Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants: Complete Week 5 Preview for Atlanta

The Atlanta Falcons are reeling after injuries and poor defensive play caused them to lose versus the Minnesota Vikings. They have to rebound fast against the New York Giants as they head to MetLife Stadium on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game.

The Giants are 2-2 and are on a two-game winning streak against the Houston Texans and Washington Football Team. Atlanta is also 2-2 and has looked like a Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde type of team. One week, they can blow out a team 56-14 or come back from a 14-point deficit, and the next, they get blown out.

The Falcons did get a favorable matchup this week against the Giants. Despite the Giants leading the NFL in interceptions, FalcFans.com owner Aaron Freeman makes a great point about the Giants' defense playing against some of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL:

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Just not that impressed with #Giants. They are mediocre team benefiting from bad QB play last 3 weeks.

— Aaron Freeman (@falcfans) October 2, 2014"

After the Giants got a reprieve against Drew Stanton, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kirk Cousins, they will go against the best quarterback they've seen all year in Matt Ryan. Ryan and the Falcons offense are second in the NFL in yardage gained and tied for first in points scored. The matchup will be an excellent one, but one that should favor Atlanta.

Atlanta Falcons Week 4 Recap

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The Falcons were leading 28-27 heading into the fourth quarter when Joe Hawley went down with a knee injury forcing the team to face a 3rd-and-long with Levine Toilolo as their right tackle. Everything unraveled from there including a defense that was finally starting to tighten up a bit despite poor play in the first half.

Despite the awful loss to the Vikings, the Falcons should look at it as a learning experience. They did the same things wrong against Minnesota that they did against the Bengals. They'll have to get back to the personnel packages and formations they used on defense against Tampa Bay.

Those were ones that created pass rush and pressure on the opposing quarterback. If they can put pressure on Eli Manning this week, they should be able to intercept a couple of balls and create some turnovers to keep momentum. And if they can protect Matt Ryan, they could decimate a mediocre defense.

Atlanta should look like the team we all saw against Tampa Bay this Sunday if the line can hold up through the injuries that sidelined Hawley and Lamar Holmes for the season. If Justin Blalock is also out in this game, it could hurt a bit as well.

Despite the 2-2 start, the Falcons look like a team that should be able to make it back to the playoffs in 2014. The offensive line is still better than it was in 2013 and can protect Ryan much more efficiently. Hopefully, they can improve their pass rush back to the pre-Mike Smith era, though.

News and Notes

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Does Atlanta's Defense Have the Worst Talent In the NFL?

Mike Smith's brother-in-law and former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick had a lot to say about the Atlanta Falcons' defensive talent when he was on 92.9 The Game on Wednesday Morning.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's D. Orlando Ledbetter, Billick said the following: "I can’t think of another team in the league that has less quantifiable talent on it defensively.”

This is something that I vehemently disagree with. Sure, there are spots that don't have a ton of talent—like pass-rusher—but the Falcons are trying to fit square pegs into round holes right now. It's tough to have a good pass rush when there is a defensive tackle playing right defensive end and a linebacker playing left defensive end.

The Falcons need to fix the scheme. And, sure, adding some talent would be a smart thing to do. But if they don't use the talent that they currently have in the best possible roles, how can they really play the best defense? How can you fairly judge talent when it's in a horrible scheme situation?

Is Matt Ryan Really the Reason for Road Losses?

The Falcons don't do as well on the road as they do at home. Because of that, the question is whether it's Matt Ryan or the rest of the team that fails on the road. ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure points out that Matt Ryan doesn't do as well on the road as he does at home, statistically:

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Ryan has to be on point with his receivers, particularly on the road. As ESPN Stats and Information pointed out, he has a 57.6 completion percentage, an average of 6.2 yards per attempt, four touchdowns, five interceptions and a total QBR of 44.0 in the two road games this season. At home, his completion percentage is 77.6 with an average of 11.0 yards per attempt, six touchdowns, no interceptions and a QBR of 96.1.

