Giants' running game down, and it's puzzling
Photo credit: AP | New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs (27) gets by Atlanta Falcons safety Erik Coleman (26) on his way to a third-quarter touchdown. (November 22, 2009)
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The Giants are a power running team. Or at least that's what general manager Jerry Reese calls them. And Tom Coughlin says establishing the run is a priority in nearly every game, week in and week out.
They have one of the nastiest running backs in the NFL and a decorated offensive line. They want to be a gritty Northeast team that can grind out bad-weather wins and pummel an opponent into submission.
So why aren't they doing that? It's a question that not only baffles the Giants but haunts them. In losing five of their last six, they've actually been more productive at running the ball than they were during their five-game winning streak to start the season. They're just running it about 10 fewer times per game.
Some of that is due to circumstances, such as falling behind early against the Saints and Eagles. But for a team that strives toward balance in the passing and running snaps and theoretically would much rather lean on the side of the run, it's puzzling.
And not only to the observers. After Thursday's deflating loss to the Broncos, Brandon Jacobs was asked why the running attack stalled out in that game.
"We didn't have that many attempts, but that's not the issue and that's not why we lost the game," he said. "We have to go out and execute what's called . . . We just have to go out and do what we have to do and do what Coach calls."
Translation: frustration.
The Giants ran the ball 16 times in the game, their fewest in a game since the Week 2 loss to the Packers in 2007. And this was not a game in which the Broncos were so far ahead that the Giants had no choice but to air it out. With nine passing yards in the first half, it's not as if that area was clicking, either.
"As offensive linemen, we're always going to complain that we aren't running the football enough," Shaun O'Hara said. "I'm not going to be happy until we have 35, 40 carries in a game."
Even DJ Ware, who stepped up into the backup running back spot with Ahmad Bradshaw out with a sprained ankle and had a career-high four carries, knew that the running game should have been used more. "We usually pound the ball," he said.
There's so much disagreement about what's wrong and how to fix it that running backs coach Jerald Ingram spoke to the media during the bye week about the early loss of Ware to a dislocated elbow and how that affected Jacobs. He essentially said Jacobs was running plays that were not designed for him.
What was offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride's reaction to that analysis? "I saw the comment and I asked Jerald what he meant by it, because I really didn't know what he meant," Gilbride said.
Clearly not. Jacobs is at his best running north and south, grinding out yardage and beating defenses into submission, but seven of his 11 carries Thursday were outside the tackles. The Giants never even tried bullying the smaller interior line of the Broncos.
After Terrell Thomas' interception, the Giants had two big pass plays to Mario Manningham with the game still within reach, a 13-yarder over the middle and a 10-yarder that was upheld by replay. Both of those plays immediately were followed by an outside run by Jacobs, who was strung toward the sideline and tackled for losses of 2 and 3 yards.
O'Hara said the way to force the Giants' coaching staff to stick with the run is to be successful at it early on. He said defenses "try to slow us down in the running game, and if they can do it early on, maybe that frustrates us and we shy away from it."
With a back like Jacobs, though, it's the cumulative effect of the pounding that wears down a defense. A single jackhammer blow doesn't do much damage; it's the repetitive force that makes concrete crumble.
It's been more than a year since Jacobs has had a 100-yard rushing game (his last was Nov. 9, 2008, against the Eagles). That's 16 games he's played in and not reached the century mark, a full season's worth. In the 16 games before that, including the Super Bowl run, Jacobs had six 100-yard games.
Those are the games Reese likely was reflecting on when he called the Giants a power running team, the ones Coughlin longs for each week as he sets forth the game plan. But they're the ones that haven't been there this year.
