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Burress helps Giants wallop Falcons

Oct 16, 2007 - 5:30 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Plaxico Burress woke up on Sunday feeling the familiar pain in his sore right ankle. Luckily for the New York Giants, he was feeling better 24 hours later.

Burress grabbed his NFL-leading eighth touchdown pass and Amani Toomer found the end zone once and set the franchise record for receptions to lead the Giants to a 31-10 victory over the woeful Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

The tandem of Eli Manning to Burress has been a lethal combination this season for the Giants, despite the fact that the duo has not practiced together since the second week of the season.

With Burress feeling eons better than he did one day earlier, it was no different Monday night.

Manning found Burress six times for 97 yards and the touchdown to lead the Giants (4-2) to their fourth consecutive victory.

"We're approaching every game like we want to win," Burress said. "We lost our first two games and everybody put us in the dumpster. We kept fighting."

New York also won the 600th game in franchise history, joining the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers as the only teams to reach that milestone.

Manning connected with Burress on a 43-yard pass deep down the middle of the field to give the Giants a 21-10 lead with 8:28 remaining in the second quarter.

"It was just a play-action pass," Burress said. "I saw him coming up, so I took off. I didn't want him to grab me, so I just ran right on."

It was the eighth time that the tandem has found the end zone this season - tying Burress with New England's Randy Moss for the NFL lead.

"I've always said I think we need him there in practice," Manning said. "But now, I'm thinking we don't have to. He's done a great job getting in tune with what we're doing offensively and getting open."

"Everybody's acting like we haven't been playing together," Burress said. "We've been playing together for two years. I know where I have to be at. It's just me being in the right place to catch the football."

Manning finished 27-for-39 for 303 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The 30-year-old Burress also helped keep the Giants' first drive alive by grabbing a 15-yard pass on a crucial 3rd-and-9 to give New York a first down at the Falcons 32.

Seven plays later, Manning found Toomer in the end zone for the first time this season with a 5-yard pass to give the Giants a 7-3 lead with 5:32 left in the first quarter.

Atlanta's Demorrio Williams committed a costly roughing-the-kicker penalty to keep the drive alive.

Toomer had seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Giants, including his franchise-leading 587th reception on a 16-yard pass from Manning in the fourth quarter.

"I can't let it sink in right now," Toomer said. "I'm just excited about winning. I'm happy about it, naturally."

"I call him the goat - greatest of all time," said defensive end and Giants franchise sack leader Michael Strahan of Toomer. "He deserves it. He just makes plays. He just makes it happen. I'm happy for him. I'm proud for him. I may just buy him a gift."

Former Cleveland Browns running back Reuben Droughns capped a six-play, 82-yard touchdown drive with a 1-yard run to give the Giants a 14-10 edge with 2:08 remaining in the first.

Backup running back Derrick Ward capped the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run with 3:08 remaining to account for the final margin.

With Atlanta (1-5) starting tackles Wayne Gandy and Todd Weiner both out, the Falcons turned to two undrafted players to man the tackle position.

Renardo Foster, who played under Atlanta coach Bobby Petrino at Louisville, got the start at left tackle and former NFL Europe Hamburg Sea Devil guard Tyson Clabo was given his first career start at right tackle.

Surprisingly, the makeshift line did not fare much worse early on than the line that allowed seven sacks to the fleet-footed former quarterback Mike Vick against the Giants last season, giving Joey Harrington enough protection to engineer two scoring drives in the first quarter.

Morten Andersen's 47-yard field goal gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead at 11:47 of the first quarter. Jerious Norwood then rumbled 67 yards off right tackle to give the Falcons a 10-7 lead 18 seconds after Toomer's touchdown.

But it was all downhill from there for Atlanta.

The pocket soon collapsed around Harrington, who took over for the disgraced Vick after he plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges. He was sacked three times in the second quarter and once in the second half.

"Eventually, (the Giants) started to dominate the line of scrimmage," Petrino said. "I thought we ran the ball (well) early. Eventually, we couldn't sustain the run and execute the passing game."

Atlanta finished with just 14 first downs to the Giants' 28 and held onto the football for just 20:22.

Harrington, the former No. 3 overall pick in 2002, finished 18-for-39 for 209 yards and one interception.

"I think we started off fine, then it seemed as if we hit a wall in the second quarter," Harrington said. "We have to give (the Giants) credit because they stuck to their game plan and never went away from it."

Lawrence Tynes added a field goal in the fourth quarter for the Giants, who have not lost to the Falcons in Atlanta since October 1, 1978.