Barkley’s star remains bright in Giants’ loss
Former Penn State star RB rushes for 107 yards, TD, but it’s not enough vs. Bills
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Saquon Barkley ran for 100 yards for the ninth time in his career and went over the 1,500-yard rushing mark in just the 18th game of his NFL career.
But another quality effort by the former Whitehall High and Penn State standout couldn’t produce a win for the New York Giants.
A mistake-prone offensive effort and another tough defensive day doomed the Giants in a 28-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium.
Barkley finished with 107 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 28 yards, but the Bills got rushing touchdowns from three different players and a crisp 19-for-30, 253-yard passing day from Josh Allen.
While the Bills won their second game in as many weeks at MetLife Stadium and wouldn’t mind making more trips from upstate New York, the Giants continued their struggles at home.
They have gone 2-6 in New Jersey each the past two seasons and lost their third straight home opener.
Barkley carried four times for 55 yards on the Giants’ opening drive and scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to give New York a 7-0 lead just 144 seconds into it. It was the second straight game the Giants moved the ball early.
But as was the case in a 35-17 season-opening loss in Dallas, it wouldn’t last.
The Giants wouldn’t score on their next seven possessions, while the Bills scored touchdowns on three straight drives to take command.
“We got off to a great start; I don’t think we could have asked for a better start in these first two games,” Barkley said. “But it’s the NFL and guys are going to make plays. The Bills made some adjustments and we adjusted off of that. We created drives later on in the game. We just have to finish them.”
Following the big first drive, Barkley had just 14 yards on his next five carries.
The Giants had fell behind 21-7 but had a chance to get back in it before halftime with drives to the Bills 29 and 21.
The first one stalled when Bennie Fowler couldn’t hold on after taking a hit and dropped an Eli Manning pass that would have converted a thirdand-nine. Alex Rosas then missed a 48-yard field.
The second threat ended with a tipped interception.
“We just have to execute better,” Barkley said. “Not getting any points there definitely hurt.”
Barkley, who had just 11 carries at Dallas, got an increased workload because the Giants were were without Sterling Shepard, who had six catches for 42 yards in the opener. He was out with a concussion. Rookie Darious Slayton (hamstring) and offseason signee Golden Tate (four-game suspension) are were both out.
Evan Engram had six catches for 48 yards, but the passing game never
stretched the field.
That was one reason the Giants converted just three of 12 third-down conversion attempts.
“We got into some third and longs,” Manning said. “They did a good job of batting balls. They did the same thing against the Jets. We saw that on film. They have a good defense and don’t give up many big plays.”
The Giants finally got back within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard TD pass from Manning to TJ Jones, but the Bills answered back with a 75-yard drive boosted by two Giants penalties. One of them was an unnecessary roughness call on a successful field goal try by Stephen Hauschka.
The Bills took the points off the board and turned the trey into seven.
The Giants never recovered.
Where do they go from here?
As part of the NFL’s 100-year celebration, the Giants honored their four Super Bowl championship teams at halftime with special appearances by New York legends such as Mark Bavaro, Mario Manningham, David Tyree, Mark Hostetler and others.
While these Giants don’t look anything like a championshipcaliber team, they remain confident of improvement.
“My confidence is not going to go away,” Barkley said. “My confidence and belief in this team never will go away. We have to believe in each other. That’s what we did in the second half of the season last year. We got back to team football and playing for one another. If we can get back to that, we can turn the season around.”
Asked if the team needed a mindset adjustment, Barkley said no.
“I am not concerned about the mindset or the belief or the confidence,” Barkley said. “All we need to do is get better. It’s a simple game. A lot of things go on, but it’s a simple game. It’s football. It’s whoever executes better. We have to turn it up to a notch. We have to be realistic with each other.”
When someone suggested the Giants are their own worst enemy, Barkley agreed.
“I don’t like saying that because I don’t like to take credit away from the other team and I would never take credit away from the other team,” Barkley said. “But a lot of it is on us. We keep saying it’s on us, and it’s true. We can’t just keep talking about it. We have to stop making mistakes. We have to start playing Giants football.”
The Giants play at Tampa Bay in a 4:05 p.m. Sunday and then come home for back-to-back games against Washington and Minnesota before traveling to New England for a Thursday night game on Oct. 10. They don’t face the Eagles until traveling to Lincoln Financial field on Dec. 9, a Monday night game.
Barkley by the numbers
Barkley’s 27-yard TD run was his first score of the season and the longest run of the game. He also had a 14-yard run and a 19-yard reception.
He has rushed for a first down in all 18 games of his career and has had at least six yards per carry in three straight games.
He has run for more than 100 yards in both of his Giants home openers and has had three straight 100-yard games overall.
His three receptions (on seven targets) gives him 98 catches in his career. He has had 18 straight games with at least two receptions.
On the season, has 227 yards on 29 carries (7.8 ypc) and seven catches for 47 yards.