Running-game numbers deceive
The supposed now-or-never referendum on Saquon Barkley and the Giants rushing attack forgot to take into account one possibility:
What if the score got so out of hand so early Sunday that all rushing stats were rendered hollow?
Saquon Barkley rushed for a season-high 64 yards, Devontae Booker ran for 56 yards in his increased role behind Barkley, fullback Eli Penny plowed in for a two-point conversion and the Giants averaged 5.2 yards per carry — all of which might be encouraging if not for how much of it came in garbage time of a 37-21 loss to the Chargers, Calif.
Facing the NFL’s second-worst rushing defense — the Chargers were allowing 141.2 yards per game on the ground — the Giants had nine carries for 33 yards (3.7 average) when facing a 17point halftime deficit and 16 carries for 69 yards (4.3) when facing a 23-point deficit at the end of three quarters. The final total was a meaningless 135 yards, including quarterback Mike Glennon’s 7-yard touchdown scramble.
“The run game was moving a little bit better today,” head coach Joe Judge said. “We got Saquon going and Book going a little bit.”
In two tailor-made first-half run situations to build confidence and take some pressure off Glennon, the Giants passed on a third-and-2 (with Barkley on the bench) and passed on a third-and-3. Both were incompletions leading to punts.
Then, in a spot where Barkley needs to step up, he took three straight handoffs and totaled 8 yards, leading to a punt. On the second of those three runs, he slipped for a 1-yard loss. It fed right into the disastrous final two minutes before halftime.
“I know coming into the week everyone was saying where their ranking was on defense, and I said, ‘It’s the NFL. They’ve got some studs over there,’” Barkley said. “We were able to get the run game going, but, at the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done.”
Barkley will bear the brunt of the heat because he managed 14 carries for 54 yards before the offense began padding numbers against soft-shell defense coverage designed to keep the ball in front of the secondary. He caught a fourth-quarter touchdown pass and finished with a team-high 95 yards from scrimmage in the best statistical performance of his four since returning from a four-game absence (ankle).
“I felt a little more explosive,” Barkley said. “Getting comfortable getting the rock.”
Six of Barkley’s first 14 carries went for 2 yards or fewer, including two losses, but there is plenty of blame to be shared among a general manager whose No. 1 priority — the offensive line — is in worse shape than when he arrived four years ago ... and the eight rotating offensive linemen who failed to create lanes ... as well as the defense and special teams that allowed the game to get out of reach ... and the coaching staff.
“It looks like they don’t even know who to block,” a league source recently said of the Giants, who started the season with four assistant coaches concentrating on the offensive line.