NFL Playoffs 2012: Giants Hosting Falcons In NFC Wild Card Game

A report like this seems to assure that weather won’t have much of an impact in the game. Both teams run balanced offenses, both quarterbacks skew toward reliability, and both have depndable and deep receiving corps. No matter where this game would be played, the teams appear relatively even, but the Giants have the luxury of home field.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

Let’s see if the elder Manning’s speaking out about the announcing duo causes them to change their tone on New York’s quarterback.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

Here’s Big Blue View on why the Giants will win this game and they they’ll lose:

Why the Giants will win: The Giants will win because they have the advantage at quarterback. Eli Manning is better than Matt Ryan. Also, the Giants’ defensive line is healthier than at any time this season and that is a game-changer.

SB Nation’s The Falcoholic has predicted a Falcons victory so we asked them why the Falcons will win the game and why they’ll lose:

SB Nation’s NFL bloggers made predictions for Wild Card weekend and here’s a look at the updated NFL playoffs schedule for Sunday. Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

Without further ado, here are the 36 possible Super Bowl 46 matchups. Disagree? I’ll see you in the comments.

The only subplot that is even remotely interesting about this game, which would probably end 8-3 or something, is that it would feature Urban Meyer’s two most prominent pupils, Tebow and former Utah star Alex Smith. This would definitely not make you hate Braxton Miller for no good reason.

Now that the playoffs have come around however, the plan is to unleash Abraham for the full duration of the game. “We’ve had him on a play count all season long, and now it’s an opportunity for us to go and extend his snaps as we get into the postseason,” Falcons coach Mike Smith told the Atlanta Journal Constitution Thursday. The Giants offensive line has struggled to protect Manning the past few games, so Abraham and the Falcons look to see if limiting his reps to keep him fresh was the right idea.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

The 2012 NFL playoffs are only hours away with four games on tap for Wild Card weekend. The Texans are hosting the Bengals and the Lions are traveling to New Orleans for Saturday’s games and Sunday has the Falcons playing the Giants and the Broncos hosting the Steelers.

Eight SB Nation bloggers representing the eight teams playing this weekend weighed in on their team’s game, including their picks for the contest. There’s a lot of confidence in this group -- only one blogger picked their team to lose.

This should be a close game as the expert picks have shown us.

Check out the rest of the 2012 NFL playoffs schedule.

The Giants are 22nd in rushing attempts this year versus seventh last year. They’re sixth in the league in passing attempts. Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride was asked about the Giants lack of a running game this season.

They can throw it well, that’s for sure. And so do the Falcons -- they’re fourth in the NFL in passing attempts. So both teams can play a pass-happy type of game.

The Giants have plenty of matchup problems with the Falcons, otherwise they would not have found themselves needing a Week 17 win to make the playoffs. A killer pass rush could serve as the great equalizer against the more complete teams they face in the playoffs, however.

For more on the Giants, head over to the SB Nation blog Big Blue View. For more on the Falcons, check out The Falcoholic.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King thinks that the Giants win, but is picking them to do so by less than a touchdown. He cites the Giants’ pass rush as the primary reason for his pick. Two out of three Yahoo! experts picked the Falcons, while three out of five CBS experts are going with the Giants.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

Playoff games are often won and lost in the trenches, but the battle between the d-line of the Giants and the o-line of the Falcons might be even more important than the battle between the lines in the average game.

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

Related: 2012 NFL Playoffs Schedule

The over/under for this game opened at 48.5 points has only fallen to 47 points. This season the Falcons have averaged 25.1 points and the Giants have put up 24.6. Incidentally, the Giants allow 25 points per game while the Falcons are slightly better at 21.9.

Via Sports Radio Interviews:

Dave Choate of The Falcoholic thinks it’s time for that Falcons offensive line to be flexible with their personnel.

Prior to the Giants’ three straight wins in the late 2000s, the pre- and early-Eli Manning Giants struggled with Atlanta, dropping three games from 2002 to 2004, and scoring just 27 points in those contests. Both teams have other three-game winning streaks in the series history, too, with the Giants reeling one off in the 1980s and the Falcons scoring theirs in the 1970s.

SB Nation’s assessment of Wild Card Weekend teams’ Super Bowl prospects doesn’t care for the Giants or Falcons very much, but Andrew Sharp is looking forward to seeing Victor Cruz and Roddy White in the same game.

But, if this NFL season has taught us anything, it’s that things usually don’t go the way you expect. So it shouldn’t be that surprising to see a dark horse team, such as the Lions or Falcons, make a Super Bowl run. It’s happened a couple of times recently -- a Wild Card team wins four in a row, usually on the road, to capture the title.

SB Nation’s NFL playoffs roundtable looked at the dark horse candidates in the postseason and it’s down to two teams -- Lions and Falcons.

Mike Smith has been a success thus far for Atlanta in his first head coaching gig, but he’s still looking for his first playoff win. “We have talent,” Smith told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We have to play at a higher level than we’ve played all season to win in the playoffs.”

Check out Big Blue View for the latest on the Giants and The Falcoholic for the latest on the Falcons, and head on over to the SBNation NFL news hub for everything you need to know about the 2012 playoffs.

The Falcons will play the New York Giants in the NFC Wild Card game where they’ll face a much stiffer test against the run. The Giants have a solid defensive line and present a different set of problems for the Falcons.

It’s that run defense of the Giants that has SB Nation’s The Falcoholic wondering if Atlanta should make some offensive line adjustments to prepare for it.

But first the Giants will have to get past the Falcons, which comes this weekend in New York.

Check SB Nation’s The Falcoholic for more on the Falcons and Big Blue View for more on the Giants. Also check out the updated NFL draft order for the non-playoff teams.

Check SB Nation’s The Falcoholic for more on the Falcons and Big Blue View for more on the Giants. Also check out the updated NFL draft order for the non-playoff teams.

SB Nation’s The Falcoholic previews their Falcons before Wildcard weekend and notes that they’re built well for a playoff run.

The Falcons are going to be a tough out. They don’t have any glaring weaknesses and they can play good defense. The Giants have had their struggles and inconsistencies but when they’re on they’re one of the better teams in the league so at first glance this might be the most even matchup on Wildcard weekend.

Jones, meanwhile, overcame a slow start to come on strong at the end of the year for the Falcons, finishing with 50 catches for 880 yards and 8 TD’s, with six coming in the final four weeks of the season.

Both young WR’s could be in line for a big game Sunday Jan. 8 at the MetLife Stadium, as New York’s pass defense is rated 27th in the NFL and Atlanta’s is rated 19th.