Nicks starting to catch accolades

Maybe one day soon, Hakeem Nicks will be just a number.

In real life, that's not a good thing to be. It saps the personal away and reduces someone to a statistic. But in football, if people are calling you by your number, you've made it.

"They still get the ball to No. 11 even though everybody is looking for him in most situations," Tom Coughlin said when looking back on the win over the Cardinals this week. No. 11, of course, is Larry Fitzgerald.

Nicks isn't at that level yet. But he's getting close. He caught 10 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals on Sunday, two of them spectacular grabs. The first was down the right sideline to set up the first of the Giants' two comeback touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Nicks was completely covered by cornerback A.J. Jefferson and the Cardinals defender even appeared to have a chance to intercept the pass, but Nicks outjumped him, snatched the ball away from him, and ran another 10 yards to the 2.

On the winning touchdown, Nicks essentially ran around rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson, staying to the outside before cutting behind him and catching the ball on the inside of the defender while striding into the end zone.

"Hakeem made some great plays," Manning said after the game. "Tough hands, snagged the ball in the air. Overall, had a great day all day."

The next step in Nicks' development, though, will be to become like No. 11. Nicks needs to make plays when everyone in the stadium knows he's about to and defenses are designed to stop him.

Nicks credited his big game against the Cardinals to their defensive scheme, which left him alone for most of the game.

"There was a lot more single coverage in [Sunday's] game," Nicks said Monday after reviewing the video. "The safety wasn't really rolling to my side like in the previous two games. It was a lot of one-on-one coverage and taking advantage of that."

In the previous two games -- against the Rams and the Eagles -- Nicks was drawing double teams. He had a combined seven catches for 63 yards and a touchdown in those two wins. He also was dealing with some knee injuries, but it's clear that teams can at least contain Nicks schematically if they choose to do so.

Having Victor Cruz or a healthy Mario Manningham on the other side of the field as a big-play threat will help alleviate that kind of attention and allow Nicks to be even more productive. But for him to become known as "No. 88" just like "No. 11" is, he's going to have to start handling the doubles on his own.

The Giants believe he will. And he's close to being lumped in with the league's top names at receiver.

"Hakeem Nicks in my eyes has always been a star," Giants safety Antrel Rolle said in his weekly WFAN appearance Tuesday. "I feel he's an underrated receiver and he definitely doesn't get the credit that he deserves . . . It's going to come. Everyone around him understands how hard he works and what it takes to be the kind of receiver he is. He has a true gift and at the end of the day, he's just a baller. He's a baller, hands down."

Teams run on Giants . . .

Wins in the last two games have masked a big flaw in the defense. A week after LeSean McCoy ran for 128 yards and a touchdown against the Giants, Beanie Wells went for 138 and three TDs. Are the Giants getting a reputation around the league as a team that can be run on? "Given our performance against the run the last two weeks, it's starting to look like that," LB Michael Boley admitted. He did say he is confident that the team will get it corrected. Playing the Seahawks will help. Seattle has the 31st-ranked rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 67.5 yards per game.

. . . Giants not running back

Yes, while stopping the run has been an issue for the Giants, getting their own ground game going has also been a problem. The Giants are averaging 87.5 yards per game and their 3.3 yards per carry is 29th in the NFL. Against Arizona, the Giants had 54 rushing yards on 24 carries. "We didn't block them very well," Tom Coughlin said.

Cordle signed, Tryon added

With starting center David Baas dealing with a burner in his neck, the Giants signed Jim Cordle from their practice squad Tuesday. Cordle would be the backup behind Kevin Boothe if Baas can't play. The Giants also added depth to their secondary with the addition of CB Justin Tryon, who was with the Colts in 2010. The Giants gave WR Brandon Stokley (quad) an injury settlement and cut QB Sage Rosenfels from injured reserve. but still have to cut one more player Wednesday.

Eli backing up big talk

Eli Manning took some flak this summer for suggesting that he was a top five quarterback and in “Tom Brady’s class.” Well, a quarter of the way through the season, he’s backing that up. A look at the league’s top five quarterbacks based on passer rating so far this season: