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Giants rookie running back Andre Williams struggled against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

((Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com))

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The preseason isn't the regular season. Over and over again, year after year, we're reminded of this statement.

Giants rookie running back Andre Williams is case and point No. 10,000,000 (or somewhere close to that). He looked so natural running the football in the preseason, averaging 5.1 yards per carry, and doing it with impressive speed and power.

For whatever reason, the success hasn't translsated to the regular season. With starter Rashad Jennings (knee) sidelined, Williams has struggled running the football, the one area the Giants thought he would prosper.

The Boston College product has averaged 3.1 yards per carry the first seven games of his rookie season. He had 51 yards on 18 rushes (2.8 ypc) in Sunday's 31-21 loss to the Cowboys, and not just because the offensive line didn't get the job done (although that was the case on a fair share of plays). Some of Williams' failures were actually self-inflicted.

The Giants trailed 7-0 late in the first quarter and had a first-and-10 from their own 37-yard line. They called for a handoff to Williams.

This could have been a big play. Williams took the handoff and followed his lead blocker, pulling tight end Larry Donnell, off the left guard. The play went for a three-yard gain.

There was opportunity for so much more. But Williams is still learning, and sometimes is trying to hit the holes too fast. It doesn't give his offensive line a chance. A cutback into the gaping hole to the right of guard John Jerry would have put Williams in position for a big gain. Instead, it was a pedestrian play and the Giants punted moments later.

"What he is going through, the process of right now, getting more carries and so on, is timing and rhythm with the offensive line. That's the bottom line," running backs coach Craig Johnson said earlier this week. "They block in a certain rhythm and a certain pace. He runs at a certain rhythm and a certain pace. Everybody's trying to mesh that together to make sure we have an effective running game."

Right now, with Williams as the running back, it's not there. The Heisman finalist is still trying to find his way.

On this play early in the second quarter, there is again a gaping hole. Williams is 1-on-1 with safety J.J. Wilcox with plenty of room to maneuver.

The running back needs to win in this situation. Williams, however, bowls right at Wilcox, who goes low, and only manages a three-yard gain.

In the third quarter, Williams' struggles continued. On this first-and-20 play, he takes a handoff and charges off right tackle. Dallas has three defenders out in that direction. There is a cutback lane, but Williams is in a rush and fails to recognize it as the better of the two options.

The result was a one-yard gain. The Giants were forced to punt several plays later. Those extra five or six yards on first down could have been the difference between a punt and field-goal attempt.

It was a long afternoon for the rookie running back, one he should be able to learn from moving forward. Williams is still getting comfortable in the Giants' zone-blocking running attack. He ran mostly in a power system at Boston College. The zone runs involve a but more patience and control.

This is why the Giants desperately need Jennings back next week against the Colts. Thankfully, he appears "right on track" for a return.

This isn't to say Williams didn't do some good things. He ran hard and was able to gain some yardage when it wasn't there. This run early in the second quarter — with two defenders meeting him at the line of scrimmage — turned into a six-yard gain.

Williams also ran over a defensive back on his 22-yard scamper early in the first half and held up well as a pass blocker in his two starts. So there are reasons for optimism moving forward, especially as a compliment to Jennings.

"He's done a good job with his pass protection, which I was concerned about because he wasn't asked to do that much in the past," Johnson said. "He's done a better job of catching the ball. He is obviously a heavy load; you've seen him a couple times move guys out of the hole. He's done it recently. I think he's done a good job, but he's a work in progress and he's not the finished product yet."

That was obvious on Sunday afternoon.

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The Giants didn't nearly produce enough pressure on Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. They didn't bring many extra bodies either.

The Giants blitzed on only six of 26 pass plays, and only twice did they bring more than five rushers. Here's the breakdown by player:



S Quintin Demps — 4

LB Jameel McClain — 2

LB Jon Beason — 1

LB Jacquian Williams — 1

On only one of the six plays did the Giants produce any sort of pressure.

Romo spun away from Demps and threw the ball out of bounds. He threw a touchdown on the very next play. It was a costly miss by the Giants, who appeared to try to stay away from committing extra men in order to protect their decimated secondary. It didn't work.

And when the Giants did decide to bring pressure late in the contest, Romo found star wide receiver Dez Bryant down the left sideline for a big play (when he was tackled at the 1-yard line) as he was locked in a 1-on-1 matchup with Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara. Both linebackers, McClain and Williams, blitzed on the play. Bryant made a difficult, leaping catch.

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Bryant took advantage of a 1-on-1 matchup with Giants cornerback Chandler Fenner on a game-changing play in the third quarter. But it wasn't the only time the Giants were stuck in that matchup.

Earlier in the contest, Fenner was matched opposite Bryant (with Amukamara temporarily out of the game). Fortunately for the Giants on this second quarter play, Dallas called for a run.

The Giants weren't so lucky in the third quarter, when Fenner ran onto the field late and seemed to be asking around for the defensive call moments before the snap.

Fenner only played four defensive snaps, but twice faced 1-on-1 matchups with Bryant. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell can't let that happen. The second-quarter play was the first defensive snap of Fenner's career.

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Other Notable Observations:

• Rookie left guard Weston Richburg has a really tough game. It wasn't that the sub-300-pounder was overpowered either. Richburg was beaten cleanly off the line on several plays. He even had a stretch of 4-5 rough plays, followed by a false start penalty. It wasn't the second-round pick's best game.

• While Fenner didn't thrive in his four snaps on defense, he did have some success on special teams as the gunner, including a big block in the second quarter.

• The Giants seem to have found something with Michael Cox as their kickoff returner. For the second straight game, Cox had some success on returns. His 40-yarder in Dallas was easily the Giants' longest return of the season.

• Even before starting middle linebacker Jon Beason left with a toe/foot injury, he was struggling to get off blocks. It was clear the toe was limiting what he was able to do on the field. It may be best for him to shut it down, either for a few weeks or the season.

• Cornerback Zack Bowman played a strong game in place of the injured Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who only appeared sparingly because of injury. Bowman was especially active against the run. This should earn him more playing time moving forward in a banged-up secondary.

• The Giants ran three screen plays for a total of minus-6 yards. They had an incompletion, a four-yard gain and a 10-yard holding penalty on wide receiver Rueben Randle. That is just not going to get it done. Even in their new West Coast offense, the Giants' struggles in the screen game have inexplicably continued.

Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.