Giants vs. Falcons: John Abraham knows how important win is after letdown against Carolina

Though Atlanta Falcons defensive end John Abraham didn't necessarily think the Falcons needed to "respond" to Atlanta's loss to the Carolina Panthers last weekend against the New York Giants on Sunday, he was certainly pleased with the resolve the Falcons showed in dominating the defending Super Bowl champions.

"I don't know if it was about making a statement," Abraham told the Atlanta Journal Constitution after the game. "We had to play better, especially against the world champs, the team that bounced us out of the playoffs last year. That's the effort that it took."

In the loss last weekend to the Panthers, Abraham blamed a bit of a hangover while celebrating the NFC South championship the Falcons had just clinched and their spot in the playoffs for the letdown despite the team's goals running further than a simple playoff berth.

"Getting in the playoffs was not our major goal," Abraham said. "We just ate that up too much and seeing a team with the record (the Panthers) had, just came out and thought the game was over with. But they came with a lot of fire and we didn't."