Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [45]
The Giants extended a one-year deal, which he accepted. And while the Giants’ trio of young backs (Hampton, Meggett, and Tillman) waited hungrily on the sidelines, week after week, Anderson managed to keep them there—until December.
During the comeback victory over Minnesota—the day that began with Parcells’ dislodged kidney stones and ended with Lawrence Taylor’s “one man show”—Anderson recorded both touchdowns in the 23-15 win. In addition to the go-ahead score, he even grabbed a piece of history in the fourth quarter, becoming just the eighth man in league history to surpass ten thousand career rushing yards.
But Anderson finished the game with twenty-six yards on fifteen carries, an increasingly typical stat line for him that season. Rodney Hampton, not Anderson, had served as the workhorse that day, carrying the ball nineteen times for seventy-eight yards. Trailing 20-15 midway through the fourth quarter, the Giants relied on their big rookie. Hampton ran the ball on five of eight plays (including an eleven-yard gain that netted a vital first down) during the go-ahead touchdown drive.
“The passing of the torch may have been consummated yesterday,” a Newsday writer stated the next day. “While Anderson has shown some signs of weary legs in recent weeks, Hampton appears ready to assume the role as the Giants’ feature back.”
Hampton followed up that “breakout” game with another in the loss to Buffalo. (His forty-one-yard run in the game’s opening minutes set up New York’s only touchdown.) Still Hampton did little to mask the Giants’ offensive deficiencies; deficiencies largely caused by their starting quarterback’s absence. With Simms sidelined due to his foot injury, the Giants failed repeatedly on short-yardage situations. Twice the Bills stuffed Anderson on third and short, the most critical coming late in the third period as the Giants, trailing 14-10, were on Buffalo’s three-yard line.
“Continued trust needs to be placed in rookie running back Rodney Hampton, who has taken the reins from a tired Anderson. Hampton is going to be the guy for the playoffs,” a New York columnist insisted. “Use Hampton in short-yardage situations as a complement to Anderson. Hampton’s speed often will mean the difference between a first down and a punt. If Anderson can’t push the pile any more, the Giants must try something else.”
In Jeff Hostetler’s debut the next week against the 5-9 Cardinals, the Giants began trying something else. Fullback Maurice Carthon led the team with sixty-seven yards rushing, while Rodney Hampton and Hostetler combined for an additional eighty. Anderson’s contribution was minimal: four carries for sixteen yards.
That day, New York had its most productive rushing effort of the season, which allowed Hostetler to settle in at quarterback. The de facto starter scrambled for a touchdown and tossed for another to give the Giants a 24-14 fourth-quarter lead.
Although they surrendered three touchdown passes in the second half, New York hung on to defeat the lowly Cardinals 24-21, earning the NFC’s second seed. Having locked up a first-round playoff bye, the Giants did not sit their stars in the Week Seventeen finale against New England. For a team that had lost three of the previous five games—and surrendered 381 passing yards to Phoenix, the NFL’s worst passing offense—they needed to play, not rest. And heading into the postseason with an unproved quarterback, every game-time snap would be vital.
“The more time I have to do it, the better it will go,” said Hostetler. “The timing is going to improve. I’m going to get better throwing to the right place at the right time. The more reps I get the better it’s going to be.”
“Two weeks from now,” Parcells said, “Jeff will be better able to play than now. Hopefully by (playoff) time, things will change for the better from a physical, psychological and performance standpoint.”
On a drizzling final Sunday of the regular season, the Giants defeated