Falcons vs. Giants Recap: Falcons come up short on the road again in 30-20 loss

The Atlanta Falcons and football games in outdoor stadiums just don't mix.

Heading into today's game, the Falcons hadn't won a game on the road in an outdoor stadium since defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-23 on November 25, 2012.

And after today, that fact remains.

Atlanta dropped to 2-3 after losing to the New York Giants 30-20 in MetLife Stadium. The Falcons now own a 0-3 record on the road this season, and have a 1-10 record in their last 11 road games dating back to last season.

With offensive line starters Joe Hawley and Lamar Holmes lost for the season and Justin Blalock missing the game with a back injury, there were questions about the unit heading into the game.

Enter Gabe Carimi, Harland Gunn, and Peter Konz to protect Matt Ryan against a Giants defense that had nine sacks on the season.

And while the patchwork line held up through the first half, the same couldn't be said for the second half. The unit gave up what was essentially a game-ending fourth down sack after the Falcons opted to go for it from their own 29.

Atlanta did have a 20-10 lead in the third quarter, but New York rattled off 20 unanswered points and kept the upper hand permanently.

The Falcons' offensive strategy was evidently to feed Julio Jones early and often. After the first half, the wide receiver had eight receptions for 88 yards. In the second half, however, Jones caught just three passes for 17 yards.

Roddy White didn't provide much support on the other side with only two catches for 26 yards.

It didn't help matters that the Falcons offense went 2/13 on third downs. Through the first four games of the season, the Falcons were ranked second in the league in successful conversions. The offense also scored a touchdown on just one of three trips to the red zone.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Osi Umenyiora. The defensive end who spent the first nine years of his career with the Giants was able to secure a sack - his first of the season. It was the only sack of the day for Atlanta's defense.

The Falcons will feel more comfortable as they host the Chicago Bears in the Georgia Dome next Sunday. However, after playing the Bears, the Falcons' next four games are all away from home, including a "home" game against the Detroit Lions in London.

Notes

If the Falcons fail to get their road woes fixed, they'll be out of playoff contention pretty rapidly. They'll have played six road games by Thanksgiving.

Robert Alford had arguably his worst game as a professional. He was routinely beaten - although Eli Manning couldn't connect on every pass - and called for a few penalties.

On the bright side, Antone Smith did it again. The speed demon posing as an NFL running back caught a pass in the flat, broke an attempted tackle by Antrel Rolle, and scampered 74 yards for a touchdown. On the down side, he had only four touches. He's got to get more touches than that. There's no excuse at this point.