RUSH SOUR: While the Giants couldn’t stop Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (above), who came in averaging 3.1 yards per carry but got 8.2 on Sunday, Seattle had no trouble bottling up Ahmad Bradshaw and the Big Blue ground game. (Getty Images)
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Let’s say it didn’t happen the way it did.
Let’s say after the Giants, trailing 29-25 to the Seahawks, after getting all the way to the Seattle 5-yard line with plenty of time to punch in the winning touchdown, didn’t have disaster strike in the form of an interception that was returned for a touchdown to seal their fate in a 36-25 loss.
Let’s say Ahmad Bradshaw had run it in or Eli Manning had hit Hakeem Nicks and the Giants had escaped, winning 32-29 and had a four-game winning streak and there were smiles and exhales.
Tom Coughlin would have loved the clutch game-clinching drive and the resiliency that came with it. But, Coughlin insisted yesterday, what he witnessed for too long on a sunny afternoon and what he has seen for the majority of the season’s first five games forced the veteran coach to admit winning doesn’t cure all ills.
“Had we won the game, had we been in position to score there, I don’t think it would have changed much,” Coughlin said. “We would have been excited to have won, but there are things that have to be corrected. You have to be able to stop the run. You have to be able to run the ball better than we have and you have to be able to take care of the ball better than we took care of the ball.”
Coughlin’s team is 3-2 but does not resemble the Giants. We know what they have been and what they want to be: a team that above all else runs the ball and stops the run. Those are usually the starting points for everything the Giants want to accomplish.
That, however, is not what the Giants are after five games this season. They couldn’t run it much at all (69 rushing yards) on the Seahawks and didn’t stop much of anything (145 yards allowed) from a Seahawks team far more interested in throwing for yards than running for them.
This was a continuation of a trend. The Giants are 27th in the NFL in rushing offense (gaining only 83.8 yards per game) and 21st in run defense (giving up 122.2 yards per game). They weren’t accomplishing much in either regard despite a three-game winning streak. The loss only accentuates what this team has suspected: They cannot have the season they desire if they continue to play the way they are playing.
“Obviously we’re not ourselves,” said Justin Tuck, who missed his third game with ongoing neck and groin issues. “It’s obvious to say we’re not running or stopping the run as good as we have in the past. That has to change if we’re going to have any success this year.”
The running game has been nothing short of terrible. The longest run of the season is 37 yards by Ahmad Bradshaw against the Eagles, and there have been only eight runs of 10 yards or more. The Giants are averaging only 3.2 yards per attempt.
“As an offense, we have to be more consistent running the ball, that’s basically who the New York Giants are,” said Kevin Boothe, who started at center against the Seahawks. “We’ll work on that and we’ll get better. I don’t think anybody thinks we’ll stay at this level. There’s definitely optimism and we’ll improve.”
Stopping the run has been equally problematic. Marshawn Lynch needed only 12 rushing attempts to gain 98 yards for the Seahawks after LeSean McCoy of the Eagles and Beanie Wells of the Cardinals rampaged for 128 and 138 yards, respectively. On a 47-yard burst by Lynch that led to his 1-yard touchdown run, cornerback Corey Webster and linebacker Jacquian Williams were out of position and a modest gain turned into a monster one. Up next is Buffalo’s Fred Jackson, who is third in the NFL in rushing with 480 yards.
“Just the little things we can clean up that are hurting us,” defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said. “It’s nothing that can’t be fixed, it’s not like we don’t have the talent on our defense to stop people. When you play unsound football, I could get back there and run for 100 yards.”