Giants fall to Steelers, Bradshaw looks like starter

There has been no announcement, but it's clear to everyone who has watched the Giants this summer that Ahmad Bradshaw is now the team's starting running back. He's taken the first snap in virtually every team drill during training camp and was the first one in the backfield for last week's preseason opener against the Jets. And Saturday night, in the Giants' 24-17 loss to the Steelers, the tailback on the opening drive was . . .

D.J. Ware?

No, there was not another shuffle in the deck of running back hierarchy. Bradshaw and safety Antrel Rolle were late for a special-teams meeting before the game, an infraction that meant they had to miss the first two series. But when he finally entered the game midway through the first quarter, Bradshaw looked every bit the starter.

The 2009 version of Bradshaw would have been tackled for a loss. He would have run into the pile, tried to push against it and gone nowhere. But that is not the 2009 version of Bradshaw.

He is healthy after surgeries on both feet and an ankle, and that means he's able to use his great quickness and shifty moves to get himself out of trouble. He showed a glimpse of that last week when he zipped in and out of the Jets' defense, and Saturday night, he flashed it again for a touchdown.

"I feel 10 times better," Bradshaw said in comparing his comfort to last year's. When it was noted that last year he didn't seem to be able to make plays when there seemed to be nothing there, he replied: "Now I can."

First he took a handoff right and cut back left for a 4-yard gain on second-and-3. Four plays later, when the play was looking up the middle, Bradshaw bounced outside to the left, picked up a good block by Kevin Boss on the edge and beat everyone else to the pylon for a 9-yard touchdown run.

"He played pretty good when he was in there," said coach Tom Coughlin, who did not address the discipline of the players. "He had a couple of nice runs."

Last week, Bradshaw said he felt "unstoppable." Saturday night, it looked as if the only thing that could stop him was tardiness for a meeting.

Bradshaw declined to comment on his punishment, but Rolle said he was late for the meeting because he misread the schedule and was in his hotel room.

"I've been around long enough to understand there are consequences, so I took it like a man," Rolle said of the benching. "There is no issue. We'll move on.''

To do that as a team, the Giants will need every ounce of what Bradshaw and his ball-bearing feet can give them this season, particularly with a running game that already is feeling the injury pinch. Brandon Jacobs sat out with a stiff neck, starting guards Chris Snee and Rich Seubert each missed his second straight preseason game and Ware left late in the first quarter with a concussion, his second in nine months.

Of course, there were more glaring players missing from this game, the Giants' first home contest at New Meadowlands Stadium.

Eli Manning spent the entire time on the sideline in a gray T-shirt while Rhett Bomar tried to steer the offense. Bomar had brief moments of success, but mostly he demonstrated how indispensable Manning is to the team.

The same probably could be said of Bradshaw, clearly the Giants' best and healthiest running back. He's never held both of those titles on this team before. Better late than never.