The New York Giants are scrambling for a running back after a poor ground game in the 2013 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. However, with Eli Manning at the helm running the offense, do the Giants truly need to go crazy for a running back? Is there any way the Giants can survive the 2013 season if they stick any guy in the back field.
I think the Giants can be an offensive force even without a decent running back, look at what Manning was able to do with his passing as he hit the most obvious of targets, Victor Cruz, three times in the end zone. While the Giants had the fourth worse running game in Week 1, they put up 450 yards of passing offense in the stat sheets. If a team has their running game disabled, then there's no reason why an opponent should allow 400-plus yards off passing offense. This only shows how dominant Manning is behind center and how skilled the Giants' receivers possess.
At the end of the night, Manning hit five receivers for over 50 yards each. Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Rueben Randle and Da'Rel Scott had five catches each. Cruz went for 118, Nicks had 114, Randle had 101 and Scott finished with 51, despite missing a catch that turned into an interception. Tight end, Brandon Myers finished with a team high seven catches for 66 yards and a score.
Those are very healthy numbers for one sided offense. The Giants running game was simply trash. They only managed to get 50 yards on 14 attempts, which tied them second with the Atlanta Falcons for tries at rushing.
Every successful team in the NFL needs balance, that's true. However, last year, the Green Bay Packers had a terrible running game, yet they found a way to average 27.1 points per game, fifth best in football. The Packers only averaged 3.9 yards per carry, which isn't horrible, but way below average. Ultimately, the Packers made the playoffs, but Aaron Rodgers had to carry a lot of the load. Once again, in 2010, the Packers made the Super Bowl, yet they were 24th in the NFL in total rushing yards.
As long as the Giants find a running back that can protect Manning and the offensive line does its job, the Giants should be fine. When you think of explosive quarterbacks in football, Manning doesn't come to mind since the Giants have always tried balancing the offense. Maybe this is the year Manning joins the true elite company of Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and Rodgers, who are quarterbacks constantly lighting up the scoreboard.
Manning is off to a hot start totaling 450 passing yards and four touchdowns. He can take it easy on the interceptions, but ultimately, with or without a running game, the Giants offense should be fine as long as their receivers show up every single game.
