Monday Night Preview: Falcons vs. Giants 

by Shane M. Dayton

This Monday night faces off the 3-2 New York Giants against the 1-4 Atlanta Falcons.  There doesn’t seem to be a lot of luster on this game, but the Giants are resurging and fighting for every inch towards a play-off berth, and the Falcons have not played badly the last couple games.  This one could be closer than most people think...

Falcons vs. Giants In-Game Betting 

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Why the Giants will win: They’re the better team and the Falcons have no answer for WR Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, and QB Eli Manning.  This offense can put up points, and as they proved against Philly two weeks back, they can put on one heck of a pass rush.  Neither Joey Harrington nor Byron Leftwich performs well under pressure, and the Giants will be sure to bring it constantly. 

With a winning record, Eli needs to still prove he’s the man, while Tom Coughlin is fighting for his job.  The NFC play-off race is wide open, but with that tough division having all four teams play well, the Giants have to grab every win they can to have a chance, and they are definitely the better team in this match up.

Why the Falcons pull the upset: If it wasn’t for CB DeAngelo Hall, they would be 2-3.  They’ve been running the ball well, and Harrington has put up some very good numbers.  This is a team that is starting to hit a stride, and say what you want, but no team EVER wants to pick first in the NFL draft. 

Coach Petrino wants a spark, and this looks like one of the more winnable games on the schedule.  The Giants coverage has been abysmal, so the Falcons offense should be able to move the ball and put up a good number of points on this suspect defense.  The home crowd hasn’t had a lot to cheer about, but a win here would definitely pick up the spirits of a down trodden city.

The offense is enough to keep them in it, and a couple of big plays by John Abraham could force Eli to make a mistake.  If it’s close in the 4th quarter, that’s all they’ll need to pull the upset.

This should be a better game than most people think, and it’s not a Giants’ win by a long shot.  Either of these teams could come out ahead, and this should make for a surprisingly good Monday night match up.