Giants lose to the Falcons 36 - 24.
Giants turned the ball over a total of 6 times
Giants missed a field goal and jumped offsides 4 times.
Kerry Collins was 10-15 for 136 yards and 1 TD, but he also fumbled twice and threw 1 INT.
Rodney Williams had a punt blocked, with Atlanta recovering at the 8.
Ike Hilliard was 3-61, and Jeremy Shockey 2-27, and both scored TDs.
Wesly Mallard took a 20 yard fumble return for a TD.
Will Peterson came away with 1 INT.

Gamegirl, what happened?
"Don't ask me. I was watching in the first quarter, and thinking, 'I can't believe it. The Giants are exciting on offense this season.' That was right after the opening drive with Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne running the ball, Toomer and Hilliard, and Barber and Shockey all catching passes, and Collins topped it all off with a touchdown pass to Shockey. It was great!
Boy, did things change fast. After that it was like the Giants never played football before. Suddenly there was an interception, fumbles, penalties, a blocked kick, a missed field goal. Players were getting hurt, and everything was going wrong."

The Giants face Atlanta again on October 13.
"The regular season game won't be like this one I hope. I'll be in the stands then, and they better not do this to me. Somehow I can handle it better when I see the Giants play lousy on TV. It seems less real. I mean the TV brings me sitcoms and movies and commercials, and it's just so easy to get up and walk away for awhile.
My team, the Giants can't be playing like that for real. You see what I mean?"

What players stood out?
"Well, everyone looked good at first. Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, Toomer and Hilliard and Ron Dixon later on. On defense, I 'd say Will Peterson. As a unit you could see them all working at it, but they couldn't stop Atlanta from moving the ball."

Kerry Collins started off with a nice drive.
"Yes, he did. Collins was running the offense just fine as he had done in the last two preseason games, and was 5-for-5 for 47 yards on the opening drive. On the next series, Kerry threw his first interception in preseason, and that in itself is not bad, but it was the way he did it that troubled me. He was under absolutely no pressure at all, poised in the pocket with plenty of time to throw, and he just tossed it to Falcons cornerback Ashley Ambrose.
In his next appearance, we got what I call the ' sleepwalking Collins'. He's out there in a daze, not totally aware of his surroundings, and throws two incomplete passes with one of them drawing an intentional grounding penalty."

Collins had only two incomplete passes total, in the earlier preseason games.
"That's right. Kerry was near perfect up to this point, going 13-for-15 for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns counting the opening drive of this game. After those two incomplete passes, he completes two nice ones to Toomer and Hilliard, before getting sacked and fumbling the ball away. The next time he tries something more than just handing off to Ron Dayne, he gets sacked and fumbles the ball away again.
It seems like this is the same Kerry Collins we had last year, and by that I mean, once he gets in a bad rut, you might as well yank him from the game. He never recovers. You might as well dust Collins off, put him on a shelf, and wait for another day, and then your number one quarterback will be just fine."

I think I see where you're going here.
"You got it. I think the Giants are seeing the same thing. That's why they held up on paying Collins the big money with the long term contract. That's why they are so actively developing the young number two quarterback, Jesse Palmer.
Collins threw every single pass last year for good or for bad, and the Giants went down with it in some games where it would have been better to sit Collins for awhile.
That's one of the reasons the Giants are not known to be a come from behind team. The way I see it, Palmer will be stepping in on those days when Kerry doesn't have it, and the Giants will have a shot at coming back in a game.
To be fair to Collins, in this particular game spread over the next two series, he had a total of three more completions, one of them a big 48 yard touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard."

What's up for next week?
"Hey, it's a Giants - Jet game. What could be more fun? Gamegirl usually gets in a fight with her Jet fan boyfriend about this time of year, so her report will be interesting. News articles will pop up about Bill Parcells who coached each team, and I'm sure we'll hear a lot about safety Sam Garnes, who made the switch from the Giants to the Jets this off season."

Giants (2-1) have never won three preseason games under Jim Fassel.

Jeremy Shockey left the game with a sprained ankle, but x-rays proved negative.

Dan Campbell left the game with a sprained ankle, but x-rays proved negative.

Mike Barrow and DT Lance Legree both suffered mild knee sprains in the first half.

Clarence LeBlanc, the Giants third safety having an impressive training camp, fractured the tibia in his left leg in the 4th quarter, and could be lost for the season.

RB Sean Bennett was a late scratch for the game because of tightness in his hamstring.

P Rodney Williams, playing before 100 fans in his hometown, punted once, and it was blocked. because of breakdowns by the blockers.

P Gabe Lindstrom (trying for Rodney's job) punted twice in the second half for a 56-yard average.

The Falcons scored on each and every turnover by the Giants, except the last one where they decided to run the clock at the NYG 3 with 57 seconds left.

Next Game
Sat., Aug. 24 Jets, 8:00 PM ET

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

Website by Mike