Cool running
BARKLEY, GIANTS BREAK OUT FOR 2ND WIN IN ROW
The Giants and Buccaneers both made cases Sunday for being the more frustrating 3-7 NFL team through 11 weeks, which is scary to think, because Tampa Bay is an absolute mess.
But the Giants had some- thing the Bucs didn’t at MetLife Stadium: The Giants had Saquon Barkley.
“He’s beyond special,” Landon Collins said of the rookie, who looked nothing like one.
Barkley bounded and burst past the Bucs all afternoon, 233 pounds of power and torque that Jason PierrePaul’s new squad had little answer for in the Giants’ second straight victory, 38-35 over the Bucs.
Pat Shurmur said he challenged the elusive Barkley to get tough yards inside early, and Barkley embraced the challenge and said establishing his physical presence helped him gain steam for a career-high 27 rushes,142 yards and three total touchdowns.
“You take it personally. You know that they brought you in here for a reason and you have to get better,” Barkley said of Shurmur’s challenge. “That’s how I take it. I didn’t really change anything today besides my pace. I got a feel for the running game and the offensive line, and I think I found a pace that I liked. They challenged me to do that, and I did that today.”
As impressive as Barkley was, though, what also stood out was how much his performance and presence opened up opportunities for others in key spots.
Evan Engram’s 54-yard catch-and-run from Eli Manning on the Giants’ pivotal fourth quarter drive, for example, was possible because the Buccaneers’ linebackers had to play low out of respect for Barkley.
The rookie running back finished the drive off with three runs for 11 yards, capped by a two-yard TD run to create just enough breathing room at 38-28 and bail out Big Blue’s ailing defense.
“When we’re running the ball like we did, those ’backers have to commit, have to show respect,” Engram said. “So they step up, I’m able to just use my ability to get past them, Eli puts the ball in a perfect spot, and I’m there.”
In San Francisco last Monday night, a Barkley route out of the backfield also had drawn defenders and opened a window downfield for a 31yard Engram catch on the game-winning touchdown dive.
The other major difference in Sunday’s win, obviously, was Manning’s efficiency at a career-high 94.4 completion percentage (17-of-18, 231 yards, two TDs), while Ryan Fitzpatrick was busy having a catch with the Giants’ defenders until Jameis Winston replaced him and led a furious Buccaneer comeback.
And Manning deserves credit for delivering the ball on the money almost all day, including his 41-yard completion to Odell Beckham Jr. on the opening touchdown drive, which was an absolute dime.
That play action call, though, also was perfectly set up by Barkley runs of eight, one and six yards to open the game with a bang. And hey, what do you know? This is what a real NFL offense looks like.
The Giant fans recognized this, too, with a loud ovation at the end of the first quarter. Finally, they said.
“It puts a charge in everybody, I think,” said right guard Jamon Brown, the ex-L.A. Ram who is 2-0 as a Giant since his trade deadline waiver claim. “When you feel (Barkley’s) energy and you feel the big boys up front? Then I think everyone falls in line, and then the confidence goes, boop, out the roof. Then you start hitting big plays in the pass game and playing offensive football.”
The Giants unfortunately made enough mistakes on Sunday, still, to dispel any notion that Beckham’s prediction of an eight-game winning streak and a playoff berth could come to pass.
The defense allowed four straight touchdown drives to Winston’s offense in the second half as the home team’s 31-14 early fourth-quarter lead evaporated, surrendering almost 10 yards per play during that stretch (29 snaps, 282 yards, 9.7 average Tampa gain). The Bucs’ defense is bad, so the Giants’ own scoring output is relative. And Manning’s offense went three-and-out twice in the fourth.
Collins insisted: “We’ve got it in our mindset that maybe we can make a run. We’re trying to do that.” That’s still unthinkable even in a weak NFC East with Washington (6-4), Dallas (5-5) and Philadelphia (4-6) ahead, and Alex Smith out for the year in the nation’s capital.
But Shurmur’s Giants can make progress in ways other than doing the impossible, and they have. And Barkley and his 5.3 yards-per-carry average were the face of that on Sunday.
Barkley, remember, was slipping all over the place last Monday at San Francisco and had to change his cleats in the second quarter. And now we know why Barkley said midweek, “I have to be a better pro:” It turns out Shurmur spoke to Barkley about failing to be properly prepared in Week 10.
“We had a little seminar on how to pick the right shoes so nobody would be slipping,” Shurmur said. “It’s like, they gotta figure out what shoes to wear. And he didn’t slip today. So that was good.”
Shurmur also is Barkley’s biggest fan, though, because of how the dynamic back’s versatility complements and opens Shurmur’s playbook. The coach said Barkley is impressively “coachable” for such a talented player, and it’s no coincidence that as Saquon strutted upfield in the second half, stutter-stepping once like a runner who knows it’s his day, the Giants were running up the score.
The Giants scored 38 points for the first time since a 52-49 loss at New Orleans on Nov. 1, 2015, and they won two in a row for the first time since since Weeks 14 and 15 of the 2016 season (vs. Dallas, Detroit).
So when Shurmur was asked if he was concerned how tough yards might beat up Barkley’s body, the head coach said with a smirk: “Two or three years from now, we can revisit that. We’ll see.”
Translation? You just saw our recipe for success: Feed Saquon, and let the rest fall into place.