Pass-run imbalance very un-Giant-like

Never in his wildest imagination could Kevin Gilbride conceive of these kinds of numbers.

The Giants' offensive coordinator has prided himself on a balanced approach, taking advantage of the ground-oriented attacks that have typified the great Giants teams and mixing in a healthy dose of passing from one of the league's most talented quarterbacks. Despite some occasional periods of mixed results and plenty of acrimony from fans who disagreed with his style, the formula has been mostly successful since Gilbride took over the play-calling late in the 2006 season.

But even Gilbride is hard-pressed to wrap his arms around the staggering disparity this season: Eli Manning led the Giants to the fifth-ranked passing attack in the NFL (295.9 yards per game) and the running game was the league's worst (89.2 yards). It wasn't long ago that the Giants had one of the NFL's top rushing attacks and the passing numbers were more middle of the road.

And who thought we'd see the Giants finish with two 1,000-yard receivers (Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks) three years after fielding a pair of 1,000-yard running backs (Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward)?

"No, I never really could have imagined those numbers," Gilbride said. "I thought last year, guys like [tight end] Jake Ballard and Victor Cruz had a chance [in 2011], but did I know it would be like this? No one knew. I knew we'd continue to grow in the passing game, but I had expected the running game to be better than it was."

Trust Gilbride when he tells you it's much easier to call plays when the running game is effective. With a defense having to account for Jacobs or Ahmad Bradshaw, it takes a lot of pressure off Manning and gives him a play-action fake that can freeze defenders for a split-second and give receivers more time to get open.

But too often this season, Manning has had to drop back and fire away because he hasn't had a running game to count on. The eighth-year quarterback responded with 4,933 passing yards, a franchise record, along with 29 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions to produce a 92.9 rating, the second best of his career.

Cruz, a free-agent walk-on in 2010, led the Giants with 1,536 receiving yards (also a franchise record) and nine touchdowns, and former first-round pick Nicks had 1,192 yards and seven TDs. But Bradshaw (659) and Jacobs (571) had fewer combined rushing yards (1,230) than Cruz's receiving total.

Credit where credit is due: Like Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who has come under heavy criticism for his play selection, Gilbride has been derided by fans. But given the circumstances he has had to overcome, this in many ways has been Gilbride's best season.

"You make the adjustments," coach Tom Coughlin said of the Giants' switch to a pass-first offense. "In certain circumstances, where it wasn't so obvious we could run, we'd do whatever we had to and the quarterback responded very well."

Gilbride still hopes for a return to a more normal play-calling regimen in the playoffs. Despite the Giants' dismal ranking, the Bradshaw-Jacobs tandem has been more effective in recent weeks. Jacobs had 101 yards and two touchdowns at Dallas last month, and Bradshaw has five touchdowns in his last three games.

"If we're averaging about 4 yards a carry, it makes it much easier to call plays," said Gilbride, whose running game is averaging 3.5 yards. "We're not satisfied, but it definitely seems like we're progressing. It may not be 6 yards a carry, but when you do that, you hold up the pass rush, make the defensive line play honest and it makes it easier to get done."