Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Atlanta 17 at NY Giants 10 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Atlanta Falcons: Backup QB Doug Johnson filled in well for the injured Michael Vick. Coach Dan Reeves said the only change made to the playbook was to remove the planned QB runs. Other than that, Johnson used the same plays Vick has used and performed very well. Finished 19-25 for a career high 257 yards and 1 touchdown. He also added a 15-yard TD run. Displayed very good pocket presence and almost all of his throws were crisp tight spirals. The running game did not get much going today, though T.J. Duckett was the primary ball carrier. He finished with 36 yards on 15 carries but did not make much of an impact in the game. Warrick Dunn had just 6 carries for 8 yards, but he made his presence felt in the passing game, leading the team with 7 receptions and totaling 69 yards. Shawn Jefferson took Willie Jackson's spot in the starting lineup and responded with a big game. He caught just 3 balls, but they went for a total of 84 yards. Had a nice 63-yard catch in which he did a great job of concentrating on the ball as it went through the defender's arms. New York Giants: It seems that every week, a Giants wide receiver will have a good game but it is difficult to predict which one it will be. Today, Kerry Collins focused on getting the ball to Ike Hilliard, especially in important situations. Hilliard caught 3 balls on 3rd down and another on 4th down. He was targeted on 10 passes, and scored the only TD of the game for New York. The Giants gained 113 yards rushing on 27 carries as a team, though one would think they would have been able to do better against a rush defense like Atlanta's. It makes you wonder, if they can't get a real good running game going against the Falcons, will they ever get one going? Injuries hit the Giants hard once again this week; CB Will Peterson, DL Kenny Holmes, and TE Jeremy Shockey were not in the starting lineup due to previous injuries. Today, DT Keith Hamilton was likely lost for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon and star DE Michael Strahan left the game with back spasms (he later returned but only played sparingly). S Omar Stoutmire injured his knee but returned to play. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Atlanta Falcons QB: Doug Johnson did a very good job of managing the offense. Made a perfect throw to Shawn Jefferson on a 63-yard bomb and later connected with Brian Finneran for a TD strike. Barely missed Finneran for what would have been a long td pass but overthrew him. Added a 15-yard TD run in which he pump-faked Jason Sehorn into jumping out of his shoes, which led to the easy run into the end zone. RB: Dan Reeves made good on his claim that T.J. Duckett was going to get a bigger load to carry. However, it was a tough game to try and breakout because of the Giants solid rush defense. Duckett managed only 36 yards on 16 carries and was not much of a factor in the passing game. Interestingly, Warrick Dunn got the first 3rd and short carry of the game but could not convert it. Duckett received the remainder of the short yardage carries, but was only somewhat effective. Warrick Dunn appears to be an afterthought in the running game. Granted, the team only ran the ball 24 times but Dunn got just 6 of those carries. And when he did run, he was very ineffective, gaining only 8 yards. He shone in the passing game, however, and was the main reason Atlanta was able to move the football. WR: Brian Finneran did a good job of getting open deep and would have had a long TD reception had Johnson not overthrown the football. He did have what turned out to be the game-winning TD, but he still seems awkward at times. Much of that could be attributed to working with a new QB. Shawn Jefferson started opposite Finneran and responded in a big way. He was targeted on just as many passes as Finneran (5), including twice on third down and once on a 63-yard completion that helped set up the game-tying TD. The Falcons ran just 49 offensive plays, so there weren't many footballs to go around. Still, Willie Jackson's role today was to catch 1 ball for 14 yards. More notably, it was the only ball thrown his way all afternoon. TE: Alge Crumpler caught 2 balls for 39 yards, demonstrating once again his big-play capability with a 30-yard reception that helped set up Feely's field goal. Reggie Kelly had a big fourth and 1 reception during the drive that eventually led to the Johnson TD run. Showed they have confidence in Kelly in a big spot. That, however, was his only target of the day. Falcons Pass Defense: The Giants didn't post mind-boggling numbers, but it's not because Atlanta did anything special defensively. Kerry Collins had so much time to