Giants must stop Falcons RB Michael Turner

There's been a lot of talk about the Giants' pass rush this week, about how the sack-happy defensive line will be applying nonstop pressure to Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan.

Although it's true that Ryan should have valid concerns about staying upright in Sunday's game, the true focus of the Giants' defense is going to be elsewhere. The player with the biggest target on his back will be running back Michael Turner. Because as Turner has gone this season, so have the Falcons.

Atlanta is 9-1 in games in which Turner carries the ball at least 19 times, with the lone loss coming in overtime against the Saints in Week 10. When Turner fails to reach that mark, Atlanta is 1-5.

"Michael Turner? It's well- documented that when he goes over 100 yards, they win," Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. "So it's going to be vitally important that we control him. We have to come up with a body part on that guy. He's a big, strong guy."

Although the Giants' pass rush is among the league's best, tied for third with 48 sacks, their run defense is ranked only 19th, having given up an average of 121.2 yards a game.

"That ranking is not anything you want to hang your hat on as a defensive tackle," Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty said. "There's some things we have to clean up in the run game to make sure that our team has a chance to be successful. You can't rush the pass unless you stop the run. You have to stop Turner and you have to put them in situations where they have to throw the ball."

The 5-10, 247-pound Turner has rushed for 1,340 yards this season, including 172 in the regular-season finale against the Bucs. Canty said the offensive line does an excellent job of "creating space" for Turner.

"And he does a great job of utilizing that space with cutback lanes and really punishing second-level defenders," Canty said. "That's why you have to be physical at the point of attack against the blockers. You've got to physically gang-tackle. You've got to get to him. You've got to hit him and you've got to take steam out of him.''

In Atlanta's recent postseason failures against Green Bay and Arizona, one of the biggest problems was Turner's disappearance. He totaled only 81 yards on 28 carries in those two games. Entering Week 17 this season, Turner also had struggled, failing to run for more than 76 yards in five consecutive games.

Ryan hopes the run of bad running has ended.

"I think we're always better off when we run the football well, and Mike had a great game last week," he said. "That's something we would love to carry over this week, but it's not going to be easy."

Not if the Giants can help it.