Depth part of Giants' greatness

While the Vikings celebrated, the Giants sort of shrugged as if they had just lost an exhibition.

In a way, they did.

"Nobody wants to lose," New York running back Derrick Ward said after Sunday's 20-19 loss at the Metrodome. "But nothing changed today. We are the No. 1 seed in the NFC. We did win the NFC East. We get a week off, and teams are going to have to come into Giants Stadium to beat us. That's pretty good."

Ward could have added that the Giants nearly beat the Vikings despite managing their personnel like it was Week 3 of the preseason. It took Giants third-string rookie cornerback Terrell Thomas falling on a 54-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian and Ryan Longwell's 50-yard field goal as time expired for the Vikings to come back and win.

Four starters -- cornerback Aaron Ross, nose tackle Barry Cofield, tight end Kevin Boss and leading rusher Brandon Jacobs -- were inactive. Reigning Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and right tackle Kareem McKenzie played only a half. Defensive end Justin Tuck left early in the third quarter. And others began following them to the bench after the Giants built a 16-10 lead about midway through the third quarter.

"I think [the playing time] worked out exactly the way we wanted it to," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "We had a lot of young guys play. Certainly that experience will be a good one going forward because many of them will be asked to step it up now."

The Giants (12-4) aren't concerned that they have now lost three times in the four weeks since receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg and was suspended by the team. They would rather point to the fact they finished the season 7-3 against an NFL-record 10 consecutive teams with winning records. They would also tell you that stretch included a 5-2 mark against playoff teams, and that they ran for 301 yards while wrapping up the No. 1 seed by beating No. 2 seed Carolina in Week 16.

The Giants miss Burress, but they can still win the Super Bowl without him because they have what might be the best running game in the long, run-first history of the rugged New York Football Giants. With 135 yards rushing against the Vikings, they finished the regular season with a franchise-record 2,518, breaking the previous mark of 2,451 set in 1985.

"It's a good thing to have," Manning said of the running game. "Teams know we're going to run and we're still able to go out and execute and run it well."

In breaking the team rushing record, the Giants also became the fifth NFL team to have two players rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. The 1972 Dolphins, 1976 Steelers, 1985 Browns and 2006 Falcons also did it.

Jacobs already had 1,089 yards before Sunday's game. Ward needed 52 and got 77 on 15 carries to finish with 1,025 and a 5.6-yard average.

"I didn't know where I stood until Brandon came up to me at halftime and told me I needed 5 yards," Ward said. "Brandon's the biggest, most emotional guy I ever met. He told me, 'Whatever you do, you get those 5 yards.' After I got it, he was the first to come up and congratulate me."

Jacobs praised Ward and thanked him for allowing him an extra week to rest his injured knee. "I'll be ready to go in the playoffs," Jacobs said. "No doubt about it."

Ward welcomes Jacobs' return.

"I think the two of us -- actually the three of us with Ahmad [Bradshaw] -- can be unstoppable when we get rolling," Ward said. "Hopefully, with Brandon well rested, we can get it rolling at the right time. Playoff time."

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com