Giants lose to Atlanta 17-10.
Kerry Collins was 20-31 for 207 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Ike Hilliard had 7 receptions for 76 yards and 1 touchdown catch.
Tiki Barber had 14 carries for 57 yards.
Ron Dayne had 9 carries for 43.
Frank Ferrara had 1 1/2 sacks and 9 tackles in his first career start.
Keith Hamilton will miss the rest of the season after tearing his right Achilles' tendon.

The Giants drop to 3-3 with this loss.
"Yes, that's tough. When you take the time to go to the game, you always want to see them win. Still, if you didn't mind putting up with the dreary wet and dampness that we've been stuck with the past bunch of days in this area, you got to see a pretty good football game. It was one of your typical Giants games with all the highs and lows."

What do you think of Frank Ferrara?
"You know that he was making his first NFL start, and Frank came up with 1 1/2 sacks, sharing the first one with Strahan. You can't help noticing him on the field, because there's constant movement once the play starts, and he's in on a lot of tackles. I think he surprised the Falcons a few times. Frank Ferrara is a real crowd pleaser, and everyone wants to see him do well. It's not just him either, the fans were rooting for Ron Dayne when he made some of those good runs.
You know the crowd reflects the team here at the Meadowlands, and we're pretty fair. We all want to see the players have a good game and do well, even if we get on them sometimes. If the Giants had been a little more healthy today, and made a few less mistakes at the end, we could have taken this game."

You mean the fumble that Ron Dixon made?
"Well, first there was that interception that Kerry Collins threw, and yes that fumble by Ron Dixon. You always seem to get some good and some bad with Ron Dixon. Earlier Collins threw one deep to him, but Ron looked like he was slowing up with the defender on his heels instead of going all out, so it sailed over the fastest man on the team, and fell incomplete into the endzone.
Then in the fourth quarter when the Giants are making their last big drive, Ron makes a real nice 10 yard catch on a 3rd down and 7 to keep things going. Then, with time going down, Collins makes a 4th and 1 pass to Ike Hilliard, and a few plays later, faced with a 4th down and 3, Collins hits Dixon with a 19 yard pass. Ron catches it, and then as he's going down, he doesn't cover up, and the defender swats the ball away at the Falcons 17 yard line."

They were so close.
"There was only about three and a half minutes left at that point, and the Giants couldn't let the Falcons make a first down, but they did, and so they didn't get the ball back until there was about 20 seconds left, and that was too late. Still I don't want to sound like I'm blaming Ron Dixon for everything. Even if all went well they would only have had a tie at the end of that drive, and the game shouldn't come down to one play. On the other hand, Ron has a few years under his belt now, and he's still making rookie mistakes. By the time he figures it all out, his career might be over."

Jim Fassel said that the Falcons were a better team than their record showed.
"He was right about that. Dan Reeves' team had those tough losses to the Bears and Packers, and they play like they believe in themselves. Who would have thought quarterback Doug Johnson would have turned in such a good performance in Michael Vick's place. Johnson made the Falcons as an undrafted rookie in 2000. Last week he threw 3 interceptions in less than a half in Atlanta's 20-6 loss to Tampa Bay. This week, the Giants have made him a star. I don't think the Giants have the best record playing against backup quarterbacks for some reason or other."

That does seem to be one of their problems.
"It wasn't their only one today. The offense didn't put a lot of points up in the first half. The one good long drive they had from their own 2 yard line got things going, but only resulted in 3 points. The defense let the the Falcons control the ball for most of the half. They weren't playing very well, but still had a real good shot with the score only 10-3 against them at the half.
They started off the second half with a drive that tied the score at 10-10. The offense held onto the ball for a good long time in that drive which gave the defense a much needed break. This was especially important because by that time, aside from all the other injuries they had going into this game, Keith Hamilton had left the game with a torn right Achilles' tendon. He and Strahan both got hurt in the first quarter. Strahan later returned even though he was suffering with back spasms. Anyway, Collins' interception at Atlanta's 7-yard line on the first drive of the fourth quarter and Ron Dixon's fumble at Atlanta's 17 with 3:22 to play, killed both of the Giants chances to pull this one out.
All that's left now for the Giants is to stew about being 3-3, hope that the Eagles also end up 3-3, losing their next game while you watch on and get healthy during the bye week."

Anything else?
"The worst thing in this game of course, is the injury Keith Hamilton suffered. He will be dearly missed by the team and all the fans, and we wish him well.
Now, I didn't care for the TV commentary. Early on, they called Ron Dayne - Tiki Barber, and called Dwight Johnson - Mike Barrow, Then they said that Hamilton had a season ending torn Achilles, and backed off that and said it was a strain. Later they corrected themselves and switched back again. When Fassel was shown big on screen questioning a call against Ike Hilliard, they somehow reasoned it would be a good time to relate a canned story about the California Angels and Jim Fassel's mom, who passed away a number of years ago.
Then after a so-so explanation about the call, with Fassel still ranting, they figured one story wasn't good enough, so they rambled on with another California Angels story.
What, were they bored with the game? Don't feed me baseball stories when I'm watching a football game. Maybe it's just me, but announcers, just tell me what's going on when people are yelling at each other on the field from now on. Give me the facts, OK?"

Early Stats:
Giants

Giants rookies Tim Carter and Daryl Jones each had his first career reception.

Matt Bryant has made all 10 of his FG attempts this season.
Bryant is three short of tying the NFL rookie record for consecutive FGs to start a career (Kris Brown, 1999 with Pittsburgh).

WR Amani Toomer made his 300th career catch in the first quarter.

In his first NFL start, Frank Ferrara recorded nine tackles, 1½ sacks, a forced fumble and a defended pass in the absence of Keith Holmes (elbow).

In their history, the Giants are 4-3 in games against teams who are coached by former Giants head coaches. They are 2-0 against Bennie Friedman, 1-1 against Bill Parcells and 1-2 against Reeves.

Dusty Zeigler, the Giants starting center, played for the first time since having surgery on his right knee in January.
Zeigler started at right guard for Whittle, out with back spasms.

Jason Sehorn, who also had surgery in January, started his first game at corner this season for Will Peterson. He has been the starting at nickel.

Giants have 15 days before they have to play again, due to the bye week, and Monday game schedule.

Next Game
Oct 28, Giants at Eagles, 9PM ABC

Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet" at  www.myhost.com/miked

Website by Mike