Giants grind out victory over Falcons

ATLANTA — Tiki Barber and the New York Giants did a pretty good impression of the Atlanta Falcons.

Beating the Falcons at their own game, Barber rushed for 185 yards, Jeremy Shockey caught a couple of touchdown passes and the Giants overpowered Atlanta in the second half for a 27-14 victory Sunday.

The Giants (3-2) fell behind 14-3 when Warrick Dunn broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown on Atlanta's first offensive play of the third quarter — the longest run in team history. But New York dominated the Falcons (3-2) the rest of the way, going ahead with touchdown drives of 84 and 91 yards.

"The good thing is we didn't get away from our running game despite being down by 11 points," Barber said. "We did what we do best, and that is running the football."

After Dunn's touchdown, New York scored on its next four possessions, piling up 240 yards while holding the ball more than 18 minutes. The Falcons went three-and-out on their next three possessions, doing nothing to help out their beleaguered, banged-up defense.

"The offense kept the defense out there way too long," tight end Alge Crumpler said. "We pride ourselves on taking care of the football and controlling the clock. That didn't happen today."

Barber did much of the damage, breaking off nine runs of at least 12 yards against a defense that was allowing just 69.3 yards per game, the second-best figure in the league. New York scored the final 24 points of the game, shredding a defense that had given up only one touchdown all season.

"They just ran it down our throats," Dunn said, who rushed for 146 yards.

The Giants' defense pounded Michael Vick, who was slow to get up from several huge licks, threw an interception and fumbled four times (though he lost only one). The quarterback did break off a spectacular 22-yard touchdown run — capped off with a somersault into the end zone — but he completed only 14 of 27 passes for 154 yards.

"They just challenged us man-on-man up front," Vick said. "I really didn't see too many blitzes. Everything they did was pretty basic, pretty vanilla. It was about execution. As a quarterback, you are going to see some pressure. You have to find a way to overcome it."

New York, which had only five sacks in its first four games, took down Vick seven times. Osi Umenyiora and Brandon Short each had two sacks, and Vick even took a brutal hit from Antonio Pierce.