THEY defy you to stop them, and they couldn’t care less if you were Ray Lewis or Dick Butkus. They are a throwback football team very much like the Vince Lombardi Packers in the way they come at you with shoulder pads blazing and a snarl and a sneer and dare you to stop their Neanderthal brutality. So what do we call them? The Big Blue Steamroller? The Monsters of the Meadowlands? Beasts of the NFL?
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The Giants rushed for 207 yards yesterday – 210 if you take away Eli Manning’s negative contribution – and splattered Lewis and the Ravens 30-10. Brandon Jacobs (Earth) killed the body early, and then the head died at the shifty feet of Derrick Ward (Wind) and Ahmad Bradshaw (Fire). That makes five times this season the Giants have run for at least 200 yards.
“In this area, we love to have a devastating run game at the end of November and going into December,” Giants GM Jerry Reese said. “I think that’s who we are. I think we’re a devastating run team who can throw the ball if we want to.”
The irresistible force (No. 1 rushing offense) ran head-on into the immovable object (No. 1 rushing defense), and the immovable object was moved all the way back to Baltimore.
“I think those guys are truly a good run defense . . . I honestly think that they were ranked that way because they are. They just ran into bunch of monsters in here that they never run into on an every-Sunday basis,” Jacobs said.
No one will want to play them, especially in January, especially at Giants Stadium, where the 9-1 Giants are 6-0. Jacobs, behind the best offensive line in football and a fullback and tight ends who love to block, bounced it outside for 36 yards on his first carry and scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns to set the tone before leaving with a sore ankle.
“He’s our junkyard dog,” Shaun O’Hara said. “It’s fun to turn him loose and let him attack the defenses.”
It was 20-0 by midway in the second quarter and rookie QB Joe Flacco wasn’t going to overcome Justin Tuck, Antonio Pierce the rest of the Giants’ defense.
“Only we can stop ourselves; those guys couldn’t really stop us,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs acknowledged the Giants could have inflicted more damage if he had gotten more than 11 carries (for 73 yards) due to an injured knee. “Earth can take a little rest, and Wind and Fire can go out and do their thing like they did,” he said.
Earth is 6-foot-4, 265 pounds.
“Brandon has unusual skill set for his size . . . big, powerful and fast, and who can make you miss,” Reese said. “He doesn’t have to run over people all the time. He can do that, but he can change directions, and has good run vision.”Wind (11-41 rushing, 4-54 receiving) has the best hands.
“Derrick Ward is probably more of a norm with what you see in the National Football League,” Reese said.
Reese was asked about Bradshaw’s crazy-legs 77-yard romp to the 2 in the fourth quarter.
“I saw a guy with good vision, and who had an extra gear to get through the trash, and saw him playing against a tired defense at that point in the game,” Reese said.
Bradshaw (9-96) comes in with fresh, churning legs and mouth, which serves as motivation for him.
“He’s fast, but he’s probably quicker than fast,” Reese said. “He’s what we call kinda like a darter. He’s unusual for a small guy, he can run with power, and he breaks a lot of tackles. This guy doesn’t go down easy, now.”
If the backs are Earth, Wind and Fire, what do we call the offensive line?
“We just want to be as physical as possible, keep getting these running backs their yardage so we can get a nice Christmas present near the end,” Chris Snee said, and smiled.
O’Hara was asked the same question.
“We’re into nicknames; we’ll let everybody else come up with their own,” O’Hara said. Then he came up with a good one. “How ’bout ‘NSync?” he said.
Music to every Giant fan’s ears.