Hillis was stupendous last night (81 yards on 23 touches, 1 TD), especially considering the embarrassing dearth of blocking he was afforded against perhaps the best front seven in the NFL. The “Hillis Curse” has officially struck again and the “Juggernaut” who rushed for over 1,000-yards in 2010 (the first white man to do so since New England’s Craig James 25 years prior) showed flashes of his former invincibility.
He blocked very well on passing downs, he averaged 9 yards per reception (1 yard less per catch than Victor Cruz) out of the backfield, and he broke off some nice runs whenever afforded the slightest chance. The Giants should give Hillis more pitches, designed screen passes, runs over the tackles, and sweeps to get him in space more often.
It’s hard to believe what’s occurred over the past week for Hillis. I imagine he’s been humbled over the past three years and is desperate to regain his reputation for the little time he has left as an NFL player. Assuming he continues to be utilized in the fashion he was against the Vikings, I’d love to see the Giants win their remaining 10 games...
CAPTION: Hillis Thunderspike
CAPTION: Hillis Signals to DWF's After TD
As Don mentioned, ESPN’s oh-so-serious post-game crew (Suzy Kolber, Ray Lewis, Trent Dilfer, and Steve Young) were experiencing deep lamentations whilst attempting to describe the great injustice that was instituted against Josh Freeman (or as they continually referred to him:
“The Poor Kid”) in allowing him to start at QB a few weeks after being signed. Young and Dilfer were so passionate about the subject that each
analyst respectively fought back Casteon tears of humiliation in a Steve Mariucci-like manner as Ray Lewis mumbled barely-intelligible platitudes like:
“Maaan, it dun be too early for diz kid ta start fo duh Vikins” and
“He’z just a young kid who be tryin ta get hiz head right afta bein cut by da Bucs jus a few weeks ago.” Naturally, there was no actual mention of Freeman's countless off-target throws to open receivers and TE's.
The next Afrocentric “topic” on this crew’s Hillis-free collection of scripted talking points was the “atrocity” of Adrian Peterson playing for a losing team [gentle sobbing]. This time, Dilfer and Young deferred to the perma-inarticulate “Ray-Ray,” who again yielded his verbal banalities of how, if he were placed in Peterson’s position, he’d have been “driven insane” by his team’s ineptitude. What a nice teammate, huh? I know I’ve shed many tears for Peterson’s plight. I mean, who wouldn’t feel sorry for that poor, unfortunate, corporate multi-millionaire and his little dead son (whelped out by a sewer-level mudshark prostitute/stripper that Peterson barely knew) that he didn’t support, hardly ever met, and lived in another state? Fortunately, like Ray Lewis, at least Peterson has several other illegitimate spawn to replace him. An injury to this counterfeit “good guy,” opening the door for Gerhart to earn a big contract from another team in 2014, would be a well-deserved punishment.
