New York Giants ready to host Atlanta Falcons at the MetLife Stadium – NFL Playoff Preview
The MetLife Stadium is set to host its first playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) 2012 postseason on Sunday, January 8, as New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons prepare for their first such meeting ever.
The Giants have reached the playoffs after two years by topping the competitive National Football Conference (NFC)-East division.
In the regular season, Giants won nine games, which includes a 3-1 comeback in their last four games, to leave Dallas Cowboys and defending division champions, Philadelphia Eagles, behind.
On the other hand, the Falcons, unlike Giants, did register a playoff appearance last year, but were crushed in the division round by Green Bay Packers, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
This season, Falcons won 10 games to reach the postseason through a wildcard.
As these teams head towards playing a do-or-die game, all the eyes are set on quarterbacks, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan, both of whom are enjoying their prime time.
In 16 games this season, Manning has completed 359 passes off 589 attempts for 4,933 yards, while throwing 29 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Ryan is a touch behind Manning.
The Falcons’ quarterback completed 347 passes off 566 attempts for 4,177 yards in his 16 games, while throwing 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Apart from having an advantage of starters like Manning, the Giants are worried about their rushing game, which has remained their benchmark for a long time.
This season, however, they have relied entirely on passing games and are placed at the bottom of the NFL ranking table in terms of rushing.
Giants' coach, Tom Coughlin, is well aware of this problem, but he maintained that the team would be in a different shape on Sunday.
Coughlin asserted that the Giants would focus on playing a balanced game, where the defence and the offence would combine to outclass the opponents.
“In order to take advantage of all the opportunities that you present for yourself, you’ve got to have balance. You’ve got to be able to run it. You’ve got to be able to give some benefit to your offensive linemen for being able to run the football, and
you have to be able to – when you have those critical possessions in the green zone – you’ve got to be able to execute the run as well as the pass. And you’ve got to keep the defence off balance in terms of what your plan is, what you’re trying to accomplish
here”, Coughlin said.
The Falcons might be worried a little more than the Giants since their offence and defence is relatively well, but their inability to advance against the big name teams has tormented them throughout the season.
Their playoff record is adding to their worries having lost three of their last postseason games with the last victory coming back in 2004 against St. Louis Rams.
The winner of Sunday’s game will face either the Green Bay Packers or San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.
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