Week 6 Game Recap: New York Giants 27, Atlanta Falcons 14

What you need to know

New York Giants

The Giants’ offense started out very slowly in this game. Their first four possessions resulted in two punts and two turnovers. Thanks to a couple of Atlanta offensive mistakes, the Giants found themselves still tied at zero. After that, something clicked with the New York offense and they were able to move the ball at will versus the Atlanta defense.

Eli Manning overcame the shaky start to end up with a decent passing day. He threw two touchdowns and completed 17 of 30 passes for 180 yards. The running game was the story in this one. Manning basically complimented the run with a controlled passing game.

Tiki Barber shredded the defense with multiple double digit runs including a 29 yard burst. Barber ran for 185 yards on 26 carries. He also pulled in three catches for 42 yards. Unfortunately, Barber gets pulled when the Giants get down near the goal line. Brandon Jacobs took advantage of that and scored the Giants’ only rushing touchdown.

Jeremy Shockey caught two touchdown passes on six catches. Eli Manning spread the ball around to six different receivers over the course of the game.

The Giants’ defense caused two turnovers and also got to Michael Vick for seven sacks. The New York ball control offense was almost like a defensive weapon in this game in that they were able to keep Vick and company off the field for a lot of the second half.

Atlanta Falcons

Very early in the third quarter, the Falcons took a 14-3 lead on a Warrick Dunn 90 yard touchdown run. It seemed they had the game in hand but their defense let down and were unable to stop the Giants’ offense. They gave up 24 unanswered points on four straight possessions by New York.

Save for a 22 yard touchdown run, Vick had a very shaky outing. He was sacked seven times, threw one interception and fumbled the ball four times, losing just one of them though. Vick went 14 of 27 for 154 yards. He also added 68 yards rushing.

Alge Crumpler led the receiving corps with five catches for 66 yards. Michael Jenkins added three catches for 30 yards but he did drop a beautifully thrown deep ball at the goal line. The play was well covered but it was one he should have caught.

The Atlanta defense picked off Manning twice in the first quarter. Unfortunately the Atlanta offense squandered both opportunities. After that the Giants were able to run right through the tough Atlanta rushing defense. Going into this game, Atlanta was giving up just 69 yards per game on the ground. New York put up a total of 259 yards rushing.

What you ought to know

QB Eli Manning, Pass: 17 - 30 - 180 - 2 TD / 2 INT

Manning was intercepted on two of the first three New York possessions. But Manning wasn’t called on to win this game with the way Tiki Barber ran the ball. With no mistakes the rest of the way, Manning managed the game effectively. He ended up with 180 yards and two touchdowns.

RB Tiki Barber, Rush: 26 - 185 - 0, Rec: 3 - 42 - 0 (6 targets)

Barber was the story of this game. He ran for 185 yards against a very tough Atlanta defense. He had a touchdown run reversed after the replay showed his foot was barely out of bounds at the two yard line. As usual, Barber came out of the game for Jacobs. The next play was a two yard touchdown pass to Shockey. Barber had nine runs of at least 12 yards including one that went for 29 yards. He also added three catches for 42 yards.

RB Brandon Jacobs, Rush: 11 - 53 - 1 (2 targets)

Jacobs carried 11 times for 53 yards and a touchdown. After a pass interference call at the two yard line, Jacobs came in for the goal line carry and capitalized with a two yard touchdown run.

WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 4 - 44 - 0 (8 targets)

Burress caught four balls for 44 yards. Manning threw deep to Burress a couple of times but both were incomplete.

WR Amani Toomer, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (5 targets)

Toomer caught two passes for 18 yards. Manning tried to hit him deep but the pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

WR Tim Carter, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (3 targets)

Carter caught one pass for 15 yards. It resulted in a first down and three plays later Jacobs scored their first touchdown.

TE Jeremy Shockey, Rec: 6 - 55 - 2 (6 targets)

Shockey pulled in six catches for 55 yards and two short touchdowns. He caught all six passes thrown his way.

PK Jay Feely 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Feely was perfect on the day. He hit on both of his field goals attempts and all three of his extra points. His field goals were from 21 and 39 yards.

NYG Rush Defense

The New York rush defense wasn’t able to hold the Atlanta running game in check. They gave up a 90 yard touchdown run to Warrick Dunn as well as a 22 yard run by Vick. In total, Atlanta ran for 223 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground.

NYG Pass Defense

The Giants’ pass defense came up with seven sacks and an interception. They hit Vick hard in this game causing him to get up from the turf slowly on a number of occasions. They also almost caused a brawl when Pierce nailed Vick as he was stepping out of bounds late in the game.

QB Michael Vick, Pass: 14 - 27 - 154 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 8 - 68 - 1

Vick wasn’t sharp early. He fumbled on Atlanta’s first possession and while he did recover, it basically ended their drive. On the next series, he threw a bad pass behind Roddy White. It was intercepted after it tipped off White’s fingers. Vick got it going late in the second quarter and used his legs to put Atlanta on the board with a 22 yard touchdown run. For the game, Vick ended up with 154 yards passing and 68 yards rushing. Vick managed to fumble four times in this game but lost only one.

RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 14 - 146 - 1

Dunn ran for 146 yards on 14 carries. He scored on a 90 yard touchdown run, the longest in Falcons’ history. He went right up the middle and made a nice cut back to break an arm tackle and cruise the rest of the way to the end zone. After his touchdown run at the start of the third quarter Dunn only carried the ball two more times the rest of the game.

RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 4 - 9 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

Norwood carried just four times for nine yards. He also had one pass thrown his way.

RB Justin Griffith, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (3 targets)

Griffith caught two passes for 22 yards. All three passes thrown to him were on the final drive when the game was out of reach.

WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (6 targets)

Jenkins made three catches for 30 yards. He dropped a long bomb at the goal line. Although the coverage was good, he had the defender beat and should have made the catch for the touchdown.

WR Roddy White, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (6 targets)

White caught two passes for 20 yards. Vick’s interception was a pass that went off the hands of White. It wasn’t all White’s fault since the pass was thrown slightly behind him as he crossed the field.

WR Ashley Lelie, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (3 targets)

Lelie had just one catch for 14 yards. Lelie didn’t get any action until the fourth quarter.

TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 5 - 66 - 0 (6 targets)

Crumpler made five receptions for 66 yards. Two of Crumpler’s catches went for over 20 yards. Vick didn’t throw to him until late in the second quarter.

PK Morten Andersen 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points

Andersen made both extra point attempts. He wasn’t called on to attempt a field goal.

ATL Rush Defense

Going into this game, Atlanta’s rush defense was giving up a mere 69 yards on the ground. The Giants blew them up for 259 yards, with Tiki Barber picking up 185 of them. They gave up a short rushing touchdown to Jacobs after a pass interference penalty put the ball at the two yard line. John Abraham was back this week but wasn’t on the field in the fourth quarter. Patrick Kerney and Rod Coleman also left the game with injuries.

ATL Pass Defense

The pass defense gave up two short touchdowns to Jeremy Shockey. They intercepted Eli Manning twice and managed to sack him twice. Abraham got to Manning for a sack and slapped the ball out of his hand as he made the tackle. The Giants were able to recover though.