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Falcons

But he threw his 10th interception over the last five games and his 12th of the season. He only threw 11 in 434 attempts last season. He's thrown the 12 this season while making 298 attempts.

"We evaluate Matt and all of our players' play," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "We are always trying to give our guys nuggets that can help them play more efficiently. That's what the coaching staff is supposed to do.

"The numbers are what they are right now. We are working with Matt and all of our players so that we'll play more efficiently."

Smith is not ready to hang all of the blame for the interceptions on Ryan.

"I saw a little bit of both in terms of decision making and route running," Smith said. "It's a team game. You have to be very precise in everything that you do. You have to be precise in your route running and decision making. It was not an interception in one area. They (are) team interceptions."

The Falcons got Ryan a new toy in tight end Tony Gonzalez this offseason. One theory is that he's locking in on Gonzalez and not finding the other receivers.

Under the microscope, that one doesn't hold up. Only one of the picks has come on passes to Gonzalez, and Roddy White remains the team's most targeted receiver.

"I don't think that's the case," White said. "Tony is a great attribute to our team. He catches a lot of balls in traffic and things like that. Matt Ryan has a lot of confidence in him. Usually, every time he throws it to him he catches it. He's been doing a good job of that.

"You have to keep feeding the big guy. He's doing a heck of a job. He's had some fourth down conversions. Some key third down, move the chains type of things. He's doing a good job."

Ryan is still a cool customer who is working through his issues.

"You just have to keep plugging away," Ryan said. "As a quarterback, you have to learn from your mistakes and make your adjustments during the course of the week. The beauty of the NFL is that it's a long season and you have the opportunity to get back out there this week, play again, make adjustments and hopefully make the play when they present themselves."

Ryan hasn't been able to put his finger on one thing that's causing the proliferation in interceptions.

"You know what? It's just some different things," Ryan said. "Just some decisions you'd like to make differently at different times. I feel like I haven't been making the same mistake twice. I've just been making mistakes in situations throughout games. You have to learn from that and get better from that. I think I've been doing that and I'll continue to do that. Work hard at it to make sure that we play better."

SERIES HISTORY: 20th regular-season meeting. Falcons lead series, 10-9. The teams have not played since the 2007 season. The road team has won the last 12 meetings. The Falcons bring a five-game New York road winning streak into Giants Stadium this Sunday and look to improve their season record to 6-4. The winning streak against the Giants includes three victories in consecutive years from 2002-04. New York has won the last two contests, however, in 2006 and '07 by a combined 58-24 margin. A road win for the Falcons would be their second this

season along with a Week 5 victory at San Francisco (45-10).

"If nobody else is open, I'm there for Matt," Gonzalez said. "If nobody else is open and we need a play, I hope I can come up with that play."

Gonzalez is second on the team with 44 catches for 501 yards and four touchdowns.

"Roddy is still the guy and he should be because he's an unbelievable talent," Gonzalez said. "He's a threat. He's a lot more of a threat than me to take it the distance if he catches it."

--RB Jason Snelling is preparing for a potential second NFL start in place of injured Michael Turner against the New York Giants.

"My approach is that I'm going to be coming in and starting this game," said Snelling. "That's the mindset that I have to have this week."

Turner suffered a high ankle sprain against Carolina. He would not rule himself out for the Giants.

The Falcons also re-signed Aaron Stecker and he's expecting his role to increase.

"I can pick up where I left off," Stecker said. "I can stay a little extra and watch a little more film, knowing that I will have a bigger role."

Running back Jerious Norwood has missed the last four games with a hip flexor, but did return to practice Thursday.

While Turner and Norwood are ailing, Snelling is ready to step in the lead role.

"I know that my team is counting on me to step up and make plays from the tailback position," Snelling said. "That's what I intend to do."

--Through nine regular season games, the Falcons have totaled 19.0 sacks and have out-sacked their opponents 19-12.

The Falcons' offensive line ended a streak of four consecutive games without allowing a sack after quarterback Matt Ryan was dropped by the Cowboys four times in Week 7.

The line has totaled 12 games without a sack dating back to the 2008 season.

Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann and defensive tackle Jonathan

Babineaux share the team lead in sacks with four apiece.

In the season opener against the Miami Dolphins, Biermann dropped

Chad Pennington on two occasions while forcing a fumble on the

first sack. The quarterback takedowns marked the first multiple sack

game for the second-year defensive end in his career.

