Rashad Jennings runs over Giants RB mates with 81-yard haul

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Rashad Jennings (c.) makes the most of being the centerpiece of Big Blue’s running game Monday night by rushing for a season-high 81 yards vs. the Dolphins.

On Monday night in Miami, Rashad Jennings seized his opportunity and ran with it.

In a 31-24 win over the Dolphins, the Giants abandoned their running back by committee for the first time all season and fed one man — Jennings — the ball. The result was the Giants’ best individual rushing performance of the season, as Jennings finished with 81 yards on 22 carries, providing Big Blue with some much-needed balance in a victory that kept its playoff hopes alive.

Still, on his conference call Tuesday, an exasperated Tom Coughlin wouldn’t fully commit to Jennings as his primary back for the remainder of the season — though the Giants coach did say the offense would “certainly start” with Jennings next Sunday against the undefeated Panthers.

“For the life of me, I have no idea why you people are so hung up on this. Must be nothing else to write about. But certainly we will,” Coughlin said, when asked if Jennings would continue to get the bulk of the carries. “We have, again, different ability ranges and guys who can be tapped and utilized in many different functions, (Shane) Vereen being another. And we’ll continue to do that as well.”

The Giants have prominently featured four running backs this season, including Jennings and Vereen. Second-year man Andre Williams and rookie Orleans Darkwa have also received significant carries. But none of the four players distanced himself from the pack in the first 12 games of the season.

Before Monday night, the Giants’ individual single-game high for carries in a game was 14 (Williams in Week  3 against Washington), and the teams’ individual single-game high for yards was 56 (Vereen in Week  7 against Dallas).

So Jennings’ 22 carries and 81 yards Monday were a welcome sight for Coughlin. With some hard-nosed, bruising running in the Florida humidity, Jennings played his way into more touches. He turned 3-yard runs into 5 yards, and he laid some devastating blows on Miami defensive backs.

“It was obvious to us last night that some of the runs that Rashad made were outstanding runs,” Coughlin said Tuesday. “He did an awful lot of that himself, and he showed power at the end of the run.”

Initially Monday, the Giants went with the same running back rotation that’s become standard this season, with Jennings in for the first series, Williams in for the second and Vereen handling the third-down duties.

But after a botched exchange between Eli Manning and Williams on the Giants’ fifth drive led to a lost fumble and a Miami field goal, Williams took a seat on the bench. And though Darkwa received four touches — three carries and one catch — on a game-tying touchdown drive early in the third quarter, Jennings emerged as the go-to guy in the backfield in the second half, including on the Giants’ last possession of the game, when they ran out the final 4:39. He rushed five times on that clinching drive, including a crucial first-down run on third-and-2.

“There was no doubt that Rashad played well,” Coughlin said. “Through his performance and the fact that the run was contributing to what we were doing, he was the guy who was the most productive.”

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