When I noted in this space two weeks ago that despite a slow start to the season, the Giants fortunes were bound to turn around as the season progressed, I had no idea that merely two weeks later the team would turn in its best overall rushing performance (193 yards) since Week 12 of last year against the Dallas Cowboys and Rashad Jennings would have the best individual game on the ground (176) since Ahmad Bradshaw went off for 200 yards against the Cleveland Browns in Week 7 of 2012.
But there it was on Sunday, Jennings running through holes so large, it looked like Kareem McKenzie and Chris Snee opened them up. He simply gashed the Texans defense and was getting everything they were giving him and more.
The offensive line, which I have ripped to shreds in the past looked terrific, so good that even Andre Williams contributed something.
The offense looked all in sync for the first time since the Super Bowl run in 2011, and if the Giants can keep up a modicum of the success they had on Sunday the rest of the way, there’s hope yet that this team can contend for a playoff spot.
Have a look at the updated numbers for Giants running backs:
| Rushes | Yards | EYAR | TDs | DVOA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rashad Jennings | 68 | 286 | 375 | 2 | 12.6% |
| Andre Williams | 19 | 39 | 19 | 0 | -47.3% |
| Peyton Hillis | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A |
| Team RB Totals | 87 | 325 | 394 | 2 | -11.4% |
And we’ll do this every three weeks, here are week-by-week totals for the running backs, so you can see how those season numbers have progressed:
| Jennings | Williams | Hillis | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Rush | Yards | EYAR | TDs | DVOA | Rush | Yards | EYAR | TDs | DVOA | Rush | Yards | EYAR | TDs | DVOA |
| 1 | 16 | 46 | 60 | 1 | -11.7% | 5 | 9 | 5 | 0 | -49.7% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A |
| 2 | 34 | 110 | 129 | 1 | -7.2% | 13 | 21 | -2 | 0 | -63.5% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A |
| 3 | 68 | 286 | 375 | 2 | 12.6% | 19 | 39 | 19 | 0 | -47.3% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A |
As always, explanations for the advanced stats can be found at www.footballoutsiders.com.
Once again, Peyton Hillis was held without an offensive snap. Not really needed this week, but still odd nonetheless, perhaps Ben McAdoo just doesn’t want to have three backs get carries like Kevin Gilbride did.
With a short turnaround this week to take on the beleaguered Washington Dan Snyders, the Giants have a very good chance to scrape their way back to .500, and make something out of this 2014 season, and that’s an exciting proposition.
Joe Vasile is a play-by-play announcer residing in Paramus, NJ. He is the voice of Wilkes University football and basketball for ESPN Radio in Williamsport, PA. He was the 2014 Coastal Plain League Broadcaster of the Year for the Fayetteville SwampDogs.