Falcons down Giants

ATLANTA — Matt Ryan threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Hall, Tevin Coleman broke loose on a 30-yard scoring run and the Atlanta Falcons added another chapter to New York’s miserable season, beating the Giants 23-20 on Monday night.

Ryan completed his final 18 passes and finished 31-of-39 for 379 yards, sending the Giants (1-6) to their fourth straight loss. Giorgio Tavecchio, filling in for injured Atlanta kicker Matt Bryant, sealed the victory for Atlanta (3-4) with the longest field goal of his career from 56 yards.

Facing one of the NFL’s worst defences, New York botched its best scoring chance by going for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line early in the third quarter. To the surprise of no one who has seen the Giants stumble through the season, Eli Manning’s pass for tight end Scott Simonson fell harmlessly to the turf.

Manning was sacked four times but still managed to complete 27-of-38 for 399 yards. Odell Beckham hauled in eight passes for 143 yards, his fourth 100yard receiving game of the season, and Sterling Shepard finished with 167 yards on five receptions.

The passing game got little help from the ground attack, however. Rookie Saquon Barkley was limited to 43 yards on 14 carries.

Both teams got off to sluggish starts offensively. The Falcons failed to cross midfield on their first three possessions, and the Giants weren’t much better.

The teams traded field goals in the final minute of the first half, sending the Falcons to the locker room with a 10-3 lead.