THERE haven’t been enough offensive plays in a Jets game for both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to save the season. The top-seeded Giants, on the other hand, are about to become the fourth team in NFL history with two 1,000-yard backs in a single season, thanks to Brandon Jacobs (1,089) and Derrick Ward (948).
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And Jacobs doesn’t have enough words to explain how much Ward, who likely will join him in the 1,000-yard club today, has helped his game.
“Watching him run gets me up,” Jacobs said. “He goes out there with such quick feet guys can hardly stand in front of him and I say ‘I’m going to finish this off.’
“The guy that can’t stand in front of him, now standing in front of me, I’m going to run him over. Emotionally for Derrick I can tell the difference when I’m out there and when I’m not. He has a little bit more spark to him and when I see him with more spark, I get more spark in me.”
Peanut butter tastes good even without jelly. Then again, Dean Martin did better without Jerry Lewis than Lewis did minus Martin. Even Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player who ever lived, never won another Stanley Cup without Mark Messier, nor did Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen capture NBA titles minus each other.
“A number of us have had opportunities to go for free agency and turned them down because we believe in this team and organization,” center Shaun O’Hara said this week about the Giants’ offensive line.
It was a comment not intended to be a cautionary tale about Jacobs’ and Ward’s impending free agency, but serves as one nonetheless. The best team in the NFC has the luxury of a meaningless game this afternoon in Minneapolis in part because of how much its players mean to each other.
Of course that goes not just for guys such as Jacobs and Ward, who alternately keep each other fresh and motivated, but friends who enjoy the good company in the foxholes.
“Chris [Snee], and Richie [Seubert] and myself know each other so well after [four] years that we barely have to make calls during games,” O’Hara said. “We see a look and know exactly how we are going to block it.
“From the mental aspect, I know what they are thinking and they know what I am thinking. From a physical standpoint, they are two of the most athletic guards in the game. But I think all three of us recognize each other’s strength as well as weaknesses. We’re always there for each other.
“It’s true offensive linemen need time together to bond, but it’s not just that. You have to have guys who want to be together, consistently looking to improve.”
Nothing succeeds like success. On losing teams, losers learn to worry about themselves. On winning teams, winners learn to make sacrifices for the common good.
“In a week between games, they don’t have time to prepare for everybody,” said defensive tackle Barry Cofield. “First, they know they have to stop Justin Tuck, who has played at such a high level he demands double and sometimes triple teams. It’s easy for me to feed off that.”
Terrell Owens always has had trouble grasping that essential truth, wrecking chemistry on three clubs. Every athlete worth keeping, from quarterbacks spreading the ball and the love down to a Terrell Thomas, a rookie gunner turning Jeff Feagles from punter into wizard, understands that the job is making the guy next to you, ahead of you, even behind you, better.
“When we run for 300 yards, I look great,” said Madison Hedgecock, fullback, the most obscure position on an NFL team. He knows where his glory is.