Falcons vs. Giants preview: 5 things to know about Week 3

When: Sunday, Sept. 26  at 1:00 p.m. ET
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Referee: Adrian Hill
TV: FOX

Spread: Giants (-2.5)

3. Giants players to watch

C Billy Price: The Falcons need to take advantage of Price, who is an injury replacement. He’s been notoriously bad in pass protection, so Grady Jarrett should have his way.

DL Leonard Williams: The Falcons interior offensive line is going through a gauntlet of interior defenders, and Williams is as good as any Jalen Mayfield and Matt Hennessy have faced thus far. He can be a game-breaker, so Arthur Smith should have a clear plan to neutralize him.

S Jabrill Peppers, S Logan Ryan: Kyle Pitts should be a large part of Smith’s game plan because the Giants have been susceptible to tight ends in the middle of the field. He’ll undoubtedly see combo coverages, but Peppers and Ryan will also be tasked with guarding the rookie. It’ll be a matchup to watch all afternoon.

Jones, whose turnovers have long plagued, has yet to throw an interception and is coming off one of his career-best games. The Falcons have a sub-par defense, especially against mobile quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts torched Atlanta in the season opener on mostly RPOs and zone reads, which Jones can certainly replicate. Jason Garrett is a terrible offensive coordinator, but Jones is still succeeding despite that. I’m still not sold on him as the guy, but he’s off to a hot start this year.

Back in 2018, Matt Ryan was putting up MVP-like numbers on an underperforming Falcons team. This was a Monday Night game in which he threw for 379 yards and one touchdown on 31-of-39 passing, including a 47-yard touchdown to Marvin Hall. The G-Men were on a four-game losing streak after this game and 1-6 on the season, while the Falcons were inching closer to .500 — 3-4 on the season.