New York Giants: Will they ground the Falcons or not?

The crow pie was good Giants fan, thanks! Yes, I will admit it again, I had this New York team dead in the water way back when, but thanks to their quarterback, the bad play of the Dallas Cowboys and the defense coming back to life, they are now in the post season. Of course that does bring another question for this team that has sparked when most people thought they would fizzle: will they finally win another playoff game, since they have not done so since winning Super Bowl XLII, where they ripped the perfect season from the New England Patriots. Just like that season the Giants took off at the right time, but I am not sure this playoff run will be like that one.

The New York Giants (9 and 7 overall ~ 4-4 at home) are three points favorite in this game, which will be played at MetLife Stadium with kick off being at 1:00 pm EST (televised on FOX), against the Atlanta Falcons (10 and 6 ~ 4-4 on the road). I have to say I still find it weird that in the National Football League better records are not considered when seeding, but that is neither here or there for this game as it is the rule, however I am sure a Southern team which plays in a dome would love to have that rule modified. On the other hand, since both the Giants and the Falcons have good quarterbacks, what is not being looked at is the running game, which might be the difference in this game, especially if the weather begins to turn in northern Jersey.

I believe that one of the key in the game is going to be Michael Turner versus the Giants D. Which side wins that battle should also be in good shape to move on to the second week of playoff games. NY shut down Dallas run game last week, will that defense be back this week, or will Atlanta be able to muster up some yards and put the home team on their heels. And the same can go the other way, can the Giants find some running game, giving Eli Manning some more breathing room when he throws, or will the the Falcons close down Ahmad Bradshaw. Finally the one thing I am going to look for will be if Manning can get the big play early on, stretching out the visiting defense from the get go and making it hard to press or single cover the Big Blue wide outs. One thing is sure, both team can (and have many times) have a late game drive to win the game, so if it is close the “who has the ball last wins” rule might come into effect.

I find this game one hard to decypher, more because we have seen several different versions of this Giants squad during the season. If the one that has been playing of late shows up chances are that they will move on and win their first playoff game since their Super Bowl win, if it does not it might be back to the drawing board for head coach Tom Coughlin. I have to admit that I have gone back and forth many times about who I see winning this one and in the end I am going to go with the Giants, winning a close one, 28 to 24, with Eli Manning being the difference, as well as the coaching staff. Let’s see if I eat crow again thanks to the Giants!