On The Line: Giants OT David Diehl
After one of the great offensive line performances of 2008, I spoke with Giants left tackle David Diehl.
First thing I wanted to know: How'd it look to watch Ahmad Bradshaw go 77 yards against the vaunted Ravens defense in the fourth quarter of the Giants 30-10 win over Baltimore.
"It was awesome for us to watch," he said with a laugh. "We have an offensive line that plays with a lot of confidence, that plays hard and scratches and claws and we have three great backs that run with heart and talent. To see that hole open up is awesome and to see those three running backs and the way they play - unselfish, cheering for each other and pulling for each other - a play like that makes all of us feel good."
That 77-yard burst that ended on the Ravens 2 salted away the win on a day when the Giants ran for an ungodly 207 yards on 33 carries against the proud Ravens defense. Baltimore - led by the still-imposing Ray Lewis - was allowing just 65.4 yards per game on the ground entering the game.
Clearly, this game would come down to whether New York - which ran for 419 in its previous two games against the Cowboys and Eagles - could do it against the Ravens too. They proved they could.
One good thing about this matchup was there wasn't any BS posturing heading into this one.
When Lewis was asked during the week about the massive Jacobs - who ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries before sitting down with a minor injury in the second half - Lewis said, "OK, so what are you going to do, run from him? No. You just play football. It don't matter. I don't look on the schedule and look at somebody's weight and say, 'Oh, guess what, he's 260, I can't run into him.' Hell no. I'm chasing him. It don't matter. Size has never mattered in this game. The day you put size in this game you lose all your credibility. The bottom line is I don't care how big his size is, how big none of that is. Football is football, man. And when you strap on your chin strap, I don't care how big you are. Deal with whoever's got the ball and let life take care of itself."
Lewis showed his foresight by pointing out that the engine to the Giants football team is its offensive line. Take no credit away from these backs, but they're running through holes so big, you're sitting there saying, 'What in the world?' "
Diehl said it was vital to understand there would be plays against the Ravens that didn't look so good. "When you play a defense like that, you know you won't be able to go do whatever you want. They will make plays too. Things will go their way. But the great thing about our team is, when things do go badly, we pick each other up and keep going. And that's great to see."
The Giants are now an imposing 9-1 and - as long as good health stays on their side - are going to follow this offensive line into early February.
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Drilling deeply into the mantle layer of America's Passion, NBCSports.com's Tom Curran offers up quick hits and insights on all things NFL.
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