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Silverman: After Mile High Success, McAdoo Must Prove Worth Again Vs. Seattle

By Steve Silverman
» More Columns

In many ways, Ben McAdoo has already accomplished the hard part.

His team started the season in disastrous fashion by dropping the first five games, and the fifth loss was to a winless Los Angeles Chargers team. That defeat was not half as painful as losing Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Sterling Shepard and Dwayne Harris – nearly the Giants' entire wide receiver crew -- to injuries.

Many NFL coaches would have gone into a funk at the combination of a losing streak and an offense that could no longer function.

Ben McAdoo
Giants coach Ben McAdoo looks on from the sideline during a game against the Denver Broncos on Oct. 15, 2017, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

However, McAdoo rolled up his sleeves and went to work. Orleans Darkwa, Paul Perkins, Wayne Gallman and Shane Vereen had not given the Giants any kind of running game through the first five games, but a change in game-planning was necessary.

Quarterback Eli Manning was not going to make anything happen against the Denver Broncos without his three best receivers, so McAdoo decided to try to establish a ground game, even though the numbers said the Giants were among the worst in the league in that discipline.

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The fact that their next game was in Denver against the Broncos made the task even more challenging. Going into the game, it seemed like a laughable option. The Broncos have the top-ranked defense in the league, and the No. 2 run defense.

The combination of linebacker Von Miller and the Broncos' version of Brandon Marshall made the task seem impossible. Except for one thing: McAdoo sold the offensive line, running backs and entire team on running the ball down the Broncos' throats.

The Giants put their game plan on the shoulders of linemen Ereck Flowers, Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg, John Jerry and Bobby Hart, and they won the battle against the Denver defensive front. Darkwa had an eye-opening game, carrying the ball 21 times for 117 yards with a long run of 47 yards.

It was a performance that came from out of the blue, and it couldn't have come at a better time. While the Giants were running the ball with success, the defense shut down the Denver running game. Jamaal Charles and C.J. Anderson combined for 36 yards on 14 carries.

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By taking the running game away, the Giants put the burden on Denver quarterback Trevor Siemian. Jason Pierre-Paul made his life miserable with three sacks -- and he got help from Damon Harrison, who recorded a sack of his own.

The game plan worked out to perfection for the Giants in the 23-10 victory.

No individual game on the Giants' schedule will be more difficult a challenge than the one in Denver, and that's why I say McAdoo already accomplished the hard part.

He has proven he is a worthy coach, maybe even more so than he did last year when the Giants were a playoff team with an 11-5 record. He had corrected the Giants' inability to finish games in the fourth quarter that had been such a liability in 2015 under Tom Coughlin, but he hadn't show the ability to innovate or inspire.

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That battle has now been fought, and he was victorious in Week 6. He will be a worthy opponent for Pete Carroll on Sunday, when the Seattle Seahawks come to MetLife Stadium.

McAdoo has a new chess match on his hands this week, and Carroll is a wily veteran who will have a couple of tricks for McAdoo to figure out.

Carroll's team seems fairly easy to figure out with Russell Wilson at quarterback and a hard-nosed receiver in Doug Baldwin. The Seahawks really want to run the ball, but their offensive line has been awful to this point. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are forced to go with running backs Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls since Chris Carson is out after undergoing ankle surgery.

Here's the challenge for McAdoo: Carroll will use explosive wideout Tyler Lockett to undermine opposing defenses. Lockett has remarkable speed, and the Seahawks coach will make sure Lockett gets the ball where his speed will take over.

The Seahawks are no longer an elite defense, as they rank 15th in yards allowed and 26th against the run. However, don't sell them short, because they still feature defensive end Michael Bennett, middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and free safety Earl Thomas. That threesome is capable of turning any game in Seattle's favor.

Carroll and the Seahawks have taken notice of the Giants' running game. Whether they will do anything about it is what McAdoo must figure out.

He has to have an alternative in case the Seahawks are loading up on the run.

McAdoo has proven he can handle a crisis. Now he must prove he can do it consistently.

Please follow Steve on Twitter at @Profootballboy

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