Beckham, Barkley post big test for stout defense
Despite their history, Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman wasn’t wading into any Odell Beckham Jr. drama this week. But his Redskins do have the challenge of trying to shut down the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history, as well as the most highly touted rookie running back in years, when they visit the New York Giants today.
“He’s an explosive guy,” Norman said. "He always wants the ball. You can see that. He’s a specimen to where, the ball’s in the air, he wants it. You can tell that. You go out there and you try to win the game. Seek and destroy. Whatever it is. But some things always get taken a little bit left, and you have to go there. Don’t want to, but that’s just how the game goes for you, and you just have to play within that game.”
The Giants are 1-6, but their offense has serious play-making ability. Beckham and rookie Saquon Barkley are one of the NFL’s best wide receiver-running back tandems. Barkley is fourth in the league with 481 rushing yards and tied for fifth with five rushing touchdowns. His seven rushes of 20plus yards are a league high, and his three runs of 40-plus yards are tied for the best.
“I think the teams that he had those runs against, they had their eye out on him," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "It’s just hard. He’s a great player. All the great backs in the history of the league, they’ve always been accounted for. They just make people miss in the hole. Sometimes free hitters, you have the gaps covered and he cuts it back, and one free player has to make that tackle, but he jump-cuts out of you. He runs you over. He stiff-arms you, and then all hell breaks loose. So we have to do a great job of wrapping him up, hold him up and then, like I said, always you have to pursue to the football.”
Beckham’s 649 receiving yards rank fourth in the league, but his two touchdowns through seven games put him on pace for a career low in a full season.
The Redskins have shined against the run, slowing David Johnson, Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffery and Ezekiel Elliott to rank third in the NFL at 87.3 rushing yards against per game. But the combination of Barkley and Beckham makes Sunday’s matchup a little different.
“That’s the defensive coordinator’s problem and nightmare," Gruden said with a laugh. "It’s good that our front is doing a very good job against the run without having to bring a lot of safeties in a lot of times, but Saquon is a different guy. He’s a combination of Kamara, who can catch it out of the backfield, and the quickness of Zeke Elliott.” twitter.com/kareemcopeland