Giants Game This Weekend: The Importance of Saquon Barkley

The NYG offense needs to be run through SB. If he doesn't have a good game it will be a long day.

needs to include more opportunities/plays for Brightwell and especially Breida. Both of these guys seem capable of contributing more than just giving Barkley a breather.

Jones and Barkley need to earn their next contract down the stretch.

We are going to see who rises up and who doesn't. No more excuses. Goes for all the players for that matter.

He was running decisive and hard, and it's just kind of stopped in the last couple of weeks. Is it a lack of trust in the new Oline combinations? I know a lot of people on here suggest he is hurt. Whatever it is 26 needs get downhill and we need to get him the ball.

and then we can drive ourselves crazy trying to figure it all out.

Lets also look at the games where Jones ran more QB bootlegs vs the games where he did not.

We may find some similar comparisons and may find that when we ask Jones to run more, we tend to win.

A defense that needs to hold the edge to protect against a Jones run will likely be softer in the middle making it easier for Barkley.

So, there is not just ONE thing and it is all intertwined.

and the Giants have so few offensive threats. But whether Saquon runs for 55 yards or 125 yards, the Giants will still likely be in a tight game nearing the end of the 4th QTR with team hovering around 20 points.

The difference in win or lose will more likely be Daniel Jones and whether he can come up big with his arm (and legs) given scoring opportunities or key 3rd down conversions during the game. If he can then they will score more than 20+ points and more than likely win. If not, then they will likely fall behind as the game progresses and Saquon will become even less meaningful.

with the interior strength of Washington.

Using SB as a decoy and letting Jones pull the ball and attack the edges may work better.

Or go back to some wildcat looks for Saquaon to atack the edge.

I would expect more 2 and 3 back sets as we lack playmakers at WR and TE so some wing jet

Confuse their defense, and how about a parcells inspired fake punt? The entire nature of the final games needs momentum, punch the ball out from their runners….hit their receivers so hard they get alligator arms….and win some games.

In the games where he is featured early and often, they seem to have much better success moving the ball. Stop using him as a decoy, stop going to him on playaction when he's hardly run the ball, the defense isn't being fooled by anything.

Could be the shoulder. At any rate, I’d play more Breida and Brightwell in the first half. Brightwell is a hard runner and, like BJac, can loosen up the DLine in the first half. Second half let Barkley do his thing moreso. I’m thinking how the Giants used BJac and Bradshaw with TC as coach.

dominated. I guess he could decisively run into the stomach of a DL player, or up the butt of the OL player being pushed into the backfield.

Or we could open it up and ride the arm of Daniel Jones (ducking now).

It better not be SB's game on Sunday. Why not? Because he's hurt and can't carry the load the way he did earlier in the season. It's been discussed endlessly on BBI — Is Saquon hurt? Some say yes, some say no. — but it's pretty obvious that he's hurt and the coaches know it. When, in the radio pregame show before the Thanksgiving game, Paul Dottino is going on and on about how it has to be Saquon, Saquon, Saquon if the Giants are to win, and then Saquon gets NO touches on the first two series, that's a dead giveaway that the coaches know he can't handle a full workload.

I don't know what's up with his shoulder but he had too many carries in a couple of games earlier this season.

And if Saquon is severely limited and/or incapable of being his usual self, that means the Giants are in big trouble, because they don't have enough weapons to make up the difference.

Personally, I think the Giants are sort of regressing to the mean. They overachieved, and they played great for a undermanned squad, but what they did was probably not sustainable over a 17-game season, due to normal attrition and wear-and-tear. Add in the abnormal number of games lost to injury that the Giants ALWAYS have, and that kneecapped them.

It's already been a pretty successful season in my view. It will be a big disappointment if they don't make the playoffs, but this team, as presently constitututed, isn't going anywhere in the playoffs anyway. If you'd told me they'd have 7 wins by the end of November, I'd have signed up for that in a minute. Are they likely to collapse? Yes. Will that ruin the season? Eh, not really. The team is rebuilding, the 2022 wins are gravy. The improvement in the roster is the meal.

I'm pretty much in accord with your thinking.

In comment 15925747 81_Great_Dane said:

Quote:

It better not be SB's game on Sunday. Why not? Because he's hurt and can't carry the load the way he did earlier in the season. It's been discussed endlessly on BBI — Is Saquon hurt? Some say yes, some say no. — but it's pretty obvious that he's hurt and the coaches know it. When, in the radio pregame show before the Thanksgiving game, Paul Dottino is going on and on about how it has to be Saquon, Saquon, Saquon if the Giants are to win, and then Saquon gets NO touches on the first two series, that's a dead giveaway that the coaches know he can't handle a full workload. I don't know what's up with his shoulder but he had too many carries in a couple of games earlier this season. And if Saquon is severely limited and/or incapable of being his usual self, that means the Giants are in big trouble, because they don't have enough weapons to make up the difference. Personally, I think the Giants are sort of regressing to the mean. They overachieved, and they played great for a undermanned squad, but what they did was probably not sustainable over a 17-game season, due to normal attrition and wear-and-tear. Add in the abnormal number of games lost to injury that the Giants ALWAYS have, and that kneecapped them. It's already been a pretty successful season in my view. It will be a big disappointment if they don't make the playoffs, but this team, as presently constitututed, isn't going anywhere in the playoffs anyway. If you'd told me they'd have 7 wins by the end of November, I'd have signed up for that in a minute. Are they likely to collapse? Yes. Will that ruin the season? Eh, not really. The team is rebuilding, the 2022 wins are gravy. The improvement in the roster is the meal.

+1

Because he's the only thing we have on offense. WFT will focus everything on stopping him. I'd be surprised if we get consistent production, but hopefully he can break a couple long ones.

At some point defenses are going to stop the bootlegs too and then we're going to be in a lot of trouble. But the coaches keep coming up with a few new tricks every week.

Ultimately I don't see us scoring much more than 20, so like most of our games it will come down to a handful of key plays.

to stop Barkley, and it is working. The Giants see it and still run up the middle into strength of the defense. Perhaps some different play calling may help. If the do that against the Commies they will get crushed!

+1.

When I looked at the schedule in August, my thought was we would stack up a few wins in the beginning of the year, BBI would get over their skis disregarding the weakness of the opponents, then would have some troubles later on as they played better teams. I also predicted the Commies would be a surprise team (Rivera knows what he is doing).

The surprise in all of this is how good the coaching has been. We may be facing a losing steak in a few weeks and my opinion of the coaches won’t change as a result. We have ourselves a staff.

he likely separated his shoulder in the Packers game

In comment 15926186 ryanmkeane said:

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he likely separated his shoulder in the Packers game

Barkley had two of his best games rushing after the Green Bay game - 110 v Jax and 152 v Houston. He also had 83 v Baltimore the week after the Green Bay game.

I find it more interesting that Barkley has had his two poorest games after reports surfaced that Team SB and Jints Central were in contract talks.

It seems pretty clear he's dealing with something. The meds only go so far.

Gotta be coincidental
.

In comment 15926367 cosmicj said:

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Gotta be coincidental .

I wouldn't say demotivated. Maybe playing more cautiously...

Let's be honest. SB has a lot riding on the line.

The problem with that theory is that Houston was after the bye week.