Island Casino Monday Night football

When the Monday Night Football schedule was first made I’m sure this looked like an attractive game.  The Atlanta Falcons would have Michael Vick and be playing in front of an electric crowd and would surely have more than one win.  But, unless you’ve been stuck under a rock for the past couple of months you would no that Vick is not playing, and the Falcons do only have one win. 

If you are a Giants fan you are confident coming into this game.  The boys in blue have won three in a row after dropping their first two.  They have also made sure to squeeze as much drama as possible out of it.  In two out of their last three games, against the Redskins (week 3) and the Jets this past week they were down by double digits entering the second half and in both cases found a way to win.  Quarterback Eli Manning has also seemed like two different players depending on the half, usually looking like a Pro Bowler in the second half.  Manning has Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress to thank for most of his success.  Burress has caught nearly every ball thrown in his direction.  Against New York he caught five passes for 124 yards and one touchdown.  To this point he has been the most important player in the Giants offense.  Also, the return of Brandon Jacobs from injury has been a nice boost for the Giants.  Jacobs returned against the Jets, running for 100 yards on 20 carries, for a solid average of five yards per carry.  He also added a touchdown. 

A week after Joey Harrington appeared to be turning a corner and showing he can be a productive quarterback he was benched for Byron Leftwich.  Leftwich was respectable, but while driving with the game on the line he threw in interception that was returned for a 76-yard touchdown by Vincent Fuller of the Tennessee Titans.  The Falcons haven’t have had a few chances to win a few more games.  After a 24-3 loss in the opening game of the season, they haven’t lost any of there other games by more than seven points.  In the game they won, two weeks ago, they beat the Houston Texans 26-16, sort of a shocker in itself.  Yet, as mentioned one week later they were back in the losing column.  Prior to being benched Harrington was completing over 71 percent of his passes and the duo of Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood have been somewhat respectful running the ball, averaging close to four yards a carry between the two.  Receiver Roddy White has been a welcome addition as well.  He had 55 yards on three catches in the Titans loss. 

The Falcons have had their best game at home, and the Giants, while on a streak have continually found themselves having to come from behind to win.  I don’t expect the Giants to have to comeback from behind in this one, winning a low scoring affair by something like 20 to 10.  The quarterback situation is a mess in Atlanta, no matter who they start on Monday.