Big Blue Christmas: Giants Run to Playoffs, RB Brandon Jacobs Key to Postseason Wins
The N.Y. Giants gave themselves and their fans an early Christmas present. Yesterday’s 38-21 win over the Buffalo Bills means the Giants will be playing postseason football. They earned it on the ground as human wrecking ball RB Brandon Jacobs and rookie RB Ahmad Bradshaw combined for a whopping 296 yards rushing. Brandon is a behemoth at 6′4″ and 264. And when he ran away from a fast Bills’ defense on a 42-yard TD run, my fellow writers and I watching from the press box looked at each other in disbelief. This tandem was unstoppable. If they can continue this kind of offensive attack, coupled with their sack-happy, opportunistic defense, they might just have a chance to challenge Dallas and Green Bay in the NFC playoffs.
First thing’s first, though. They have a chance to knock off the (still) unbeaten New England Patriots and ruin the Pats’ perfect season this coming weekend. Here’s how they can do that:
- Brandon Jacobs Right, Brandon Jacobs Left - Go more left than right because the Pats have given up some big plays on that side. But bleed the clock and let Brandon do his thing. Give him the ball 40 times. Or give him the ball 25 times and let Ahmad Bradshaw have 15 carries. Just keep Tom Brady off the field.
- In establishing the run, keep Eli Manning out of third and long situations. If Eli’s forced to beat the Pats, the Giants have no chance in this game or any other forthcoming in the postseason.
- The Giants are the perfect team to create pressure on Tom Brady without blitzing (eg. Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan) and allow the DBs to double-cover or pseudo double-cover Randy Moss and/or Wes Welker.
I’m afraid all this optimism about the Giants will be short lived, though. Why? Who have the G-Men beaten? The Bills were probably the toughest team they defeated this season and Buffalo has a losing record. In fact, the Giants have only beaten one team with a winning record (Washington Redskins). Their wins have come against teams with a combined winning percentage of .348 with one game to go. And they’re going to beat the Patriots? I don’t think so.
Tags: Ahmad-Bradshaw, Brandon-Jacobs, N.Y. GiantsRelated Stories
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