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Giants pervert the natural order of the universe
Cold, Hard Football Facts for November 10, 2008
 The Giants pounded their way to another bruising victory Sunday night, besting the Eagles in Philly, 36-31, while re-asserting their dominance of the NFL's Glamour Division.
New York (8-1) now holds a two-game lead over the second-place Redskins in a division in which every team has a winning record. They're unbeaten in the NFC East (3-0) and only the surprising Panthers (7-2) are within a game of challenging the Giants for the No. 1 seed in the senior circuit. (The Panthers visit the Meadowlands on Dec. 21.) They're also the only team in the NFC with a 4-0 mark against Quality Teams.
More impressively, the Giants have outscored their opponents by 102 points – nobody in the NFC is even close. And the margin jumps out when you consider that the Big Blue were a mere +22 last year in scoring differential – yet still went on to win the Super Bowl.
The win over the Eagles was a classic old-school performance by these throwback uni Giants, as they cranked out 219 rushing yards on 45 attempts, while controlling the clock for 39 minutes and 10 seconds.
While most football fans saw a superior team squeezing out a hard-fought divisional game Sunday night, the Cold, Hard Football Facts saw a perversion of the natural order of the gridiron universe.
As we've noted many times, great running teams rarely make much noise in the NFL, even as the pigskin "pundits" constantly declare the need to run the ball well. The 2007 Vikings and 2006 Falcons were classic examples. Each ran as well as almost any team in history, yet both failed to win more games than they lost and both failed to reach the playoffs.
But the Giants have a dominant running game balanced by a highly efficient passer in Eli Manning. It allows them to win in an old-school style that has rarely been seen in the modern NFL. Here are some of the highlights.
Across the board rushing excellence
The Giants now lead the NFL in every meaningful rushing category, including yards (1,520), average per attempt (5.15) and average per game (168.9).
The three-headed statistical anomaly
If there's one statistical constant in the NFL, it's 4.0. That's the average per attempt of the average team and the average ball carrier in the average year of the NFL – year after year after year.
There is virtually no deviation from that mean. A very poor running team might average 3.3 yards per attempt on the ground in a given year. A very good running team will average around 4.7 to 4.8 yards per attempt on the ground.
Yet at this point in the season, the Giants field not one, not two, but three different ball carriers who all average more than 5.0 yards every time they tote the ball.
- Brandon Jacobs has carried 153 times for 806 yards (5.3 YPA)
- Derrick Ward has carried 89 times for 490 yards (5.5 YPA)
- Ahmad Bradshaw has carried 36 times for 205 yards (5.7 YPA)
Few teams in history compare. Most of the great rushing teams in history – say, the 1963 Browns or 1997 Lions – were led almost exclusively by a single Hall of Fame performer (Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, respectively).
In fact, you probably have to go all the way back to the 1954 49ers to find a team with a comparable top three to the 2008 Giants (that is, a team with three complementary ball-carriers, from the bruising 1,000-yard man to the speedy game-breaker, all of whom topped 5.0 YPA).
Here's how the 1954 49ers stacked up:
- Joe Perry carried 173 times for 1,049 yards (6.1 YPA)
- John Henry Johnson carried 129 times for 681 yards (5.3 YPA)
- Hugh McElhenny carried 64 times for 515 yards (8.0 YPA)
Of course, the 1954 49ers, one of the best rushing teams ever, had a bit of a problem: they went just 7-4-1 and, at third place in the Western Conference, didn't even sniff the postseason
The change-of-pace Ahmad Bradshaw
While those 49ers boasted the explosive McElhenny, a Hall of Famer considered one of the best open-field runners in history, the Giants have the speedy Bradshaw. He's one of the most exciting players in the league, and the classic change-of-pace back who stands in stunning contrast to the bruiser Brandon Jacobs.
The second-year ball carrier is clearly the No. 3 man in the Giants rotation. He carried the ball just 23 times last year, and 36 times this year. But he's produced 395 yards on those 59 career carries, for a gaudy 6.7 average. And his 88-yard run against Buffalo last year is the longest run in the NFL over the past two seasons, and the third longest in the storied history of the Giants.
Bradshaw was handed the ball just five times Sunday night, but turned them into 38 yards (7.6 YPA), including a game-long 23 yarder.
The Giants may not win the Super Bowl this year. But a lot of trends are pointing their way. And if they do repeat, it will be with a bruising, old-school style we've rarely seen this side of the 1961 Packers or 1972 Dolphins.
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