McAdoo: Giants' running game "a work in progress"

After quarterback Eli Manning attempted a career-high 54 passes in last week's victory over the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was asked this week about the team's struggle to run the ball consistently.

"I think there have been games and spots in games where we've been efficient in the run game. We haven't had any big ones pop like we'd like to. We're a work in progress there," McAdoo said. "We had some good moments this week in practice and we just need to keep practicing and hit our stride there."

The Giants ran just 21 times for 84 yards (4.0 per carry) last week while Manning was throwing for 441 yards. McAdoo said despite the disparity he "thought we were fairly balanced" against the 49ers and "you have to do what you have to do to win the game."

For the season, the Giants are 28th in the league running the ball with an average of 3.6 yards per carry. They are seventh in the NFL throwing the ball.

"I think you need to have balance. Each game is a little bit different -- you need to do what you have to do to put yourself in position to win the game," McAdoo said. "But I think each game is different and each team is different. We're only five games, this will be our sixth game, into it. We're trying to find our niche and hit our stride."