With a leap from the 1-yard line into the end zone, Saquon Barkley gave the Giants their first lead of the game Sunday and thrust his season back toward normalcy.
The scenario was typical: a first-and-goal situation, a short-yardage opportunity that called for a team’s lead back to flip a game-long deficit and snap another losing streak.
But the past year turned that from a normal occurrence into one that kept evading the Giants, when Barkley missed all but two games last season with an ACL injury and then didn’t score in the Giants’ first two games this year.
Against the Falcons on Sunday, with the Giants trailing 7-6 early in the fourth quarter, Eli Penny plunged forward into the offensive line and created the gap Barkley followed, bouncing off defensive lineman Grady Jarrett’s chest but not before stretching the ball across the goal line.
Barkley’s first touchdown since Dec. 29, 2019 gave the Giants a lead that lasted until the Falcons scored with four minutes left to tie the game and then again in the final seconds to seal the visitors’ 17-14 victory. Barkley finished with 51 yards on 16 rushing attempts and six receptions — his most carries and catches since returning from the knee ailment. That re-emergence, along with the return of a balanced stat line reflecting contributions in both the rushing and passing attack, came when the Giants lost two of their top receivers, Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard, to hamstring injuries.
“There’s definitely more to go,” Barkley said. “I can see it, my teammates can see it, they’ve been telling me that it’s coming, I’m starting to look like myself again.”
But, Barkley added, he knew this role wasn’t going to be easy. It would take time to return from a year-long absence and finish reversing the trend of a franchise that won a total of 12 games between 2016 and 2019 after winning 11 in 2015. Then, after starting 0-5 last year, the Giants won six games, nearly took the NFC East’s playoff spot, and somehow, in a losing season, flashed some hope.
That all happened without Barkley, though. He got tripped up at the line of scrimmage against the Bears in Week 2, thrown to the ground again near the sideline, and tore his ACL in the process. Barkley didn’t play another snap and didn’t shed the non-contact jersey until just before the season opener. He then proceeded to run for 26 and 57 yards, respectively, in his team’s first two games.
But the Giants’ first series Sunday set the tone for Barkley to eclipse those numbers. He took a short screen pass from Jones and sprinted for 14 yards before following that five plays later with a 7-yard run. Near the end of the first quarter, he ripped off a 15-yard run that ended with the Falcons forcing him out of bounds — after he avoided Erik Harris’ ankle tackle to gain extra yards.
“I’d seen him have some productive runs right there,” head coach Joe Judge said postgame, when asked about Barkley’s ability to scamper through open holes.
After that play, though, Barkley remained on the sidelines as the quarter wound down. But Barkley returned to the team huddle to start the second quarter and took the next carry.
Barkley said after the game that he wasn’t hurt and got “hit somewhere uncomfortable,” in explaining why he briefly checked himself out. Judge said he didn’t notice Barkley looking injured or even checking out beyond the Giants planned backfield rotation.
On the Giants’ final drive, when they needed points to snap a tie and avoid giving Atlanta the ball back with time on the clock, Barkley touched the ball on four of eight plays. The final time came on another screen pass, when Jones dumped it to his left and Barkley sprinted up toward midfield on third-and-19. He broke into open space, gaining 10 yards but needing just one more block to get near the first-down marker — and possibly more.
But Ben Bredeson didn’t make full contact with his Atlanta defender on the block, and Barkley was tackled, pounding the ball on the turf as the two-minute warning approached.