Falcons vs. Giants: 3 Things Atlanta Must Do to Pull off Upset

This time last year, the Atlanta Falcons were enjoying a nice bye week as the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They got to chill until the divisional round came calling.

If the Falcons want to get that far this year, they'll have to beat the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

Though the Falcons appear to have the stronger team on paper, beating the Giants on the road is going to be much easier said than done. The spread for this game reflects as much. According to Bovada, the Giants are favored by three points.

But the Falcons can win this game, make no mistake about that. In fact, it's going to be pretty simple.

All they have to do is abide by these three guidelines.

Don't Underestimate Victor Cruz

One thing that stands out about the Giants offense is that it really doesn't have many explosive playmakers. At least not compared to Atlanta's offense, anyway.

The one big-time playmaker the Giants do have, however, is one of the most dangerous players in the NFL: Victor Cruz.

Cruz had an outstanding season in 2011, hauling in 82 receptions for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns. He displayed a knack for making tough catches, and he finished among the league leaders with 25 receptions of 20 yards or more.

Receptions like those are the ones the Falcons need to worry about. The Giants offense is not going to pick the Falcons apart with long, sustained and utterly frustrating drives, but the Giants will easily find themselves in enemy territory or in the end zone with one pass from Eli Manning to Cruz.

If the Falcons can limit these plays or even stop them altogether, the Giants are going to have their work cut out for them. They have no running game to keep the Falcons honest, so they're going to need Victor Cruz to do his thing.

Containing one man sounds easy enough, but a large part of Cruz's success this season is owed to the way in which teams just kept underestimating him. The Falcons must not fall into that trap.

Keep Matt Ryan on His Feet

This is something the Falcons offensive line did very well in 2011, as Matty Ice was only sacked 26 times. There has been some controversy concerning how Atlanta's O-line was so successful, but whatever it did this season worked.

Protecting Ryan is going to be pretty tough on Sunday. The Giants finished among the league leaders with 48 sacks, and that was no accident. They have some players who love to rush the passer.

Jason Pierre-Paul is the best. He finished with 16.5 sacks this season to lead the Giants, and I would say he's a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He's going to come after Ryan, and there's only so much the Falcons are going to be able to do to stop him.

Doubling Pierre-Paul is out of the question. If the Falcons do that, they'll leave Ryan vulnerable to Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora. Even despite missing a handful of games with a high ankle sprain, Umenyiora managed to finish the season with nine sacks.

So no matter how they do it, the Falcons need to keep these guys away from Ryan. 

If they do, they'll be able to take advantage of the next point.

Chuck It Again and Again and Again

The Giants secondary has been at less than full strength all season. They've managed to make it this far, but their secondary was exposed as a major weakness time and time again during the regular season.

Against the Falcons, it could very well be exposed again.

Though they dropped a few too many passes during the season, Matt Ryan has a wealth of pass-catchers to throw to. Roddy White was as steady as ever this season, and Julio Jones got better and better as the season went along. As if those two weren't enough, Ryan also gets to throw the ball to a future Hall of Fame tight end in Tony Gonzalez.

The Giants will be tasked with keeping all three of these guys in check, and that's a reality that favors the Falcons. If the protection is good, Ryan could have a field day.

If he does, the Falcons will win this game. The Giants must not be underestimated, but they're not the kind of team that is going to explode offensively. They need to keep games close, delivering killer blows in crunch time.

If the game is out of reach when crunch time comes around, you'll know the Falcons passing attack had a good day.