Barber’s Scoring Runs Electrifying

The New York Giants have a running game again, and it’s called Thunder and Lightning.

Tiki Barber ran for career-best 144 yards and two touchdowns, including one for 78 yards, and Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne powered for 78 yards and a touchdown as the Giants beat the Arizona Cardinals, 21-16, on Sunday.

“There is nothing you can do to adjust to thunder and lightning,” said Barber, the lightning part of the tandem. “We have a good feeling about each other. If the offensive line continues to do what it did today and we don’t have injuries, we can do this all year.”

The only thing that stopped the Giants’ running game on Sunday was real thunder and lightning. A storm blew into the area at the start of the third quarter, and play was suspended for 23 minutes by referee Bill Carollo when a bolt of lightning was seen over the stadium.

Neither team looked particularly good in the season opener that pitted two coaches under fire. The Giants, under Jim Fassel, have missed the playoffs the last two years, while the Cardinals, under Vince Tobin, have gone to the playoffs only once in his four seasons.

The Giants had an advantage because of the Cardinals’ patchwork defensive line.

Simeon Rice is unsigned, and fellow defensive end Andre Wadsworth is still unable to play following knee surgery. Backup defensive end Thomas Burke is also sidelined because of a knee injury.

The Giants, whose 88.3-yard rushing average last season was their worst since 1953, exploited Arizona’s problem by rushing 41 times for 223 yards.

Barber, who last week referred to the backfield combination as thunder and lightning, scored both of his touchdowns in the first half--running almost as much on his 10-yarder as he did on the 78-yarder, the fourth-longest run in team history.

The 10-yarder started as a sweep to the right, and Barber realized when he got near the sideline there was nowhere to go. So he changed direction, avoided two Cardinals and circled back to the left, diving into the corner of the end zone at the pylon, capping a 10-play, 66-yard drive that gave New York a 7-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter.

The 78-yard run was much more direct. Barber went through a hole between the right tackle and guard, avoided a diving tackle by safety Pat Tillman and then outraced cornerbacks Tom Knight and Aeneas Williams to the end zone.

By halftime, Barber had surpassed his previous single-game best of 114 yards as a rookie in 1997.

The Giants intercepted three passes by Cardinal quarterback Jake Plummer and recovered his fumble deep in New York territory. Arizona was limited to 43 yards rushing.