By James Kratch | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Dustin Bradford | Getty Images

Ben McAdoo and Mike Sullivan are now even.

Sullivan, the Giants' offensive coordinator, called the team's plays during Sunday's 12-9 overtime win over the Chiefs. It was his fifth straight game as the play caller, which means he has now called the Giants' plays in as many games as head coach Ben McAdoo has in 2017.

McAdoo called the plays for the first five games, but handed the duties over to Sullivan after the Giants stumbled to an 0-5 start. Sullivan's first day as play caller came in the Giants' only other win of the season, a 23-10 triumph at the Broncos in Week 6.

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Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports

McAdoo has been adamant it was his decision, and his alone. Co-owner Steve Tisch seemed to insinuate McAdoo, who called the plays in 2014-15 as the Giants' offensive coordinator and then for the entirety of the 2016 season as a first-year head coach, got a friendly nudge from above. But co-owner John Mara and McAdoo both shot such assertions down.

No matter who made the decision, it was made. And now the Giants have a large-enough sample size to start examining whether the change was worth it or not, specifically allowing McAdoo to focus on being head coach alone. McAdoo said on a Monday evening conference call he is pleased with how things have worked.

"I think Sully has done a tremendous job there calling it. It’s not an easy chore," McAdoo said. "We’re making some progress, especially in the run game. He sticks to the run, which I like."

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Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports

How exactly have things changed since the transition from McAdoo to Sullivan? With 10 games in the books, NJ Advance Media examined the Giants' offense to find out where things have gotten better, where they've gotten worse, and what has stayed the same. Some of the changes are undoubtedly due to the injuries that have hit the offense, but others are a clear sign of Sullivan transforming the attack.

Here's a closer look at what we found:

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HOW IT'S BETTER

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Commitment to the run:

Perhaps the biggest change since Sullivan has taken over as offensive coordinator: The Giants have reinvented themselves as a run-first team. Partly out of necessity with players like Odell Beckham Jr. out for the year, and partly out of identity.

The Giants had 100 rushes in the five games McAdoo called plays, but they’ve had 130 since Sullivan took over – an increase of six rushes a game. The Giants have rushed for 100-plus yards as a team in four of the five games Sullivan has called plays. They had done that just nine times in the 21 regular games McAdoo called plays as head coach.

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Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports

The Giants have accounted for 58 percent of their season rush offense in the last five games, and their rushing attack has accounted for 36.5 percent of their offensive output with Sullivan calling plays. It was just 23.8 percent with McAdoo calling plays.

The Giants have struck a 56-44 pass-to-run balance with Sullivan calling plays. It was 66-34 with McAdoo, who had a tendency to abandon the run in the second half of games. Sullivan has not been as inclined to do so.

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They've won:

Broad strokes here, but the Giants were 0-5 when McAdoo called the plays. They are 2-3 when Sullivan calls them. That being said, the Giants lost three games by five points or less when McAdoo was calling plays. Their three losses with Sullivan calling plays have all come by 10-plus points.

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Eli Manning's interceptions:

Lost in all the debate about the veteran quarterback’s play and future: He has thrown just six interceptions through 10 games, which is tied for the fewest he’s ever had through the first 10 games as a full-time starter (he also had six in 2015). Manning has thrown just one interception in the five games Sullivan has called plays. He’s struggled with fumbles, though, but that’s not on Sullivan or McAdoo. Manning has never thrown for fewer than 10 interceptions in a full 16-game season in his career. He’s on pace to throw 9.6 this year. Can he hit the under?

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Time of possession:

It’s a byproduct of the run game emphasis: The Giants have done a better job of controlling the clock with Sullivan calling plays. The Giants’ average time of possession with McAdoo calling plays was 27:35, but it has grown to 29:18 with Sullivan calling plays. The Giants are just 29th in the league for the season at 28:04, but they would be 20th at their rate with Sullivan.

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Formation diversity:

The Giants have curbed their 11-personnel (three receivers, one tight end, one running back) inclination since Sullivan took over as play caller. The Giants averaged about 70 percent of their offensive snaps out of the formation in the five games McAdoo called plays this year (and it was a league-leading 92 percent in 2016).

It’s been just about 46 percent on average each week since Sullivan started calling plays, and they’ve begun to use more 12-personnel (two tight ends, two receivers, one back) and 13-personnel (three tight ends, one back, one receiver). The Giants have also used more 21-personnel (two backs, two receivers, one tight end).

