To get you ready for week 6, FanHouse is previewing all 14 NFL games. Here is the New York Giants/Atlanta Falcons preview.2007 Records:
New York Giants: 3-2 (2nd in NFC East)
Atlanta Falcons: 1-4 (3rd in NFC South)
Last Game:
Titans 20, Falcons 13
Giants 35, Jets 24
When the 2007 NFL schedule was set and ESPN got their Monday Night Football pairings, you could imagine the executives being relatively happy about the Giants-Falcons matchup: Eli Manning vs. Michael Vick would be easy to promo. That was before we learned of doggie rape stands and electrocutions. Now this has to rank as one of the worst matchups of recent memory for ESPN.
When The Giants Have The Ball: Bad ankle or not, Plaxico Burress has developed into the security blanket that Eli Manning has needed. If in doubt, Manning can throw it up to the 6-foot-5 wideout and more often than not he'll beat whoever's covering him for the ball. Derrick Ward stepped up to provide a better than expected running game when Brandon Jacobs was hurt. Now that Jacobs is healthy, the Giants are fortunate to have a very solid two-headed running attack that should keep Atlanta on its heels.
Atlanta will have to hope that DeAngelo Hall can at least slow down Burress, while John Abraham (four sacks) will have to get pressure on Manning if the Falcons are to have a chance.
When The Falcons Have The Ball: He may have been benched for a while last week, but Joey Harrington has been pretty solid for Atlanta this year. He, like the 1-4 Falcons, is better than most people believe, but that was before Atlanta lost both offensive tackles last week. With an undrafted rookie at left tackle and a second-year guard at right tackle, the Falcons are in desperate trouble this week. Coach Bobby Petrino is faced with a pair of unpalatable choices. He can leave running backs and tight ends in to help out his overmatched tackles, but that leaves Roddy White, Joe Horn and Michael Jenkins to try to find openings against a defense that can double-cover each and every one of them. Or he can try to run a normal offense and hope Renardo Foster and Tyson Clabo can keep Osi Umenioya (league-leading seven sacks), Mathias Kiwanuka and Michael Strahan from killing Harrington. Harrington's effectiveness drops way off if he gets pressured, and it's hard to imagine he won't be running for his life on Monday night. An effective running game would go a long way toward making Harrington's job easier, but Jerious Norwood and Warrick Dunn have been unable to get anything going.
The Edge: A week ago, this would have been a much closer game than most people would expect. The Falcons have figured out plenty of ways to lose, but they've had a chance to win all but one of their five games. That has all fallen apart in the past week--Alge Crumpler started pointing fingers after last week's loss to Tennessee while injuries to Wayne Gandy and Todd Weiner have left the team ruling. The Giants should add to their three-game winning streak on Monday.
Keep An Eye On:
Renardo Foster: The new Falcons starting left tackle wasn't even considered good enough to be drafted last spring. Now he'll be asked to handle Pro Bowl defensive ends play after play. Foster's best attribute is that he knows the playbook by heart because of his time with Petrino at Louisville, but that won't be big enough advantage against an outstanding Giants defensive line.
Plaxico Burress: He's playing on a gimply ankle, but Burress has almost singlehandedly carried the Giants offense this season with a touchdown in every game, and a three TD effort to beat the Jets last week. He'll face one of his toughest tests of the season in Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who held Steve Smith to one catch in their matchup a couple of weeks ago.
Osi Umenyiora: The last time Umenyiora faced an inexperienced tackle, he terrorized Donovan McNabb for six sacks. Now whichever side he lines up on he'll be facing a tackle who's in over his head, which should give him plenty of opportunities to pad his sack total.
