. Quarterbacks haven't had much success throwing in Norman's direction this season.

Top 5 CBs in QB rating allowed: Josh Norman 43.1

Patrick Peterson 52.8

Trumaine Johnson 54.1

DRC 54.5

Aqib Talib 59.7 — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) December 15, 2015



Beckham does have some success working out of the slot in his second professional season. He has caught 29 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns on his 120 snaps from that area of the field. He's been targeted on 32 percent of those routes, a higher percentage than when he works on the outside.



Coughlin said the Giants wouldn't move Beckham to the slot permanently for this contest. They'll continue to shift him around like they've done all season.



"We'll see what their game plan is and see how they want to try to slow us down," quarterback Eli Manning said. "So we'll have to adjust from there."



Maybe, just maybe, Beckham will be in the slot more than normal. It might be the best way for him to avoid the human blanket.







Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.