Watch CBS News

Giants Sensation Victor Cruz Largest Blip On Atlanta's Radar

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (WFAN/AP) — Curtis Lofton isn't worried that the Atlanta Falcons have depth issues at linebacker entering the playoffs.

When the Falcons visit the Giants on Sunday, Lofton, the team's defensive captain and starting middle linebacker, says Atlanta will be just fine.

Lofton believes Atlanta (10-6) can contain the Giants (9-7) without having to compromise its defensive schemes, particularly after starting weakside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon returned to practice Thursday after missing the previous day with a head injury.

"The bigger the game, the more excited you get," said Lofton. "But you still have to do everything you used to do and treat everything the same and you'll get the same result."

Atlanta's defense will no doubt be focused on sensational Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz.

"It's not by coincidence that week in and week out he's making 50, 60 and 70-yard touchdown receptions," said cornerback Dunta Robinson. "It's not going to be about running through the guy. It's going to be about getting him down and living to see the next play."

Just ask the Jets. Cruz burned Rex Ryan & Co. on Christmas Eve with a back-breaking 99-yard touchdown catch. Thing is, the receiver should have been wrapped up at the 12-yard line. 87 yards later, he was salsa dancing in the end zone.

"We know that if we can eliminate him, it will make it hard for them," safety Thomas DeCoud said.

The Falcons' deficiency is at strongside linebacker, where the Falcons had three starters — Stephen Nicholas, Mike Peterson and Spencer Adkins — in the last three games.

Lofton is hardly concerned Adkins has played in just 15 games since he was drafted in the sixth round of 2009.

Adkins will make his second career start for the second straight week, but Lofton is hardly concerned that his teammate has played in just 15 games since he was drafted in the sixth round of 2009.

Rookie Akeem Dent, a third-round pick from Georgia, could be called upon to take some snaps, too.

"I mean football's football," Lofton said.

That might be the case, but Atlanta has plenty of concerns as it prepares to face New York for the first time since losing 34-31 at Giants Stadium in 2009:

—Weatherspoon was held out of practice after feeling nauseated during Sunday's blowout win over Tampa Bay. The team's medical staff feared he might have a concussion, which Weatherspoon said Thursday wasn't the case, and the NFL's 19th overall draft pick of '09 was cleared to participate.

—Brent Grimes, who starts at left cornerback, has been held out of practice the last two days and missed last Sunday with a sore knee. The 2010 Pro Bowl alternate is likely to start, but he was sidelined three straight games after undergoing minor surgery on his right knee. Grimes returned for Atlanta's Week 16 blowout loss at New Orleans and was inactive last week with the Falcons already assured of a wild-card berth.

—Atlanta's pass rush has been inconsistent all season, as evidenced in the last three games. The Falcons finished with just one sack against New Orleans, the NFC's No. 3 playoff seed, but finished with a total of eight against two teams, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay, with a combined record of 9-23.

Another major problem against quality opponents has been getting off the field on third down. The Saints converted their first nine chances and 10 of 13 in the Falcons' 45-16 defeat two weeks ago.

"We can't let that happen again," Adkins said. "It's a critical part of what we're trying to accomplish."

It might seem counter intuitive for the Falcons to be concerned first with stopping New York's statistically impaired ground attack, but Atlanta wants to set up its blitz packages by establishing an early dominance against the run.

New York ended the regular season with the NFL's least productive rushing attack, averaging just 89.2 yards, and had the fewest number of runs of 20 yards or more with four.

But the Falcons, who finished sixth against the run and 20th against the pass, fear the Giants' ground attack is better than the numbers suggest. After all, New York's 17 rushing touchdowns ranked sixth this year, and over their last five games, the Giants averaged 104.4 yards on the ground as Ahmad Bradshaw returned to complement Brandon Jacobs.

"Their coaching staff has been there for a long time, and we know what they're going to do," Weatherspoon said. "They're stubborn. They're going to try to run that ball on us. We know that, but we've got to go out there and stop the run and hopefully get some bodies around (receivers Cruz and Hakeem Nicks)."

The Falcons figure they have a slim chance of shutting down Cruz, who emerged as the favorite receiver of Pro Bowl quarterback Eli Manning with single-season franchise marks of 1,536 yards receiving, which ranked third in the NFL, and seven 100-yard games.

"He broke a couple of tackles and took it for 80 yards plus, so you've got to wrap him up because once he's gone, he's gone," Moore said. "He's more of a quick, elusive guy, especially in his routes. You see that a lot of teams try to double-cover him, but he still comes out on top. It's going to be important to try to isolate him. Not let him get started, but when you've got a quarterback like Eli, he's going to get the ball to him somehow, so we've just got to narrow it down."

Lofton wants Atlanta to concentrate on itself, not the Giants.

With Nicholas sidelined again this week and Peterson out for the season, Lofton thinks that he, Weatherspoon and Adkins have enough to keep the second layer of the Falcons' defense stout.

"They've got big backs, so it's got to be great tackling." Lofton said. "When they get to third down, they've got explosive receivers, so when they get out in space, we've got to tackle those guys."

Will Eli and Cruz light up MetLife Stadium on Sunday? Sound off below...

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.