"

The big difference in stats comes in his touchdown-to-interception ratio. His completion percentage is definitely lower as well. However, against Minnesota it was a different story until Joe Hawley went down with an injury at the end of the third quarter forcing Atlanta to play Levine Toilolo at right tackle.

Ryan was 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) for 221 yards and three touchdowns before the injury to Hawley. After the injury to Hawley, Ryan was 6-of-11 for 77 yards and two interceptions. Ryan was also sacked once after the injury and hadn't been sacked before that part of the game.

The Falcons do have road issues. But Ryan isn't the cause of them. The real issue is that the Falcons defense gives up way too many yards and points on the road. Outside of three missed field goals against the Bengals, Cincinnati would have scored 33 points.

Fix the defense. Fix the road woes.

Atlanta's Defense Is "Mad, But Calm" After Getting Embarrassed

The Falcons allowed 558 yards of total offense against the Vikings this past week. They allowed 41 points to the Vikings as well. These levels of incompetence are completely unacceptable. However, the defensive players aren't sitting on their hands. Dan Mathews of Score Atlanta quoted Kroy Biermann during the week about the defense's poor performance thus-far:

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“We’re not going to accept what’s been happening,” Biermann said. “We’re going to fix it and we’re going to go about it the right way. You can’t go off the reservation per se, but you know it’s going to get fixed. We’re going to keep fighting until it does get fixed.”

"

A fix is going to have to be more than just the players getting a little bit mad. Atlanta has some real schematic problems with their defense that they need to address. If one of those issues is that they can't put the right players in the right spots, that falls on the coaching staff.

As it sits right now, that's the Falcons' biggest issue on their defense. If they can finally just align the defense properly with the right guys in the right roles and gaps, they might find a pass rush, be able to create turnovers and legitimately stuff the run once again.

Injury Report

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Pos	Player	Injury	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Status
WR	Harry Douglas	Foot	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
WR	Devin Hester	Ankle	LP	LP	FP	Probable
WR	Julio Jones	Ankle	LP	LP	FP	Probable
OG	Justin Blalock	Back	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
LB	Prince Shembo	Ankle	LP	LP	FP	Probable
S	Kemal Ishmael	Knee	LP	LP	FP	Probable

All report information comes from the injury report put out by the Atlanta Falcons every week.

DNP: Did Not Practice

LP: Limited Participation at Practice

FP: Full Participation at Practice

According to the Atlanta Falcons' official website, Lamar Holmes and Joe Hawley were put on Injured Reserve ending their seasons and closing out what has been the best season played for either one of those two guys. They were both getting a shot to start and excelling at their roles. Losing Hawley will be a big blow as Peter Konz will have to replace him and not be awful like he was in 2013.

Gabe Carimi is expected to replace Holmes as the starting right tackle for the rest of the year. As a former first-round pick, he should be better than he has shown so far in his career. However, if he wants the best situation to perform at his highest level, it would be this year next to Jon Asamoah on the line.

Speaking of guards, Justin Blalock looks like he's still battling that back injury suffered versus the Vikings. He's been the most reliable player on the line throughout the past two seasons and losing him could be tough for the Falcons. Harland Gunn would be the one to replace him in the starting lineup. Gunn has been solid for the Falcons after they poached him from the Saints in 2012.

Harry Douglas, Devin Hester and Julio Jones are all on the injury report this week for various injuries. Douglas and Julio look like they are ready to play this week, but Douglas might have to sit out yet another week. The Falcons took Roddy White off the report this week, though. A healthy Roddy with a slightly banged up Julio Jones is a tough combination to stop for any team.

Prince Shembo looks to be a little banged up after starting his first NFL game. He should be ready to go as this looks like a precautionary measure to limit his practice reps. The Falcons would replace him in the lineup with Game 1 starter Joplo Bartu should Shembo not be available on Sunday.

