KICKOFF: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
SURFACE: FieldTurf
TV: FOX (Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa)


KEYS TO THE GAME: Something has to give. The Giants are allowing 33.3 points per game during their four-game losing streak while Falcons QB Matt Ryan has thrown 11 interceptions in his past six games. And Ryan will have to step up without RB Michael Turner (ankle). The Falcons' ground game lack a productive workhorse with Jason Snelling and Aaron Stecker sharing the load. Offensively, the Giants will pick away at the Falcons' 26th-ranked run defense. If successful, QB Eli Manning should then be efficient working off play-action.
Need to know: The road team has won the past 12 meetings dating back to 1979. ... The Giants are 5-15 in games following their bye week.
Personnel News


Falcons:
  • <LI itxtvisited="1">RB Jerious Norwood returned to practice on Thursday after being out since suffering a right hip flexor on Oct. 18 against the Chicago Bears. He was limited in practice, but ran well. <LI itxtvisited="1">RB Michael Turner has yet to practice this week and all indications are that he won't be available on Sunday against the New York Giants. <LI itxtvisited="1">LT Sam Baker (left ankle) was a full participant in practice and appears set to start against the Giants and defensive Osi Umenyiora. <LI itxtvisited="1">WR Roddy White leads the team in receiving with 667 yards on 47 receptions. He is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000-yard season but is playing through a right knee injury.
  • RB Jason Snelling is expected to start against the Giants. He had 37 carries for 183 yards (4.9 per carry) this season.

Giants:
  • <LI itxtvisited="1">CB Aaron Ross continues to be limited in practice this week as he works his way back from a hamstring injury. If Ross does play on Sunday, he's not sure what role he'll have, as he's been doing work at both corner and safety. "Right now they are working me in and trying to see how my leg holds up," he said. "I am just waiting for them to call number 31 out there." <LI itxtvisited="1">LB Clint Sintim praised fellow LB Danny Clark, with whom Sintim has been sharing snaps on the strong side, for helping to make the rookie's transition to the NFL easier. "Danny's been a great asset," said Sintim. "We talk about what happened on the last series, what I need to do better, or what he needs to do better. So it's been a great relationship." <LI itxtvisited="1">RB Ahmad Bradshaw, who normally spends the Thursday practice in a walking boot in the team's rehab area, took some limited reps in practice. <LI itxtvisited="1">LB Danny Clark, who is in the final year of his two-year contract with the Giants, was surprised by some questioning from a reporter who asked if it was difficult having a younger player (Clint Sintim) attempt to take his job. "Take it? You're saying the wrong questions," Clark said. "We've got a good team concept, so he's a kid that's doing well and he'll play well." <LI itxtvisited="1">TE Travis Beckum, the Giants' third-round pick, has quietly slipped into oblivion in recent weeks as he continues to learn the H-back role. Beckum has been active for all nine games, mostly in a special teams role, but has taken a few snaps on offense where he has five catches for 35 yards and no touchdowns. Beckum remains optimistic that his reps will increase on offense in the Giants' remaining seven games.
  • Head coach Tom Coughlin enjoyed a rare sight at the team's Thursday practice when all 53 of his active roster players were out on the field working for the first time this season. "It felt pretty good to have everybody out there working," said Coughlin.

Inside The Camps


Falcons:
Call it the sophomore slump. The sophomore swoon. The sophomore jinx.
Whatever the case may be, the Falcons are in near panic mode to resolve second-year quarterback Matt Ryan's issues before they see their season go up in flames.
With running back Michael Turner on the shelf with a right high ankle sprain, the offense could grind to an absolute halt if Ryan doesn't regain his magic touch.
The Falcons got some positive news when Turner's backup, Jerious Norwood, returned to practice. But there's no telling how effective he can be after missing the last four games.
Ryan guided the Falcons to the playoffs and was named the NFL's Rookie of the Year last season. This season he has thrown 12 interceptions, 10 over the past five games.
"I think he's experiencing a time of adversity here," Falcons quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said. "Every athlete in every sport will experience times of prosperity and adversity. We are clearly working through a rough stretch right now."
Ryan was special as rookie. He only threw 11 interceptions last season. However, his play went against the NFL's history that said the league would chew up rookie quarterbacks and spit them out.
This season, Ryan got off to a good start through four games as the Falcons marched to a 3-1 record. He completed nearly 67 percent of his passes and threw only two interceptions.
But in the past five games — in which the Falcons went 2-3 — Ryan has completed just under 55 percent of his passes.
"I don't think we can put our finger on one thing," Musgrave said. "But I think the interceptions have taken place this year for a number of reasons."
Tight end Tony Gonzalez doesn't buy the theory that an over-reliance on him has lead to Ryan's rash of interceptions.
"If nobody else is open, I'm there for Matt," Gonzalez said. "If nobody else is open and we need a play, I hope I can come up with that play."
Pro Bowl wide receiver Roddy White, who leads the team with 47 receptions, remains Ryan's top target. He's had 82 passes thrown his way.
Gonzalez, who is second on the team with 44 catches, has had 70 passes thrown his way.
"Roddy is still the guy and he should be because he's an unbelievable talent," Gonzalez said. "He's a threat. He's a lot more of a threat than me to take it the distance if he catches it."
Ryan has thrown 51 percent of his 298 attempt to either White or Gonzalez.
Giants:
The Giants' defense has been ranked first in the league for the past seven weeks. Yet in the last four weeks, the defense hasn't played like a top-ranked unit, as opponents have managed to exploit mistakes stemming from miscommunication and bad habits.
"Pretty much we've controlled the game and then all of a sudden they hit us for a 40- or 50-yard play and then it goes downhill from there," said defensive end Osi Umenyiora. "I think so long as we're able to eliminate those big plays, we'll be able to get back to playing our style of defense."
Cornerback Terrell Thomas believes that the Giants have made significant strides on the defensive side of the ball as far as cleaning up all the problems that became so prominent during the losing streak. Thomas admitted that those problems were probably there from the onset but were overlooked due to the Giants' 5-0 start.
"When you're winning, you sometimes just pass over the mistakes that were made," Thomas said. "Against the Saints, that's when the bad habits really started to hurt us defensively."
When asked what specific bad habits occurred, Thomas mentioned a combination of technique, playing incorrect gaps, leveraging, and bad angles. He also said that there was no one player or part of the defense to blame. "I think everyone was having a problem at some point, but we've really worked at cleaning all of that and I think we'll be a lot better."
They'll find out this weekend when they square off against the Atlanta Falcons, who at 5-4 have lost three of their last four games, but who have a very good offense that can create problems for opposing defenses. PREDICTION: Giants 27-24