Not a hot take, just a fact.
In the 6 drives they held after Barkley left the field, if you exclude the short field after the Bradberry turnover, they averaged 44 yards per drive.
In the three drives with Barkley in the game, 17 yards per drive.
Without Barkley, 13 points, with Barkley 0 points.
This is coming off of a game where he finished at 6 yards on 15 carries.
I don't think the team is better without Barkley, I want to make that abundantly clear, but I do think his departure turned this offense into the best version of itself, which is a quick strike passing attack led by Daniel Jones, with the run being used a as a change of pace.
With Saquon, there is a constant urge to feed him to the ball because he can do something special on every play. It's not dissimilar to what happens to NBA teams when the star player gets hurt. The ball gets spread around, players take open shots, the team as a whole sees more success.
The Giants have a rookie LT, an unproven position switch at C, a stopgap RT, Zeitler, who has been extremely steady has had a few whiffs this season already, and Evan Engram's struggles blocking have been well documented as well.
But to channel Joe Judge "Tell me what we do have". And that's three above average to good slot receivers in Tate, Sheppard and Evan Engram, and a promising deep threat in Slayton. All manned by an athletic, accurate QB who is great when getting the ball out quickly, but struggles when he has too much time in the pocket.
The Giants will probably miss the playoffs, maybe badly, but to give themselves the best chance of being successful they need to fully give Daniel Jones the keys and let him be the focal point.
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
What holes? Lewis averaged worse than Barkley - the offense stopped being beholden to the run.
Through the 2 games the QB is the leading rusher - on non-designed runs.
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
Those holes were probably there because Barkley got hurt. I imagine the CHI D stopped playing with 8+ men in the box once SB went out.
The bigger question is, why couldn't the Giants exploit the stacked boxes with play action and the vertical passing game more while SB was still in there?
Quote:
but where were those holes for Barkley week 1 or when he played yesterday?
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
Those holes were probably there because Barkley got hurt. I imagine the CHI D stopped playing with 8+ men in the box once SB went out.
The bigger question is, why couldn't the Giants exploit the stacked boxes with play action and the vertical passing game more while SB was still in there?
This is basically my exact point. There should never be 8 men in the box with this team. Its advantage is the weapons on the outside and in the slot. We should be Chiefs lite, not trying to re-create smashmouth football.
In the immediate future I think it creates some unknowns for the opposing defenses that may allow for more "taking what the defense gives us" where the offense can move the ball. Long term however we are going to produce less overall yardage, less big plays, and less TD's than if Saquon were healthy. That's not to say they can't still be a productive offense, but it will be less productive than it would have been even if they find some productively quicker than we think and put up more points vs. the 49ers than they have in the first 2 games.
I expect that the 49ers will try to take away Slayton and Engram, pressure Jones and make the Giants run the ball with Lewis, Gallman, or whoever.
Gallman is a solid backup when he's not fumbling. Lewis is versatile. It's not an outstanding unit, but it's adequate. And maybe Devonta Freeman or another vet can add something.
The Giants ran eight offensive plays yesterday before Barkley was injured. EIGHT. Well, 9 if you include the play he was injured on.
Last week the Steelers committed their entire defensive gameplan to stop Barkley...8, 9 man boxes all game.
Also, within those 9 plays, Barkley was stuffed for -1 yard, ran for a 5 yard gain, ran for an 18 yard gain, and then ran for a 6 yard gain on the play he went down on. So he touched the ball four times, gained 28 yards.
On the other 5 offensive plays prior to him getting hurt, here's how that went:
5-yard pass to Shepard, Sack-Fumble by Jones, incomplete pass to Shepard, incomplete pass to Shepard, and a run for no gain by Dion Lewis.
So another way of looking at this is that while Saquon was in the game, the Giants got 28 yards of offense from him on 4 plays, and 5 yards of offense and a turnover on plays that didn't involve him.
I don't think we can safely take away any conclusions from the first two games of this year, except one of the game's truly special talents was lost for the season, which is a blow not just to the Giants but for everyone who enjoys watching a great player play the game.
It's a title
I think the difference had more to do with Joe Judge's talk at half time.
Quote:
but where were those holes for Barkley week 1 or when he played yesterday?
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
What holes? Lewis averaged worse than Barkley - the offense stopped being beholden to the run.
Through the 2 games the QB is the leading rusher - on non-designed runs.
I saw more after he left the game than I did in the previous 4/5 quarters. But a lot of it is gameplan so its hard to pinpoint the reason.
Lewis isnt good so his YPC isn't a good barometer of our OL play. If we sign Freeman it would be a different story.
Quote:
In comment 14980553 UConn4523 said:
Quote:
but where were those holes for Barkley week 1 or when he played yesterday?
Its perfectly reasonable to think that this line will get better as the seasons progresses which would be great - I only wish that happened with 26 getting the ball.
Not really going to dig deeper than that since you can convince yourself of just about anything you want (not you specifically, just in general on what this all means).
What holes? Lewis averaged worse than Barkley - the offense stopped being beholden to the run.
Through the 2 games the QB is the leading rusher - on non-designed runs.
I saw more after he left the game than I did in the previous 4/5 quarters. But a lot of it is gameplan so its hard to pinpoint the reason.
Lewis isnt good so his YPC isn't a good barometer of our OL play. If we sign Freeman it would be a different story.
If you say so. I saw more holes while Barkley was still in there than after he was injured and overall not many holes at all for anyone to run through.
If you expand this line of thinking, where do you take it? Get rid of all all-pro skill position players and your team will be better?
If you expand this line of thinking, where do you take it? Get rid of all all-pro skill position players and your team will be better?
You're right, you shouldn't be "pressured". But some guys don't buy into what it takes to win, it's all about their stats and ego (Shockey, Beckham).
My thought too. His two previous runs were for over 20 yards between them. The OL was beginning to get it going
49ers have the time to adjust.
49ers have the time to adjust.
My opinion