Get an early lead. Don't turn the ball over. Control the clock.
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As the midseason addition to the backfield churned out half of his 20 attempts in the fourth quarter, the Giants grinded out a 15-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in a game with zero offensive touchdowns.
"It's definitely my game," Hillis said. "A lot there towards the end I wasn't worried as much about running as I was holding onto the football -- I think that will show there on film -- but we got the win. We got the win away in a tough environment and in the division. That's all you can ask for."
Rookie running back Michael Cox made his first career start at running back and saw action on first and second down before Hillis, who signed with the Giants two weeks ago, carried the load on third down and short-yardage situations.
But in the fourth quarter it was all in the hands of the veteran, particularly when the Eagles made it interesting with a special teams touchdown off a botched long snap with four minutes left in the game.
Leading by eight on the ensuing drive, the Giants went to Hillis on five of the next six plays to bleed the clock and leave just 27 seconds for the Eagles to make a comeback. They wouldn't as quarterback Matt Barkley was intercepted by safety Will Hill, setting up Eli Manning and the offense to take a knee in the victory formation.
Hillis led all rushers with 20 attempts for 70 yards with a long of nine yards. It wasn't anything flashy, but it was good enough for a win and 22 yards more than Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy, the NFL's leading rusher heading into Sunday. The Giants finished with 88 total rushing yards on 31 carries and most importantly did not turn the ball over on offense.
This all comes 11 days after Hillis signed with the Giants and a month after he was spending his days hunting and contemplating his future in the NFL.
"I felt good," Hillis said. "I felt a little bit better today than I did last week, but I've still got a lot more to go and I think this bye week will help me recover and stuff like that. I was happy to be out here. It's so great to get a win and go into the bye with these guys, with these coaches. It's like a dream come true."
