Ahmad Bradshaw Injury: RBs Foot Will Keep New York Giants from NFC East Crown

The Giants sit at 5-2 right now, two games atop the NFC East. But the team that's dealt with serious injuries since before the season is now being forced to deal with another one, running back Ahmad Bradshaw. 

Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the cracked bone in Bradshaw's foot will have him out indefinitely. 

Bradshaw has 440 yards rushing this year with five touchdowns. He's also caught 24 passes for 210 yards and one touchdown. 

Brandon Jacobs is second on the Giants in rushing yards and will likely receive the bulk of the carries in Bradshaw's absence. Jacobs is a capable running back, but he's no longer a guy that you want handling the bulk of the load. 

The advantage that the Giants have is that they are currently two games ahead. But that's not a huge deficit for an Eagles' team that's finally playing to its potential. Even the Cowboys are only two games back and have the talent to make a good run.

All of that could be overlooked, but this can't. Take a look at the Giants' schedule for the rest of the season.

Date	Opponent	Present Record of Opponent
November 6	at New England Patriots	5-2
November 13	at San Francisco 49ers	6-1
November 20	Philadelphia Eagles	3-4
November 28	at New Orleans Saints	5-3
December 4	Green Bay Packers	7-0
December 11	at Dallas Cowboys	3-4
December 18	Washington Redskins	3-4
December 24	at New York Jets	4-3
January 1	vs. Dallas Cowboys	3-4

Obviously, the game against the Jets isn't a true road game. But that's a tough game either way. The Giants are 5-2 right now. But look at that schedule. Would it surprise anyone if they didn't even get to .500 this year?

That is a brutal back half schedule. Given the injuries they have had to deal with already and the loss of Bradshaw, the Giants' chances really don't look that good. 

Every team in the division is two games behind them. Now, the Redskins are on a slide and also injury prone, so we can eliminate them. 

But I am not willing to count the Eagles or Cowboys out. 

That schedule would be tough enough to manage with a completely healthy team. The Giants aren't completely healthy, and it's only getting worse.