One shining moment
Barkley briefly looked like himself on long 4th-quarter screen pass
Saquon Barkley weaved. He stutter-stepped. He sped through a lane. But he got tackled at the 11-yard line.
And the Giants offense stalled at that very spot.
Barkley hasn’t looked like his unstoppable self in the three games since he returned from injury, but there was one play Monday night that summoned his fullstrength greatness: A screen pass that covered 65 yards (because of the running back’s elusiveness) and put the Giants in position for a fourth-quarter tie.
Three straight incomplete passes brought the field-goal unit onto the field, however, and the Giants saw their final opportunity to avoid a fifth straight loss slip away in a 37-18 loss to the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.
“If I had an answer, I’d be able to tell you guys and we would know as a team,” Barkley said. “Things are not going our way right now. Can’t just cry about it. It’s part of football, part of your profession, part of your job.”
Barkley has never beaten the Cowboys and the contemporary with whom he most frequently shares company, Ezekiel Elliott.
Barkley managed 14 carries for 28 yards and six catches for 67 yards, including the big gainer. Meanwhile, Elliott methodically pounded his way to 139 yards on 23 carries.
“I feel like every time I touch the ball I have a chance to score,” Barkley said. “I broke free, got us in a good position, but obviously we weren’t able to put seven [points] on the board. We’ve had opportunities to win. We just have to capitalize on them.”
Of course, some of the running back comparison boils down to this: The Cowboys dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, as has become the theme in recent years of a one-sided rivalry.
The addition of defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Giants didn’t level the playing field against one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. And the Giants were bullied again by loudmouth passrusher DeMarcus Lawrence and friends, who capped the game with a late defensive touchdown.
Thirteen of Barkley’s 20 touches went for 3 yards or less, including two for no gain and three for lost yardage.
“It’s just one-man breakdowns here and there,” guard Will Hernandez said. “In order for the run game to work, you have to be very efficient. One-man breakdowns can cause the whole play to shut down. That’s the first thing we’re going to prioritize to get right.”
Barkley finished his 22nd career game with zero career lost fumbles on 508 combined rushes and receptions, an amazing stat amidst a humanizing first nine games of the season.
Barkley missed three games with a high ankle sprain, and then cost the Giants a touchdown last week with a brain lapse in the only identifiable weakness (pass blocking) in his skill set.
Even as he guts through any lingering pain at less than full strength, Barkley is his team’s best player. But for the Giants (2-7) to finish similar to last season — a 4-4 record in the final eight games to create some nowlong-gone optimism — he needs to be more than No. 1.