Tracking Jacobs and Ward

Since the Giant debacle at the Meadowlands, much has been written about the pathetic Giant offense. Some people believe the play calling was rotten and others think Eli's terrible play was the cause of the inertia. After taking a look at the statistics, I think credit has to be given to the Eagles defense. They stuffed the Giants potent rushing attack. Let us take a look at the numbers.

Despite Fox Analyst Troy Aikman exclaiming the Giants should continue to ride Jacobs, on the surface, Brandon Jacobs did rush 19 times for a respectable 92 yards. On the contrary, the Eagles contained him.

Let us look at a breakdown of Jacobs' rushing attempts:

2 rushes for zero yards

10 runs for 3 yards or less

2 runs for 5 yards

1 carry for 6 yards

3 rushes for 11 yards

1 scamper for 24 yards

If you take away the 4 attempts for 57 yards, the Eagles held Jacobs to 15 attempts for a paltry 35 yards. This comes to an anemic 2.3 yards per carry.

Derrick Ward did not fare any better. Ward ran for 46 yards on 12 carries. Here is a breakdown of his carries:

3 runs of zero yards

4 rushes for 3 yards or less

3 rushes for 5 yards

1 attempt for 9 yards

1 carry for 14 yards

If you take away his 2 rushes for 23 yards, Ward had 23 yards on 10 attempts. Coincidentally, like Jacobs, he averaged 2.3 yards per carry too.

By keeping Jacobs and Ward in check, this put the Giants in 3rd and longs. With no Plaxico, the Giants passing game is not the same. In this game, the Giants were 3 for 13 on third downs which is a dreadful 23 percent conversion rate. Six of the 13 third down conversions were 3rd and 7 yards or more. The Giants were a woeful one out of six. This comes out to an abysmal 16 percent conversion rate.

Based on this data, I can deduce the following.

The Giants offensive line did not play well.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and the Eagles defense deserve tremendous credit for stopping a formidable Giants offense.