Giants' depth impressive in 31-7 win

It's a pretty good bet that of all the running backs who have reached 1,000 rushing yards in a season, very few eclipsed the mark in a game in which they were the backup. But that's what Ahmad Bradshaw did Sunday, clearing the plateau two weeks after getting a demotion to the Giants' second string.

Bradshaw did need a bit of a nudge from a coaching staff that, whether it was admitted or not, gave him 25 carries in the game to push him into the club, making him only the ninth Giants back in history with a 1,000-yard season. The idea that he produced as a backup - well, that might be an anomaly in NFL lore, but in recent weeks, it's been pretty common for the Giants.

Sunday's 31-7 win over the Redskins was just the latest instance of the Giants moving forward thanks to their backups. The Giants weren't the only team with several key starters sidelined by injuries - the Redskins also have had a full injury report the last few weeks - but they were the only one to not look like it.

Yes, Bradshaw's status as a "backup" is a technicality, given that he started the first 10 games of the season. But for others, such as Derek Hagan and Devin Thomas, Will Beatty and Kevin Boothe, all of whom contributed mightily to the win, the value of their ability to come off the bench without much of a hiccup has been immeasurable.

"The reason we are still in this race is because a lot of guys have been thrown into the fire and have really stepped up," defensive end Justin Tuck said.

The Giants (8-4) stayed in a virtual tie with the Eagles atop the NFC East and remain firmly entrenched in the playoff picture at the season's three-quarter mark. That might not have been the case if the Giants' depth had faltered during the stretch. The scrubs-to-starters were asked to keep things going while the stars got healthy.

"Those guys understand that they have to," defensive tackle Chris Canty said of the reserves coming to the rescue. "The team is depending on them to perform. It's that simple. We're depending on these guys."

Even those who have been asked to take on larger roles as the Giants fight through their injuries, such as Mario Manningham and Rich Seubert, have managed to come through. It's been a rather remarkable stretch of football, one the Giants hope soon will come to an end.

Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks could return as the starting receivers Sunday against the Vikings, and tackle David Diehl seemed close to playing this week before he was scratched for a fourth and likely final time because of a hamstring injury.

"Even though we're having injuries, we're still playing that Giants football that's expected of us by our coaches and by our fans," said Beatty, who has started for Diehl at left tackle in the last two games.

It was hard to tell which aspect gave this game more of a preseason feel - the large number of unexpected starters on both sides or the summertime tackling of the Redskins' defense. Whichever it was, the Giants made sure to dispose of their NFC East rivals early.

For the first time in 13 games - since these teams played in Washington last December - the Giants scored a touchdown on their opening possession.

Brandon Jacobs, who had 103 yards on only eight carries, scored on an 8-yard run in which he started out right and cut back to the left to walk into the end zone. Bradshaw scored the Giants' next two touchdowns on runs of 4 and 10 yards before Jacobs went 28 yards through a hole created by Beatty and Bear Pascoe (another backup filling in for an injured starter!) to give the Giants a 28-0 lead late in the third quarter.

It was the second game of the season in which the Giants' defense came within one bad play of a shutout, the first coming in Seattle last month. This time it was a 33-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to Anthony Armstrong, who had broken open behind the coverage, that spoiled the blanking.

Other than that, though, the Giants' defense, which remarkably has been pretty free of serious injuries since Mathias Kiwanuka went down early this season, was able to bully the Redskins into six turnovers, four of them fumble recoveries.

Terrell Thomas was responsible for two of those turnovers with an interception and a forced fumble. He was asked about facing a Redskins team that had to play without so many of its starters because of injury.

"I have no concern about that," Thomas said bluntly.

That the Giants appear to have no concerns about their own injuries now is perhaps even more impressive.