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Giants (9-7) vs Falcons (10-6)
Last week, coming off a big 45-16 loss to New Orleans,
Atlanta got off to a fast start and they just kept going. They scored 3 touchdowns
in the first quarter and then 3 more in the second before Tampa Bay was able to
put points up. The halftime score was 42-7 and the final score was 45-24 in favor
of the Falcons. It was the tenth loss in a row for the Bucs and it wasn't their
worst of the year, or second, or third, or - well you get the drift.
Following
on the heels of the Atlanta mismatch, and playing in the NFL's last regular season
game, the Giants faced off against the Cowboys with the championship on the line.
The Giants didn't get off to as big a start as the Falcons did in their game,
but they were up 21-0 at halftime. The Cowboys scored twice and closed the gap
to just 7 points in the fourth quarter before the Giants turned it on again. They
closed the game out with a 34-14 win. Atlanta
Falcons.
The
organization and their loyal fans have gotten past the troublesome Michael Vick
events and all the negative attention that it brought to the team a few years
ago. Mike Smith became the head coach for the first time in 2008 and named rookie
Matt Ryan to be the starting quarterback. Ryan has since proved his coach had
made the right move and his first NFL pass was a 62 yard touchdown.
By years
end, Smith had taken a 4-12 team to 11-5 and into the playoffs. In 2009 they finished
9-7 and that was the first time the Falcons ever had back to back winning seasons.
In 2010 they were back in the playoffs with a 13-3 record, and now at 10-6 he
has guided the team to where they are today. Under Smith they've been to the playoffs
an impressive three times in the last four years. Falcons
offense.
Quarterback Matt Ryan leads an offense that's ranked 10th
in total offense. They like to control the clock with long drives and have all
the tools necessary to do that. Running back Mike Turner notched 1371 yards last
year and no one is going to hold it against him that he fell just 31 yards shy
of that to finish 3rd in the NFL with 1340 yards. Turner tuned up against the
Bucs last week by rushing for 172 yards, averaging 10.1 yards per carry.
Matt Ryan has some nice targets in Roddy White who has been there year after year
and the addition of their number one draft pick, Julio Jones, has only made things
better. Tight end Tony Gonzalez has gone to
the Pro Bowl 12 times and he added 7 touchdowns to give him a total of 95 over
his 15 years. Gonzalez is still going strong, is great in the red-zone, and is
anxious to finally experience at least one playoff win in his career. Falcons
defense.
The Falcons have the sixth best
rushing defense in the league, with teams averaging 97 yards on the ground against
them. Their weakness is that they are in the top area of teams that tend to give
up big passing plays. Eli Manning had better make some of those work all the way
to the endzone, because last year this defense was ranked 7th in the NFL in red
zone defense and they have improved on that to now rank 2nd.
Defensive end
John Abraham has been limited this season, but he still leads the team with 9.5
sacks. A few games ago against Jacksonville he had 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles,
and they say he looks to be on the field more for this game. A better pass rush
would help their secondary which is the weakness of this defense. Giants
offense.
The Giants passing game is right
on the mark and could be even better with the possibility of tight end Jake Ballard
returning. Ballard had 38 catches for 604 yards before missing the last two games.
Eli Manning and his receivers (no dropped balls last week) look playoff ready.
That brings us to the glaring problem that the running game, or actually lack
of it, could be their downfall. The Giants finished the season as the lowest ranked
team in that area, averaging 89.2 yards per game. They averaged 105.5 over the
last four games (106 last week), but Eli Manning scrambled six times for 14 yards
to help nudge that stat. The Giants have to be confident that they can make a
first down on third and short yardage without having Manning try to pass the ball
every time or this team won't go far into the playoffs. Giants
defense.
Jason Pierre-Paul
ended the nonsense of being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. His performance
was so outstanding that he became the Defensive Player of the Month. Osi Umenyiora
is back and he and Justin Tuck combined last week for 3 sacks against the Cowboys,
although Tuck is listed as "probable" with a sore shoulder. Over the
last two games the defense has 11 sacks and is suddenly looking confident and
sure of themselves both up front and in the secondary. Atlanta has given up 26
sacks, but 13 came in the first three games and just four in the last four. They
may get caught off guard by some of the "stunting" the Giants have done
lately to create mismatches.
You can't just focus on getting to Matt Ryan.
Atlanta plays real tough at the line and you have to worry that running back Mike
Turner will blast through for big yardage. Having
an early lead will help. Last week they limited the Cowboys to 49 yards rushing.
Michael Boley and Chase Blackburn have to play smart and they will be very busy
this game watching out for Turner and covering Tony Gonzalez. Remember Antrel
Rolle stepped in front of tight end Jason Witten last week for an interception. Overall.
Here's some comparisons. Atlanta is a 10-6
team. The Giants are 9-7. Atlanta has scored 52 more points than they have given
up. The Giants have scored 6 points less than they've allowed. Both quarterbacks
have thrown 29 touchdown passes, tying them for sixth place in the league. Eli
Manning has thrown 16 interceptions, and that's 4 more than Matt Ryan. Manning's
completion percentage is a hair lower at 61 compared to Ryan's 61.3. Both quarterbacks
have thrown for over 4000 yards with Manning leading Ryan by a 4933 to 4177 margin.
Some of Manning's passing makes up for yardage the Giants haven't produced
on the ground. Atlanta's Mike Turner has 301 carries, 22 less than the 323 Bradshaw
and Jacobs have combined for, but Turner has gained 110 yards more than them with
his 1340. On defense, the Giants have given up more rushing yards, more passing
yards, and more points.
Yet the Giants are favored to win this game by 3
points. Why? Atlanta has to travel. They play better in a dome stadium. Although
they won big last week, it was against a much weaker opponent, coming off a big
loss at New Orleans. The Falcons have lost their last two postseason games with
Matt Ryan and Mike Smith. The Giants are on a roll, and they have worked through
the playoffs and won the big prize.
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Notes.
Giants will host the first ever playoff game
to be held at MetLife Stadium. Giants
and Atlanta have never met in the playoffs. Giants
and Atlanta have played 20 regular season games and each team has won 10. Giants
recorded 15 sacks in three games that Justin Tuck played in against Atlanta. Giants
linebacker Michael Boley once played for the Falcons. Falcons
kicker Matt Bryant once played for the Giants. Falcons
quarterback Matt Ryan is 43-19 in the regular season and 0-2 in playoff games. Falcons
set a team record last week scoring 42 first-half points.
Next Game
Jan 14 or 15 - If the Giants
win their game with Atlanta.
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