By Steven Panzarella
Leave it to Ravens Line Backer Ray Lewis, who during a midweek press conference said he would be "Insulted" if the giants ran on the Number 1 Run Defense in the NFL.
The Baltimore Ravens have not let up a 200 yard rushing game in what seemed like an eternity (10 years to be exact). They on average allow just about 65 yards a game from a running back and usually have been able to stop most of the big-name backs.
The only downside about that is the Giants have 3 Backs who run like starters: Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. The Group who like to call themselves "Earth, Wind, And Fire" lived up to their names on Sunday when they brought everything the Ravens could handle. The Giants very quickly started running the football all over the field, as Brandon Jacobs broke off a 36-yard run right at the start of the game. This led the Giants to early points and started the track meet for Giants runners. The Giants had surpassed 100 yards rushing in the first quarter, using all three backs, who all took off for big open-field runs including a 22-yard run by Ward, the 36-yard run by Jacobs and a huge 77-yard run by Bradshaw who got brought down just short of the goal line and led to a Giants field goal.
Eli Manning was 13 for 23 with 153 yards and one passing touchdown. He hit Giants 3rd string tight end Darcy Johnson for his first career catch as well as his first ever touchdown. Manning managed the game very well, but once the Giants got the run game going they didn't even need Eli to do much of anything.
On the defensive side of the ball, the giants were led by 2nd year man Aaron Ross who had 2 interceptions of Joe Flacco, one for a touchdown. The Giants had an all around great game, besides the struggling special teams, which was led for the first time by Lawrence Tynes, who couldn't seem to get much of a kickoff game going, especially when he booted one ball out of bounds.
This is a Ravens team who expect to stop every team they play, and they don't expect teams to come out and run on them, especially since they have been unbelievable at stopping the running game. But 207 yards later, the Giants had a 30-10 win over Baltimore in a very physical game in which the Giants bullied players like Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis. It was Brandon Jacobs who had a bruising run on Ed Reed when he grabbed the Pro Bowl corner and threw him to the side. The Giants running back was injured on one of his two touchdowns and is questionable for the game against the Arizona Cardinals.
This Upcoming game will be difficult; the Giants will have to play solid defense, especially in the secondary. This is a very hot Cardinals offense coming in with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Kurt Warner and with the dynamic wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. The Giants have been taking all these games extremely seriously knowing that they have some big games against division opponents and know if they continue to win ball games they will have a chance to clinch a playoff spot in the next few weeks, especially when they play the Redskins and Cowboys over the next month of play. The Giants have a challenging rest of their season, but have won 5 straight, all games that were called big challenges for Big Blue. This is another, and the challenges really don't stop for the rest of the season. The Giants will have to remain hot to do what they did last year in the playoffs and they must continue to play great football to beat teams like Arizona and Carolina who are really the two biggest non-division NFC Opponents. The Giants, who look to go back to Super Bowl glory, return to the place they beat the Patriots for the Super Bowl, so look for an inspired performance from the G-men, but they may be without Brandon Jacobs, so expect a little less pop in the Giants offense.