Darkwa calls out struggling running backs
Orleans Darwka has a message for the many critics of the beatendown Giants offensive line: Direct your disdain elsewhere.
The anemic 35-yard rushing attack in Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys wasn’t just on the group up front. The running backs should hear some criticism, too, according to Darkwa.
“We got to run better,” he said Friday after practice. “All we can worry about is what we control. As running backs, we have to run better.
“At the end of the day, you look at the numbers. ... It’s not good enough for our room.”
The Giants netted 35 rushing yards on 12 carries, an anemic 2.9 yards per carry. Paul Perkins, the starter after showing glimpses of promise as a rookie last year, failed to gain more than 3 yards on any of his seven carries. Darkwa had a team-high 12-yard gain, but only two other carries. Of course, the Giants’ offense struggled as a unit, amassing just 233 total yards and scoring just three points, their fewest point total in a season opener in 22 years.
Left guard Justin Pugh appreciated the support, with his unit under such intense heat. But the ground attack isn’t about one specific group.
“That goes from passing the ball better, so we open up the run game, to us obviously opening up holes, running backs reading [the holes], receivers blocking down field to spring big runs,” Pugh said. “Everything comes into play. You can’t point the finger at one guy. It’s not going to change overnight. As a group, collectively, we have to decide we’re going to run the ball better.”
Granted, it was just one game with limited opportunities, but it felt like a continuation of last season, when the Giants couldn’t move the ball on the ground. They were 29th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 88.3 yards per game and producing six touchdowns, the fewest in the league. Until they prove they can run the ball, opponents will continue to gear up for the pass.
“To get teams out of cover two, to get [them] out of that soft zone, you have to be able to run the ball,” offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said. “And that’s something we have to do.” Darwka, a fourth-year pro and former undrafted free agent out of Tulane, wasn’t suggesting there were massive holes the running backs failed to identify. Clearly, it was a struggle at the line of scrimmage for the Giants offensive line, whether it was creating room for Perkins or Darkwa or protecting quarterback Eli Manning. But that doesn’t absolve the running backs’ lack of production.
“Even if there’s nothing there, make the hole, get 4 yards a pop,” Darkwa said. “If there’s no [hole], make one, keep going.
“The numbers we put up, we’re not satisfied with it. We want to be better as a group. We look at it, we’re not going to sit here and hold our heads down because of it. We’re going to keep churning. We’ll show [it] on Monday.”
While Darkwa was productive in the preseason, rushing 20 times for 90 yards and a touchdown, Perkins struggled with an average of 2.7 yards per carry. Giants fans already have begun to clamor for a larger role for Darkwa, who has avoided the nagging injuries that had sunk him in the past.
“When you get [those] opportunities, you got to make the most of them,” he said. “At the position I’m in, every time I get the ball in my hands, I want to do something with it.”
Right now, any production might vault him to the top of the depth chart. ORLEANS DARKWA