William Moore got put on Injured Reserve with designation to return after eight weeks as part of the moves related to Holmes and Hawley, replacing him will be Kemal Ishmael. Ishmael is fighting his own nicks and cuts this week, though. Atlanta would have Dezmen Southward start in Ishmael's place if the Central Florida product has to sit out against New York.

X-Factors and Matchups to Watch

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Falcons OT Jake Matthews vs. Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul

In a battle between the Falcons' best rookie this year and the Giants' best defender over the past couple of years, Jake Matthews faces his first real test. Jason Pierre-Paul does everything right when it comes to rushing the passer and the Falcons' left tackle will be in for a tough battle.

Pierre-Paul has two sacks already this season and has forced pressure seven different times. However, his run-stuffing prowess is where the Falcons will really need to worry. Matthews will be critical in the Falcons establishing any sort of run game on Sunday. He'll also have to make sure he holds off Pierre-Paul in pass protection to allow the interior offensive line a better chance against New York's defensive tackles.

Atlanta's Interior Offensive Line vs. New York's Defensive Tackles

With Joe Hawley out for the year and Justin Blalock looking to be out for the game, the Falcons need to make sure that they can provide solid blocking up the middle against New York's best pass-rushers inside. Peter Konz and Harland Gunn would replace Blalock and Hawley inside at left guard and center.

Johnathan Hankins and Cullen Jenkins have been causing headaches all season for opposing quarterbacks and have forced a ton of poorly thrown balls due to their pressure. The Falcons need to allow Matt Ryan some time in the pocket and the best way to do that is by setting the depth of it and allowing Ryan to step up when needed.

Falcons CB Desmond Trufant vs. Giants WR Victor Cruz

Desmond Trufant has been the Falcons' best defender throughout the 2014 season. He's been great outside of two long gains against him during the season. On one of the long gains, it was just a perfectly placed pass despite textbook coverage. Trufant gives a lot of good coaching film for the defensive coordinators to work with. He should continue this week against Victor Cruz.

Cruz has been underwhelming by dropping five passes already through the first four games of the year. His 18 catches for 299 yards looks good on the surface, but when you realize that he's been targeted 32 times and has caught just 78 percent of the passes that hit him in the hands, it's a sorry effort on his part. In order to really affect the Falcons defense, the Giants need to get the ball to Cruz deep.

Falcons' X-Factor of the Week: NT Paul Soliai

Weston Richburg and J.D. Walton have been playing poorly throughout the first quarter of the season. They face their toughest test in Paul Soliai this week. This is a matchup that Soliai can win just by the sheer mass of his body. Atlanta just has to make sure they put Soliai in the 1-technique all game and force the two worst Giants linemen to bite on the double team.

Then they should follow it with A-gap blitzes. Even if Soliai doesn't get a sack, hit or hurry, the former Dolphin should be able to allow other defenders in behind him by opening the gaps. Prince Shembo and Paul Worrilow could be in line for their first sacks of the season if Nolan can scheme it right, and Soliai would be the true X-factor in this week's game.

Prediction

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

The Atlanta Falcons need a bounce-back game in the worst way and will be extra motivated. Assuming the offensive line holds up, there's no reason for the offense to take any steps back. Matt Ryan should be able to have another good day through the air as the Giants' pass defense is just 22nd in the NFL.

The Giants have a solid pass rush, though, and they could potentially get some sacks or force Ryan into a bad throw or two on the day. Assuming the turnover battle stays relatively even, this one should be a shootout and if there's a team to trust in a shootout, it's the Falcons.

Atlanta's defense isn't good and needs to drastically improve but facing one of the best offensive groups in the NFL right now is going to be tough. The Falcons will have to contain Larry Donnell and that might be impossible based on how they have covered tight ends since 2012.

Prediction: Falcons 45, Giants 42

All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com.

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.

Follow @ScottCarasik