Giants can exploit Falcons' weak defense
Photo credit: Getty Images | Giants wide receivers Steve Smith, right, and Domenik Hikon might be able to hit for big plays against the Falcons' struggling secondary.
Big games call for big plays. Regular-season games don't get much bigger than this one, with both teams fighting for playoff survival. The Giants think they can exploit a Falcons defense that routinely gives up huge chunks of yardage.
No team has allowed more pass plays of 20 or more yards this year than the Falcons, who have given up 35. They are yielding 240.7 passing yards per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL. In the last four games - during which the Falcons are 1-3 - they have allowed eight passing touchdowns after allowing only five in the first five games.
"We have not played defense like we would have liked to," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "We have given up way too many explosive plays."
The Giants (5-4) are hoping to add a few kabooms to that list on Sunday. And for an offense that at times has struggled to make those backbreaking plays, numbers like those of this week's opponent are mouthwatering.
"There are definitely some things out there we feel we can do," wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said with a confident, knowing smile. "It's a big game. We're looking forward to it. We know what we have to do."
Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said he doesn't see any inherent weaknesses in the Falcons' scheme. They just have a propensity to get burned.
"Certain guys have gotten beat," Gilbride said. "On certain plays they have gone against some good receivers who have made some good plays on some good throws. Hopefully, we will be able to do the same."
The Falcons (5-4) understood that would be the case when they entered the season. Tye Hill, their most experienced cornerback, has played in only four games. Brent Grimes, a second-year cornerback from Shippensburg (Pa.), has had to start four games. They let Lawyer Milloy walk away in the offseason, making former Jets safety Erik Coleman the oldest defensive back on the roster. He's 27.
Before last season, the first under Smith, the Falcons also traded cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
"We knew that we were going younger and more urgent on defense," Smith said. "We made that commitment last year in terms of retooling our roster and we have gone through some growing pains."
Those pains not only have been against the pass. The secondary also has let the Falcons down against the run. The team has allowed 16 rushes of 15 or more yards, including two last week, when the Panthers had runs of 45 and 28.
"The majority of the time, we believe that when you give up an explosive play, it is usually one of the three things that are about you," Smith said. "That's poor tackling, missed assignment or poor leverage."
The Giants haven't been very good at long running plays this season. Brandon Jacobs has only two of more than 20 yards. Last year he had nine. Ahmad Bradshaw's longest run this season was a 38-yarder, and he has three others of more than 20. Last year he had three of more than 30, including a 77-yarder. That's it. Six runs of 20 or more yards, and none for more than 38.
Still, Jacobs said there is a weakness in every defense, and especially the Falcons'.
"No question," he said. "There is always room for error for any style of running [defense] you play . . . I think it's open."