throw all day it was incredible. The Atlanta pass rush was non-existent, and suffered another blow when it was learned that rookie LB Will Overstreet would likely be lost for the season after re-injuring a shoulder injury from the preseason. Juran Bolden made the play of the day when he stepped in front of a pass intended for Ike Hilliard and made a great adjustment to come up with the pick. Atlanta made the Giants pay as this turnover led to the game-winning TD drive. Falcons Rush Defense: Allowed Ron Dayne to break off an 18-yard run and gain 43 yards on just 9 carries. Tiki Barber added another 57 on 14 carries, and the Giants WRs (Hilliard and Carter) were able to successfully run 2 reverses to gain another 16 yards. Atlanta is lucky the Giants are struggling with the running game because the Falcons did not consistently come up with the stops you'd expect. Falcons Special Teams: K Jay Feely hit a 31-yard field goal but that was the extent of his use in the game. P Chris Mohr basically ended the game when his punt landed at the Giants 16 yard line, leaving them needing 84 yards to go with no timeouts. Mohr had earlier put a ball down perfectly at the Giants 1 yard line. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins had all day to throw, and made a number of quality passes. Even the one interception he threw was not so much that he made a bad throw; it was just that DB Juran Bolden made a great break and catch. Collins tried spreading the ball around but the only guy having any success catching it was Ike Hilliard, who Collins consistently looked for on third down. RB: Tiki Barber didn't have an awful day, but his owners probably hoped for more than 90 total yards against a defense like Atlanta's. Until the Giants get out to a big lead, it will be tough for them to really get the running game into high gear. Barber will still retain his fantasy value, however, because of his involvement in the passing game. He added another 33 receiving yards, which puts him on pace for 629 for the season---not too shabby. Barber had a nice 15-yard run negated due to a holding penalty. Ron Dayne had his first productive game of the year, gaining 43 yards on 9 carries. Included was an 18-yard scamper, his longest run so far. Not to take anything away, but he wasn't touched on the play, got a wall of blockers to lead him downfield, and was taken down on the first hit. WR: It was Ike Hilliard's turn to be the #1 guy today. He was targeted on 10 passes which led the team, including 4 times on third down and once on a key fourth down late in the game. He made a nice move on Juran Bolden to score the TD, and was the intended target on Kerry Collins's late interception. Amani Toomer had a very quiet day. He caught just 2 passes for 20 yards, although he was targeted on 7 balls. Collins looked for him deep once but they were unable to connect. Ron Dixon was the goat of the game. He caught a quick slant from Kerry Collins on 4th and 3, and raced down to the Atlanta 17 yard line where he subsequently fumbled the ball. Atlanta was able to take a lot of time off the clock, and the Giants were basically done after this fumble. TE: Dan Campbell started in Jeremy Shockey's absence. He caught the only ball intended for him, a big 19-yard gain on the game's opening drive. He made a nice adjustment to catch the ball, which was thrown behind him. However, after this play he was never mentioned again. Giants Pass Defense: The absence of CB Will Peterson, DE Kenny Holmes, DT Keith Hamilton, and DE Michael Strahan would obviously hurt any team. The Giants just didn't have the personnel to get any kind of significant pressure on Doug Johnson, and allowed Warrick Dunn to run pass routes underneath. Did a fairly decent job of containing the WRs, but still allowed 2 big plays (the long pass to Jefferson and the TD to Finneran). Giants Rush Defense: Did an outstanding job on both Duckett and Warrick Dunn. Dunn managed only 8 yards rushing, and Duckett could never get anything going despite the absence of the Giants tacklers up front. Needing just 2 yards on a third and short run to ice the game, Duckett was stuffed by New York. Giants Special Teams: Matt Bryant continued his perfect season by nailing a 38-yard field goal. It came after a very odd ruling by the refs that had backed it up from a 33 yarder to a 38 yarder, but Bryant did not get rattled at all. He seems like he'll be a good one, having made a number of clutch kicks this season. It didn't cost them the game, but the announcers commented on the Giants poor job of "selling" the return on a punt that was placed down at the Giants' 1-yard line. PR Delvin Joyce and a blocker on the return unit both allowed Falcons special teamers to get downfield unblocked, enabling them to down the ball at the 1.