GIANTSBLITZ

HERO

Matt Ryan (above) continued to produce and is putting together a fine season despite the losing in Atlanta. He completed 31-of-39 passes for 379 yards and one touchdown for a passer rating of 115.7. Ryan was at his best when it counted, helping the Falcons convert 7-of-13 third-down tries, a 54 percent success rate. His 47-yard strike to Marvin

Hall hit the receiver in stride from a long way out.

UNSUNG HERO

Sterling Shepard cannot do much more than he did in this loss. He caught five passes for 167 yards, making grabs down the field for 58, 53 and 38 yards. On the 38-yard reception, he used his strong legs to leap over cornerback Robert Alford. Shepard is having a fine season, despite all the poor play around him.

ZERO Nate Solder

was signed to provide a granite-like presence at left tackle. He has not been that. He allowed two sacks in the first half and is not playing up to the level of a franchise offensive lineman. Given the state of the entire line, the Giants cannot afford to give Solder much help, and the assumption was he did not need much. That is not proving to be the case.

KEY STAT

7 first-

half rushing attempts by Saquon Barkley, on which he gained just 8 yards. Do we all agree he is a special running back? Is there any dispute his combination of size, strength and speed is uncommon? How then, does this happen? Here is a clue: The run blocking in front of him is shoddy, at best.

‘ QUOTE OF THE NIGHT My big thing to the players is you just keep playing. Someday we won’t be able to coach and play, and so while we’re doing it, you fight your ass off and do whatever you can to win a ’ game. And they did that tonight. We just didn’t do some things well enough. So you just keep going. —Pat Shu rm ur, on his message to his team