Defensive end John Abraham also totaled two sacks against the Dolphins, marking his 12th and 13th career quarterback takedowns in season opening contests.

The Falcons have also gotten sacks from defensive tackles Thomas Johnson (first of his career) and Babineaux, defensive end Jamaal Anderson, linebackers Mike Peterson and Stephen Nicholas, safety Thomas DeCoud and cornerback Chevis Jackson.

--The Falcons rank fourth in strength of schedule this season with their opponents combining for a .588 winning percentage in 2008 (150 wins, 105 losses and one tie). The Carolina Panthers are the only NFC

team ranked higher in strength of schedule entering the season (second).

This is the Falcons' fourth game against a team coming off a bye week. "The league sets the schedule up and it's our job to play it," linebacker Mike Peterson said.

BY THE NUMBERS: 10 -- Number of interceptions that Matt Ryan has thrown over the last five games.

140 -- Tony Gonzalez streak of consecutive games with a reception. His streak ranks second among tight ends in league history behind Ozzie Newsome (150 games).

12 -- The road team has won the last 12 times the Falcons and Giants have played.

87 -- The number of tackles that strong safety Erik Coleman has, which leads the secondary.

5 -- The Falcons have won 5 of 13 games on the road under second-year coach Mike Smith.

78.8 -- Matt Ryan's quarterback rating this season.

258 -- Consecutive regular season games PK Jason Elam has scored at least on point.

121 -- Consecutive regular season games C Todd McClure has started, dating back to 2001.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Assuming the worst, if Michael cannot play, then Jason Snelling will be our running back as well as Jerious Norwood. We are certainly hoping that Jerious will be back. He has not been able to participate fully with us over the last couple of weeks, but we are anticipating a chance for him to get out there and work with us on Wednesday. I'm very confident that Michael Turner will play in 2009." -- Falcons coach Mike Smith on the injury to running back Michael Turner.

PLAYER NOTES

--RB Jerious Norwood returned to practice on Thursday after being out since suffering a right hip flexor on Oct. 18 against the Chicago Bears. He was limited in practice, but ran well.

--RB Michael Turner has yet to practice this week and all indications are that he won't be available on Sunday against the New York Giants.

--LT Sam Baker (left ankle) was a full participant in practice and appears set to start against the Giants and defensive Osi Umenyiora.

--WR Roddy White leads the team in receiving with 667 yards on 47 receptions. He is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000-yard season but is playing through a right knee injury.

--RB Jason Snelling is expected to start against the Giants. He had 37 carries for 183 yards (4.9 per carry) this season.

--RB Aaron Stecker, released by the team on Saturday, was re-signed after the injury to Michael Turner. Stecker has 383 carries for 1,517 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 NFL seasons.

--TE Tony Gonzalez was targeted 11 times against Carolina and made seven catches. He improved his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 140.

--DE John Abraham has 3.5 sacks this season. He had a franchise record 16.5 last season.

--DT Thomas Johnson started and played well in his first game back from a calf injury. His role will expand against the Giants, according to coach Mike Smith.

--CBs Tye Hill and Brent Grimes are competing for the starting left cornerback spot. "We are not real settled on the left corner position right now," Mike Smith said.

--WR Troy Bergeron was signed back to the practice squad. He was released on Monday to make room for RB Aaron Stecker.

GAME PLAN: The Falcons have scored on the opening drive of their last four games, three touchdowns and a field goal last week. However, they have not been able to sustain the good starts once they get off of their game-opening script. With running back Michael Turner likely to miss this one, backups Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood need to turn in big performance because second-year quarterback Matt Ryan is in a slump.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Falcons MLB Curtis Lofton vs. Giants RB Brandon Jacobs. Lofton, the second year linebacker, is leading the league in tackles with 90, according to NFL.com stats. He's an emerging star. Jacobs powers the Giants ground attack and has 151 carries for 617 yards and two touchdowns.

Falcons LT Sam Baker vs. Giants DRE Osi Umenyiora. Baker missed a start last week as a game-day scratch with a sore ankle. He was playing through a tough stretch. He had rough back-to-back games blocking Dallas' DeMarcus Ware and New Orleans' Will Smith. Umenyiora leads the Giants with five sacks and has terrorized the Falcons in the past.

Giants WR Steve Smith vs. Falcons LCB Brent Grimes. Tye Hill started last week, but after Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad took turns spinning him around, he was replaced by Grimes. Three different players have started at the position for the Falcons. The Giants will likely move Smith around to get him some action on the left side.