The New York Giants used a ferocious defense and a second-half scoring surge to rout the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 in the National Football League (NFL) wild card playoffs.
The Giants, who went into intermission with a 7-2 lead, used a surprisingly strong running attack to control the ball and broke open a tight battle with two second-half touchdown strikes by quarterback Eli Manning.
«That’s a big win today,» Manning said. «Defense played awesome. Second half the offense finally got going. We ran the ball and started hitting some big plays, so a great win today.»
Manning connected with Hakeem Nicks for a 72-yard touchdown in the third quarter and then dropped in a perfect 27-yard toss to Mario Manningham as he sprinted into the end zone to pull away from the Falcons in the fourth quarter. He also hit Nicks for a four-yard TD late in the first half.
«They won the battle of the line of scrimmage and that was one of the musts we had to accomplish and didn’t get accomplished today,» said Falcons coach Mike Smith.
The victory lifted the Giants to a divisional-round clash on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers (15-1) on January 15.
New York battled the then-unbeaten Packers in a tight struggle before falling 38-35 to them in December in their only regular season meeting against Green Bay.
The Giants, who ranked last in the NFL in rushing during the regular season, rediscovered their running game against Atlanta as Brandon Jacobs (92 yards) and Ahmad Bradshaw (63) gouged the Falcons on the ground. New York gained 172 yards rushing, nearly twice their regular season average.
«We’re a very balanced offense,» said Nicks, who gained 115 yards on six receptions. «We can run the ball when we want to. We were just clicking on all cylinders today.»
New York’s defense, which ranked 25th in the NFL in giving up an average of 25 points a game, continued a late-season rally launched by back-to-back, crucial season-ending wins against the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys.
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