Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga. (FieldTurf, indoors)
When: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (Fox)
Spread: Giants by 1
Records: Giants (8-5; NFC East 2-3); Falcons (11-2; NFC South 3-2)
Past results: The Giants defeated the Falcons, 24-2, in the wild-card round of the 2011 NFC Playoffs en route to the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl title. Series record: This is the 21st meeting between the two teams. The series is tied at 10 games apiece.
What matters: The Giants secondary has been thinned by injuries to CB Prince Amukamara (hamstring) and S Kenny Phillips (knee). Making matters worse, the Falcons currently rank fourth in passing offense. That puts a lot of pressure on the Giants defensive line to get to Falcons QB Matt Ryan, and Atlanta won’t make it easy. The Falcons have yielded just 24 sacks this season, which is less than all but six teams.
The Falcons don’t hesitate to leave blockers in, either, as opposed to flooding the field with receivers.
“A lot of times they’ll leave you one on one,” DE Osi Umenyiora said. “They chip sometimes. They slide the line… But we’ll have our opportunities to get there, and I think we just have to take advantage of them.”
Who matters: With Amukamara and Phillips out and S Antrel Rolle slotted to play a lot of nickelback, S Will Hill should see plenty of time opposite S Stevie Brown.
Obviously, these two were not the safeties the Giants had in mind at the start of the season, but Brown has played extraordinarily well this year, registering seven interceptions through 13 games.
The bigger question is Hill, who had primarily been used as a nickelback and on special teams this season. The Falcons obviously have two serious deep threats in WR Roddy White and WR Julio Jones, and Hill faced Jones when he was at Florida and Jones was at Alabama.
Hill said he’s ready for the uptick in playing time, but if he gets burned early, don’t be surprised to see him down at nickel and Rolle moved back to safety.
Besides Hill, RB David Wilson will also be under the spotlight as starting RB Ahmad Bradshaw is out with a knee injury. Wilson ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries last week, most of which came after Bradshaw hurt his knee.
Obviously, Wilson had a bigger day on kick returns (227 yards, one touchdown on four returns), but he also showed enough on offense to prove he’s capable of being a feature back.
Coach Tom Coughlin said he doesn’t know if Wilson will carry the ball 20 times because veteran running backs Kregg Lumpkin and Ryan Torain could also see playing time.
There will also be pressure on FB Henry Hynoski to step in on passing downs as Bradshaw’s pass blocking will be missed.
Key matchups: Staying in the secondary, CB Jayron Hosley will either be defending White or Jones, and that’s going to be a major challenge for the rookie.
Hosley is generously listed at 5-10; Jones is 6-3 and White is 6-0 and very physical. But even though Hosley is outweighed by most place kickers (he tips the scales at just 178 pounds), defensive coordinator Perry Fewell thinks he can hang with the Falcons receivers physically.
“I think he’s fearless enough, and I think he’s physical enough because again, I think the young man accepts the challenge,” Fewell said. “I don’t think he backs down from anybody. I don’t believe that he thinks of himself as a smaller man, I think he thinks of himself as a football player that can go out and get the job done. I think he can be physical with the guy for sure.”
Injuries of note: Besides Bradshaw, Phillips and Amukamara, the Giants will also be without S Tyler Sash (hamstring). LB Michael Boley (back) is listed as questionable, and WR Hakeem Nicks (knee), C David Baas (shoulder), TE Travis Beckum (knee) and DE Jason Pierre-Paul (back) are all probable.
White (knee) is listed as “questionable” for the Falcons.
Inside stuff: Don’t expect Wilson to duplicate his 227-yard effort on kick returns. The Falcons have an excellent kick coverage unit (opponents have an average starting position of the 21-yard line after kick returns). Furthermore, P Matt Bosher usually likes to kick the ball out of the end zone when he’s at the Georgia Dome.
Connections: Boley was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft and played in Atlanta for four seasons. Atlanta defensive coordinator Mike Nolan was the Giants’ coordinator under Dan Reeves from 1993 until 1996. Falcons secondary coach Tim Lewis was also the Giants defensive coordinator (2004-2006).
Stats you should know: Give the Giants offensive line credit. QB Eli Manning has been sacked a league-low 15 times this season, which is a major reason the team ranks ninth in passing yards.
Manning should have time to throw the ball again this week as the Falcons have only 28 sacks so far, which is tied for 19th in the league.
Looking ahead: The Giants finish their season with a game against the Ravens in Baltimore and one against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium. The Falcons, meanwhile, still have to travel to Detroit to face the Lions and host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17.
Prediction: Giants 24, Falcons 20
Follow the Giants and Alex Raskin @CBSGiants and @AlexRaskinNYC.
