Interesting read from the Daily News today:
Slowed Brandon Jacobs moans as Ahmad Bradshaw runs wild for New York Giants
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football...l#ixzz0TvOZi4O8
Brandon Jacobs appears to be having a crisis of confidence. So it's a good thing for the Giants that their No.1 running back is still doing OK.
While Jacobs has spent much of the first five weeks trying to figure out what's wrong, Ahmad Bradshaw has been showing everyone what's right with the Giants' still-powerful, fourth-ranked rushing attack. He's run so well, that even teammate Antonio Pierce said, "It looks like he's one of the best backs in the National Football League."
At the very least, Bradshaw's average of 6.5 yards per carry has many thinking he's the best running back on his team.
"I was telling the guys on the sideline that I would hate to play against him," Pierce said. "He is a guy that brings power, he has speed, he's got agility. He's got everything I could want out of back. Ahmad is turning into one of the more complete backs in the National Football League."
The latest dazzling performance by Bradshaw, who leads the Giants with 375 yards on 58 carries (compared to 355 yards on 100 carries for Jacobs) came Sunday in a 44-7 rout of the Raiders. Bradshaw, despite being unable to practice most of the week because of a boot on his sprained right ankle, rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He also caught a short screen pass and turned it into a 54-yard play.
And he did that while Jacobs continued to show a startling lack of power, gaining 67 yards on 21carries. Even he admitted, in an interview with ESPN Radio on Monday, that "frustration is upon me" because of a 3.5 yards per carry average that is far below the 5.0 he averaged in each of the last two years.
The problem has gotten so bad for Jacobs, who signed a four-year, $25 million contract extension in February, that he admitted the comparisons to Bradshaw are beginning to wear on him.
"He can bounce around in those little creases and cracks and make a lot of big plays," Jacobs said. "Do I have the ability to do that? Yes. (But) if I try to make plays like that, because I'm 265pounds I'm not supposed to be doing that. 'Get up there. Hit into somebody.' That's what people want to see me do. If I don't do it, I get criticized. If I do it, I get criticized. I can't win.
"Right now my stats aren't very good and people want to know why. That's why," Jacobs added. "I have the ability to make plays with my feet, but when I try to, it's the worst thing. I'm scum of the earth when I do that."
While Jacobs is trying to figure out what he's supposed to be, Bradshaw is busy showing what he can be. Heading into the Giants' showdown in New Orleans on Sunday, he's still their No.2 back. He's also yet to carry more than 14 times in a game this season or more than 17 times in a game in his three-year career.
But he's making a case for more.
"We'll see how that goes," Tom Coughlin said. "We do have issues since he practices basically once a week. But they are trying to do a little bit more than that. We feel like there is a chance to give him some more snaps, but we'll see just how that distribution goes."
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football...l#ixzz0TvOZi4O8
