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The New York Giants opened Week 3 as 3.5-point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons, which will be one of the few times they are considered favorites this season.
However, the Giants themselves are 0-2 and in no position to take any other team lightly. And they certainly aren’t.
Despite perceptions, Giants head coach Joe Judge has warned his team about the level of talent they will face on Sunday at MetLife Stadium and stressed not to underestimate Atlanta. Especially quarterback Matt Ryan and his explosive receivers.
“Obviously, Matt Ryan is one of the top quarterbacks in the last decade or so in this league,” Judge told reporters on Wednesday. “You go with the explosive receivers on the outside — [Calvin] Ridley is as good as they come. He’s very savvy, runs great routes, has good hands, he’s very quick going up the field, he has very good agility in open space to make you miss if you’re not a good, sound tackler. Fundamentals in open space will be key against this guy and then also playing with good fundamentals in pass defense to not give him opportunities for open receptions. You go to the tight ends, I think obviously they have several good options there.
“I think [Kyle] Pitts, the young guy, stands out. There’s a reason they took this guy so high in the draft, a reason why people liked him coming out. You can talk about this guy being a big receiver, but this is a guy who’s very capable of blocking and running their offense as a tight end. You see him in the last couple of games as the packages start to unfold and really develop with this guy, he’s definitely a threat down the field. You saw against Tampa him taking a slant and extending that thing and getting vertical with it, some of those pop passes over the seam.
“This guy is really a threat with the ball in his hands, he’s definitely a weapon. They can line him up out wide matched up on corners and run all the receiver routes as well, so this guy is a versatile piece.”
But perhaps more than anyone else on the Falcons roster, Judge is concerned about is Cordarrelle Patterson — a player he once called the greatest return man in NFL history.
“One thing about CP is he’s a big, strong man whether you’re talking about him in the return game or in the offensive game. This guy really runs that wide zone scheme that they’re bringing from the L.A. days, the Tennessee days, the footprint of this offense,” Judge said. “[He] does a great job of really stretching and running. When you watch this guy with the ball in his hands – I don’t care if it’s kickoff return or offense – the one thing this guy does is really build speed, put stress on your defense, sticks his foot in the ground and he gets vertical. The thing about this guy, you let him get going and he’s very hard to take down, he’s very big, he’s very strong, he’s very powerful.”
On the other side of the ball, Judge is concerned about Atlanta’s aggression. They are among the league leaders in forced fumbles and that’s been an issue for the Giants the past two seasons.
“They play that aggressive zone defense where they can disguise the looks. They can play three-deep or two-deep, really shade it. It really breaks down to giving you something short, breaking on you and then punching the ball out. This team is third in the league for forced fumbles for a reason. They’re very aggressive. You can see great eye control with these guys in open space, looking for bad fundamentals on ball security and they really look to attack it,” Judge said.
As Judge alludes, Sunday will be no walk in the park for Big Blue despite what Vegas and some experts may be thinking.
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