Giants May Find Falcon's Negative Flaps Make This Game A Trap

[RoanokeFan]

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2...ns_negati.html (http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2012/12/giants_may_find_falcons_negati.html)

Excerpt: "Hark! We have stumbled upon an alternate definition of the Trap Game, and it goes like this:

You’re on the road, facing a team tied for the NFL’s best record, a team that was just humiliated by a band of last-place blowhards, a team that is still thinking payback for its playoff pummeling last January — and yet the viewing public expects this team to roll over at home the moment they get their first glimpse of the intermittently mighty Giants (http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2012/12/nj.com/giants).

These are strange times for the Atlanta Falcons, who unlike the rest of the NFC are just waiting around for the playoffs to start. It seems everyone regards them as fakes, particularly after their no-show at Carolina, which explains why Tom Coughlin keeps filling Blue minds with his usual tedious pleas of maintaining focus.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.

Because everyone else is telling the Giants that the Falcons aren’t to be taken seriously.

“Who’s fault is that?” Justin Tuck harrumphed. “Are you saying the Falcons are jealous? You write that you said that.”

That’s the point. Nobody is saying much of anything about the Falcons lately, which is an extraordinary accomplishment for an 11-2 team.

Rodney Harrison bashed them on NBC after they were torched by the Panthers, asserting that no one is afraid to play them. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution seized on an NFL.com theme that the Falcons are frauds, and threw it open for public discussion Tuesday.

The consensus at the AJC’s reader forum basically went like this: Yup, sounds about right.

Sure, that’s probably just fan/media prattle, which is never right — until it’s right.

Still, you don’t even know what to make of this team. They clinched their (lousy) division with a month to spare, the remaining games mean little other than a chance to stay home for three extra weeks, and everyone seems to think their point differential reflects a soft team.

Of course, when you practice in a place called Flowery Branch, it doesn’t help." Read more...

[Mercury]

I don't think they can be any more motivated to play well against the Giants. However, the same goes for the Giants. They need this win more than the Falcons, so I expect them to be ready for a hard fought contest.

[GameTime]

if the Giants play like crap then they are the frauds and not the Falcons IMO......

[Sundown]

We've seen this from many teams over the years where they start out hot, stumble into the playoffs only to lose in the 1st round. It will be a tuff game but we'll pull this one out

[Parademon]

The G-men need this game 100x more than Atl does. If the Falcs lose, big deal, they are 11-3 & still gonna win their div & get the #1-#2 seed. Giants will breeze past Balt & Phill if we can get by Atl. Balt is not the defensive juggernaut they used to be & Flacco is a good QB, but not great. Eagles, like always will be tough, but we will be out to destroy them for all the heartache they have caused us these past few yrs.

Beat Atl & we win 11 games this yr & repeat as NFCE champs!

[FrankAE]

I'm pretty sure 49ers and Packers wanted just as much revenge as the falcons and that got them nowhere. Falcons line matches up vs the Giants as bad as the Packers did but with a qb who folds under the pressure. Jones will get his yards and very likely will score, White may show up as well but in the end it won't over come the pass rush and points the Champs put up.

[Harooni]

i can see us coming out flat and then winning late

[Cool Papa B.]

I get that the Giants need this win more than the Falcons. But you have to believe that the Falcons want to make a statement by beating up on the Giants. They have heard from everywhere about how soft they are and how they have been "1 and done" in the playoffs. This is a chance to shut all the criticizers up and tell everyone we are ready.

This game for the Falcons is as close to a must win without it really being a must win as it can possibly get.

With that being said, the Giants should be able to score a lot. The Falcons are almost as bad vs. the run as the Saints are and their pass rush is mediocre.

[Rat_bastich]

Definitely the Giants have more to lose in this game than the Falcons. If the Giants can put together a good effort for a second week in a row then they can start to gain momentum at the right time. The problem is that the Falcons are not going to lie down and let the Giants just beat them. Atlanta's rushing game is nothing to really get hyped about but their passing game is. This could be another big game for Stevie Brown and company.