For seemingly as long as the Giants have played football, the running game has been the bedrock of their offensive philosophy. That is, until this season.
Their rushing attack has been nearly nonexistent, ranking last in the NFL, and with Eli Manning in the midst of one of his finest seasons, the Giants have developed a different dimension to an offense they had prided on toughness: The big-play threat through the air.
The Giants have completed 16 passes of 40 yards or more, the most in the NFL. Since the 2007 season, it is only the second time that they have ranked better than 20th in the league in that category. The Giants tied for eighth in 2009, when they had 12 such plays, which was the only other season in which Manning accounted for a double-digit tally of such plays.
Photo: Reuters
“The only concern I ever have is how do we win the game and to do that, what do we have to do to do our part,” the offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. “Right now, the need of our team this year was to throw the ball and that’s what we did.”
The Giants (8-7) might have a chance to display an aerial assault when they host the Dallas Cowboys (8-7) tomorrow night in a showdown to determine the winner of the NFC East. The Cowboys, under the direction of the defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, have brought blitzes from all directions, which open up deep-threat opportunities.
To Gilbride, a shift in defenses that take away intermediate patterns has opened up downfield strikes. The Cowboys rank 23rd in the league in pass defense, allowing 238.3 yards a game.
The Giants took advantage of poor coverage for two passing plays of 40-plus yards in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 11, a gripping 37-34 victory at Cowboys Stadium. One was a 64-yard bomb to Hakeem Nicks that set up a field goal; the other was a 47-yard touchdown catch by Mario Manningham.
“They do a really good job with their scheme of making plays down the field,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. “Like it is every week, you are going to get challenges in a lot of different areas and that is one of their areas of strength.”
The emergence of Giants receiver Victor Cruz, who has been more productive picking up yards after the catch than his predecessor, Steve Smith, cannot be overstated.
Cruz has accounted for seven of the Giants’ 40-plus-yard plays, while Nicks is second on the team, tallying five such plays this season. However, some of Cruz’s big plays, including his franchise-record 99-yard touchdown catch and run in a victory over the Jets, were designed for short-yardage gains, only to turn into game-changing plays.
“It’s kind of just natural ability,” said Cruz, who has set the team single-season record for receiving yards (1,358) and is third in the league behind Wes Welker and Calvin Johnson. “You catch the ball and feel where the defenders are and make a move and try to get as many yards as you can. I kind of pride myself on that because I just try to make myself as hard to tackle as possible.”
The output has come in a season in which the Giants’ running attack has essentially vanished. They average a paltry 88.1 yards a game and will finish the season not ranked in the top 10 for only the third time since Tom Coughlin took over as coach in 2004.
The Giants’ passing offense is situational to an extent, based on down and distance, but the coaches track gains of 20 yards or more. The Giants have 62 passing plays of 20 yards or more, ranking sixth in the NFL.
The Giants’ passing offense has slowed in the past two weeks, but that might change against Dallas. The Giants will once again be looking for long strikes, which have more than made up for the downturn in the rushing offense.
“It just obviously changes field position and gives you a little moment going in,” Manning said. “When you hit a 40-yard play, obviously, it’s either for a touchdown or it gets you close to the end zone. And then you’re in position to put points on the board.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS