Turnovers and time of possession are important stats in any game. On the road, they often become that much more pressing factors in the outcome of a game. The Giants, who were 3-0 all-time in the Georgia Dome entering Sunday, knew this. But knowing and doing are two different things.
On his first pass of the game – and second offensive play overall –
Fittingly, the Giants’ final offensive play was a lost fumble by running back
“That’s football, and we didn’t come out today and play our best,” Manning said. “And you’ve got to give credit to Atlanta. They did a great job, but any time you turn the ball over three times and have three turnovers on downs, you’re putting yourself in a tough situation and we just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that we were in.”
Additionally, the Giants, who entered Week 15 first in the NFC with a plus-16 turnover differential, were unable to generate any takeaways on defense. The Falcons were plus-6 heading into Sunday’s contest against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
And in that Wild Card game back in January, the Giants stopped Atlanta on three critical fourth-down conversion attempts. The Falcons returned the favor Sunday as New York was unsuccessful on three of their own attempts, turning the ball over on downs. Meanwhile, the Falcons converted 9 of 13 third downs and controlled the clock by more than 17 minutes (38:57 to 21:03).
“We just have to convert,” said wide receiver