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Bill Kostroun | AP Photo

Injuries have undoubtedly played a factor in the Giants using more formations. It is worth noting that they ran 70 percent 11-personnel against the 49ers with a healthy Sterling Shepard in the lineup, but the second-highest percentage in the other four games Sullivan has called plays is 56 percent (in the loss to the Seahawks).

In the Giants’ two wins, they’ve relied most heavily on 12-personnel (72 percent vs. Broncos) and a balanced approach against the Chiefs. The Giants used 11-personnel 39 percent of the time against Kansas City, with 12-personnel 34 percent of the time and 13-personnel 24 percent of the time.

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Red zone offense:

The Giants are 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) in the red zone with Sullivan calling plays, and 6-for-12 (50) with McAdoo calling plays. Manning has been sensational in the red zone this season and leads the league in some categories.

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Now, now, Alex...that's not nice. He is 21/30 (70%) with 11 TD, 0 INT in the Red Zone this year, after all. — NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 20, 2017

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HOW IT'S WORSE

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Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports

Production:

Injuries have undoubtedly played a part, but the Giants’ offense has struggled to produce in Sullivan’s five games calling plays. They are averaging four fewer first downs a game and about 36 yards fewer a game. Eli Manning has not completed more than 58 percent of his passes in the last five games after doing so in the first five, although drops have hurt him.

The Giants ran 346 offensive plays with McAdoo calling plays. They’ve had 306 with Sullvan calling plays – so eight fewer a game. The Giants averaged 4.71 yards per play with McAdoo; they are at 4.74 with Sullivan, so that area has seen a slight uptick, but barely.

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Wild stuff:

This is a one-week takeaway (for now), but the gadget plays on the opening drive against the Chiefs were overkill. It’s fine to throw out a weird formation with the tackles split out wide. It’s fine to experiment with a halfback pass. But don’t do it on the same drive, in windy conditions, after you’ve already faked a punt.

The Giants should have scored on their first drive; instead they left the red zone with a turnover and no points. If Kansas City had gone down the field and scored, it could have been a different game. The Giants will be an underdog for most of the final six games, and sometimes they will need to take chances to even the playing field. But going to the gimmick well too often never works. They need to make sure they aren’t trying trick plays for the sake of trying them.

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Third down:

The Giants were 24-for-66 on third down with McAdoo calling plays, converting at a 36.3 percent clip. They are just 22-for-69 (31.8) with Sullivan calling plays. Personnel could speak to the drop-off though.

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HOW IT REALLY HASN'T CHANGED

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Bill Kostroun | AP Photo

They still can't score:

When McAdoo called plays, he (for the most part) had everyone healthy. There were injuries here and there, but the full weight of the injuries wasn’t really felt until Sullivan took over. But the Giants scored 82 points (16.4 per game) with McAdoo calling plays, and they’ve scored 80 (16 per) with Sullivan calling plays.

The Giants scored 20-plus points with McAdoo calling the plays three times, but only twice with Sullivan. Both play-callers were held under 10 points in one game. The Giants have not scored more than 24 points in their last 15 regular season games dating back to last year.

The Giants are currently the NFL’s 30th-ranked scoring offense at 16.2 points per game. Only the Dolphins (15.7) and Browns (15) are worse. The Bengals (16.9) are the only other team that has averaged fewer than 17 points a game.

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Explosive plays:

The Giants had nine pass plays go for 20-plus yards and 12 runs of 10-plus yards with McAdoo calling plays. They’ve had 10 and 13, respectively, with Sullivan calling plays.

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Protecting the Duke:

The Giants turned the ball over six times with McAdoo calling plays. They’ve turned it over six times with Sullivan calling plays. Both play-callers had one game with no turnovers. The Giants turned it over twice in two games with McAdoo, but half of their turnovers came in a three-takeaway effort by the Rams with Sullivan calling plays.

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Studs and duds from Giants' win over Chiefs

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THESE NUMBERS ARE SCARY, NO MATTER THE PLAY-CALLER

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File photo

The Giants have scored 162 points through 10 games. The franchise-low for points scored in a 16-game regular season is 237 during the 1979 season. It's not likely the Giants can beat that mark, but it's not impossible to imagine either. The Giants are averaging about 16 points per game, and they'd need to average about 12.3 to come in under 237.

The Giants have never finished lower than 30th in the league in points scored. They achieved that feat in 2003 during Jim Fassel's last season as head coach. The Giants are on pace to have a point differential of minus-136, which would be tied for the fifth-worst in franchise history and the worst since 2003.

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James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.