Falcons and Giants meet at MetLife in game between 0-2 teams

Updated Sep. 23, 2021 10:19 a.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (0-2) at N.Y. GIANTS (0-2)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox

OPENING LINE: Giants by 3, according to FanDuel SportsBook

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Falcons 0-2; Giants 1-1.

SERIES RECORD: Falcons lead 13-12.

LAST MEETING: Falcons beat Giants 23-20 on Oct. 22, 2018, in Atlanta.

LAST WEEK: Falcons lost to Bucs 48-25; Giants lost to Washington 30-29.

FALCONS OFFENSE: OVERALL (25), RUSH (24), PASS (24), SCORING (30).

FALCONS DEFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (24), PASS (19), SCORING (32).

GIANTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (19), RUSH (15), PASS (T16), SCORING (22).

GIANTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (26), RUSH (T21), PASS (25), SCORING (25).

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Falcons minus-2; Giants plus-1.

FALCONS PLAYER TO WATCH: Rookie TE Kyle Pitts had five catches for a team-high 73 yards last week. “He’s basically a wide receiver, tight end at the same time,” Giants linebacker Blake Martinez said. “It’s somebody you have to know where he’s at all times.”

GIANTS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Saquon Barkley. He showed a flash of his pre-ACL injury form against Washington with a 41-yard run.

KEY MATCHUP: Falcons DL against Giants OL. New York starting LG Shane Lemieux (knee) is on IR and has had surgery and C Nick Gates (broken leg) is out for the season. Billy Price is the new center and Ben Bredeson is at LG.

KEY INJURIES: Falcons CB A.J. Terrell (concussion).

Giants Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram (calf) may play for the first time this season. Others to watch: Starting S Logan Ryan (hamstring), LB Cam Brown (hamstring), S Nate Ebner (quad) and WR Kenny Golladay (hip).

SERIES NOTES: The Falcons have won the last two games in the series. ... The teams last met in Atlanta on Oct. 22, 2018. Matt Ryan threw for 379 yards and the Falcons won 23-20. They finished 7-9. The Giants went 5-11 in Pat Shurmur's first season. He was fired the following year after a 4-12 season.

STATS AND STUFF:

Falcons coach Arthur Smith is looking for his first win as an NFL head coach. ... Ryan threw for 300 yards last week for the 70th time in his career. It's the fifth most in NFL history. He also moved ahead of Drew Brees for the NFL record for most yards passing through 14 seasons. Ryan has 56,231 yards. Brees had the old mark at 56,033. ... RB Cordarrelle Patterson ran for a TD and caught another against the Bucs. It was his second two-TD game. ... WR Calvin Ridley has nine straight games of five-plus catches and 50 yards. ... LBs Deion Jones and Dante Fowler each had a sack last week. ... LB Foyesade Oluokun had a team-high nine tackles and his fifth career forced fumble. ... DT Grady Jarrett had two sacks in the last meeting in 2018. ... The Giants are off to another slow start under Joe Judge. They were 0-5 last season. ... QB Daniel Jones had a career-high 95 rushing yards last week. He has run for a TD in each of the first two games. Since the 1970 league merger, three QBs have a TD rushing in each of the first three weeks: Terry Bradshaw, Charlie Frye and Kyler Murray. ... WR Sterling Shepard leads the Giants with 16 receptions for 207 yards and a TD. He had five catches for a career-high 167 yards in the last meeting. ... LB Blake Martinez led the team with 12 tackles last week. ... LB Azeez Ojulari can become the fifth rookie since 2000 to get a sack in each of first three games. ... CB James Bradberry had his 12th career interception last week. ... Dating to last season, PK Graham Gano has made 35 consecutive field goal attempts.

FANTASY TIP: Falcons' QB Ryan. The Giants were ripped open by Teddy Bridgewater of Denver and Taylor Heinicke of Washington. Ryan has thrown for 1,596 yards, eight TDs and an interception in five career starts against New York. Why not dominate again?

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