FALCONS FLIGHT: Giants overpower Falcons in wild card contest

After suffering early losses in the 2008 and 2010 playoffs, the Falcons were confident they would win their first playoff game since 2004 against the New York Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

But costly coaching mistakes and big plays by the Giants’ offense led to a 24-2 loss for the Falcons who are now 0-3 in playoffs games under head coach Mike Smith.

The Falcons were able to put the first points on the board early in the second quarter when Eli Manning committed an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone.

However, the Falcons could have been leading by more points, because the offense was able to dive to the Giants’ 25-yard line on the previous series. But instead of kicking the field goal, the Falcons went for it on fourth-and-short, but Ryan could not gain any yardage on the QB sneak. It was a controversial call because Ryan looked to have gotten the first down. But the officials ruled it to be a turnover on downs.

It would come back to haunt the Falcons later in the quarter when the Giants put together a 13-play, 85-yard drive that ended with a Manning 4-yard touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks.

With 1:08 left in the second quarter, the Falcons looked to get some more points on the scoreboard as they had the ball at their own 20-yard line with three timeouts left. But after gaining 16 yards on five plays, the Falcons let the clock run out and went to the half trailing 7-2.

Early in the third quarter, the Giants added to their lead with a Lawrence Tynes 22-yard field goal after an 11-play, 72-yard drive. The Falcons looked to answer on the ensuing drive as they moved the ball all the way to Giants 21-yard line after starting at their own 21-yard line. But once again, instead of kicking a field goal, the Falcons went for it on fourth-and-short again and once again Ryan ran a QB sneak and came up short.

The Giants would take advantage of the Falcons’ turnover on downs. Three plays later, Manning threw a 72-yard touchdown strike to Nicks and the Giants increased their lead to 15. Early in the fourth, the Giants put the nail in the coffin when Manning threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham which would put them up by 22 points.

The Falcons’ goal was to control the line of scrimmage, get Michael Turner going and protect Ryan. They did were not able to do those things well because the Falcons only had possession for over 25 minutes, Turner only had 15 carries for 41 yards and Ryan was sacked twice and hit numerous times by Rocky Bernard and Osi Umenyiora.

On the flip side, the defense started off the game strong, limiting the Giants’ offense to one first down on their first four offensive series. But due to the Falcons’ offense not getting any long drives going, the defense wore down and Manning ended his day with 277 yards and three touchdowns. The Giants’ running game also got going as the game progressed as Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw had a combined 28 carries for 155 yards.

So for the third time in four seasons, the Falcons are one-and-done in the playoffs. 2008 was disappointing, but there was a lot of optimism about the direction this team is heading. Now, there is a just lot a disappointment and a lot of questions that have to be answered this offseason.

Reaching the playoff is not easy and the Falcons were only one of 12 teams to have the honor of playing in the postseason. But they wanted to do more than just get there, they wanted to win.

But they will now have to wait until September to work their way to another spot in the playoffs, and if they do make it next year, they will need to have better showing than the last three attempts.