Getty One Super Bowl-winning RB knows the Giants have a "great" advantage for the playoffs.
Brandon Jacobs knows what it takes for the New York Giants to win a Super Bowl. He helped Big Blue beat the 18-0 New England Patriots and lift the Lombardi Trophy to cap the 2007 NFL season, and Jacobs sees an encouraging similarity between that team and this year’s vintage.
Specifically, Jacobs, who also helped the 2011 Giants beat the Pats in Super Bowl XLVI, thinks it’s “great” these Giants are running the ball so effectively at this time of the year. The running back who twice rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season, spoke about the importance of the ground game come playoff time after the Giants beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-10 in Week 17 to clinch a first postseason berth since 2016.
Jacobs told Trey Wingo of The 33rd Team: “If you’re going to win football games and you’re going to be there at the end, you will have to be able to hand the ball off to a running back and have a good offensive line to be able to move the football in the run at this time of year. So that’s great the Giants were able to do that.”
#Giants rushing stats today:
Daniel Jones 91 yards 8.3 average
Matt Breida 59 yards 6.6 average
Saquon Barkley 58 yards 4.8 average
@BrandonJacobs27 loved the way Big Blue ran the ball 😤
🎙 @wingoz | #TogetherBlue
The Giants’ rushing statistics against the Colts speak for themselves and are the best reason to believe the season’s biggest surprise package can go on a run in the playoffs.
Giants’ Ground Game Peaking at Right Time
Running the ball effectively is the main reason the Giants have confounded the experts and won nine games this season. Head coach Brian Daboll was smart enough to design his offense around Saquon Barkley, but the bluechip running back looked like he’d hit the wall a few weeks ago, when a neck problem and pitch count limited his effectiveness.
Fortunately for the Giants, Barkley has bounced back in a big way. His 58 yards on 12 carries against the Colts continued an upward surge since Week 14’s 48-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley ground out 87 tough and clutch yards against the Washington Commanders a week later, before averaging six yards per carry during a tough loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s no coincidence Barkley has gotten back on track while the Giants’ offensive line has become more physical. The symbiotic relationship between Barkley’s talents and the tenacious blocking in front of him was summed up by this 19-yard gain against Indy:
Barkley’s best run of the day owed a lot to swift zone-based blocking, with right guard Mark Glowinski (64) quickly getting to the linebacker level. Being able to run stretch plays like this is a good way for the Giants to manufacture big plays on the deck.
Another way to amass yardage in chunks is to release speed around the corner. That’s just what the Giants did when Barkley’s backup, Matt Breida, scampered for 16 yards, aided by rookie right tackle Evan Neal (73) shifting into space to clear traffic on the edge:
Breida has naturally played within Barkley’s shadow this season, but the former San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills runner had his best game as a Giant by rushing for 59 yards on nine carries.
His performance is timely since Breida has topped 5 yards per carry in a season twice in his career and possesses legitimate game-breaking speed. His combination with Barkley adds another dimension to this Giants’ running game.
So do the dual-threat skills of quarterback Daniel Jones, who added 91 yards and two touchdowns to his already impressive tally as a runner. Jones, Breida and Barkley give the Giants the kind of loaded backfield that helped Jacobs win a pair of Super Bowls.
Giants Have History of Using Multiple Runners to Win
Jacobs rushed for 1,009 yards in 2007, but he wasn’t the only Giants back who was a problem for defenses. Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns and Ahmad Bradshaw also contributed, with the latter coming on strong late in the season.
Bradshaw and Jacobs combined for 100 yards in the first playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The duo proved more productive against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, combining for 37 carries, 130 yards and two touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference.
In 2008, the Giants were even more prolific on the ground, with Jacobs and Ware becoming one of the rare double acts in NFL history to both exceed 1,000 yards:
Sitting at 988 and 829 rushing yards respectively, @TP__5 and @EzekielElliott have a chance to become the sixth running back duo in league history to rush for 1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ yards each in the same season 🏃
Three years later, it was Bradshaw and Jacobs combining to rush for 109 yards against the Patriots, including Bradshaw’s winning score, with another Lombardi Trophy on the line.
Those Giants teams won because they were more physical than the rest once the winter weather had bitten and the margin for error became smaller in sudden-death football. These Giants can bring the same toughness and resilience to bear in the playoffs, thanks to their own three-pronged rushing attack.
Giants have good chance movin past 1st rd advance to nfc championship..alot depends on guys stayin healthy