FanPost

Run Game Productivity, Don't Worry It'll Come

      It's been pretty evident so far this season the Giants haven't been as effective as they would like running the ball. This has given alot of people cause for concern, I however am not worried at all. Our run game was in a position to fail since early this season due to both a reshuffled offensive line and a some keys losses at wr. Another factor in this is the inconsistent blocking from the TE and FB spots.  Losing boss and smith in free agency combined with a real lack of showing anything in the preseason from our receivers led people to doubt our ability to pass the ball. Add in a torn ACL for hixon and picking up stokley and clayton off the street only magnified the perception that we'd be unable to manage through the air. What does the lead to?....It leads to teams loading up to stop the run and trying to force us to win with mostly unproven guys who haven't had much time to get prepared and be effective for us. Its the smart play, takeaway our strength. Part of taking away that strength has been to blitz our guys alot. Eli is usually great against the blitz but with so many moving pieces the protections often wasn't there early on and if it was, there was still a matter of young guys not getting open, making the right reads and at times simply catching the ball. Not putting it all on them though because Eli has missed some throws.

      It's only week four, and there is still reason to have faith in this giants rushing attack. I look for the giants to win through the air the next 2 or 3 weeks to put teams on notice that they can. As the season continues to progress the pass blocking and execution in the passing game will progress also, as it already has. This will lead to less defenders in the box against us as well as fewer blitzes because like i said Eli is great against the blitz and with the protection worked out and Eli having chemistry with the receivers, teams will see blitzing us does more harm then good. With less defenders in the box there will be room for our backs to run. The O-line, fb, and te will still have to win their individual battles to create some running lanes but I think we have the personnel to do that (assuming K-mac, Diehl, Hynoski, and Ballard come around). Even more importantly is the running Game will start to come on right when our schedule gets rough and lord knows we'll need it then.

Side Note: I'm not to concerned about the run defense either. we were great the first 2 weeks and these past 2 weeks not so much. A lot of that is due to us playing 2 teams with great weapons in the passing game and a concentrated effort by the D to not get beat by said passing game. Naturally to focus more on the pass you have to focus less on the run. Also we did a pretty good job against wells, without that 39 yd run he rushes 26 times for 99 yards with an average of 3.67. Not too bad considering we were down Justin Tuck, had Osi in his first game back from knee surgery which almost guarantees a slight slip in the department of run defense, and we didn't really blitz that much if at all yesterday. Much like the run offense the run defense will come around, just give it time. In time, Tuck, Osi, and even Prince will be up to speed which will only add to the personnel we already have and will also allow some players to be moved into roles that best suit them which can only make us better.

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