Falcons 34, Giants 0 – Falcons Rise Up Over Inconsistent Giants
It’s offically time to begin worrying about the New York Giants. That’s the conclusion I came away with after watching them lose the Atlanta Falcons 34-0 at the Georgia Dome.
The loss today drops the Giants (8-6) into 2nd place in the NFC east divison because the Washington Redskins beat the Cleveland Browns. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a late game that will also have implications on where the Giants end up in the divison standings after all of this week’s games have been played.
The Giants were really bad and that might be the nicest comment that can be made on their performance today in Atlanta. The Falcons came into this week with a point to prove after a bad loss last week to Carolina and they went about taking the Giants apart from the very start of the game. Eli Manning could not get anything going on offense today and the defense was repeatedly picked on by Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
Inconsistency continues to torment the Giants this season. Just when it feels safe to bank on them as being at the top of their game heading into the playoffs, they find a way to pull another no-show.
Manning continues to appear out of sync and his 2 interceptions in the first half contributed to putting the Giants behind early.
Last week David Wilson provided the emotional spark for the Giants on special teams and in the run game, however the Falcons kept Wilson in-check on kick returns today. The Giants could get the good field position today that they took advantage of last week against the Saints.
With Ahmad Bradshaw out, the Giants were counting on Wilson to shoulder the bulk of the load at runing back today. Wilson was solid in the first half carrying the football, however with the Giants falling behind 24-0 in the 3rd quarter, it effectiviely shut down the run game for the rest of the day.
The Giants came into today extremely banged up on defense as cornerback Prince Amukamara (hamstring) was sorely missed against the Falcons. Rookie Jayron Hosley stepped into the starters role for Amukamara and was clearly overmatched today. Ryan and the Falcons repeatedly went to the air including Hosley being burned on a 40-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones to open the second half.
What’s Next?
It was the Falcons that came into this week looking to redeem themselves after a bad loss and they made sure that happened. Next week the Giants will face another team looking for similar results when they hit road again to face the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens find themselves in a battle to make the playoffs after a crushing loss at home to Denver.