Saquon Barkley knew Daniel Jones was out and saw Tyrod Taylor come off the field after a hit to his helmet. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what this all meant.
“I kind of realized …. I’m up next,” Barkley said, smiling. “I’m the quarterback.”
Yeah, he was the quarterback.
The 25-year old running back — lest we forget, that’s his main position — was called in for emergency duty Sunday in the fourth quarter of a game the Giants were leading — more like clinging to the lead — but were going to be challenged to get to the finish line in one piece. That they did, holding off the Bears 20-12 at MetLife Stadium, is a credit to many gritty things the Giants are about this season and also to the magnificence Barkley is showing in this year of decision for him.
When his team needed him most, Barkley took direct snaps as the quarterback and the Giants found a way.
“Like you were 8 years old playing with your friends,” Barkley said. “You’re just drawing it up. ‘I’m the quarterback, this is what we are going to do, this is how we’re going to do it.’ ”
This is the best start for the Giants (3-1) in quite some time. They were 5-0 in 2009 (and finished 8-8) and were 3-1 back in 2011 (and finished 9-7). With a trip to London in Week 5 for a game against the Packers, with two ailing quarterbacks and several other injuries, finding a way past the flawed Bears (2-2) was imperative.
They did it with a throwback showing on a day when the Giants were wearing their throwback uniforms from the 1980-99 era. They ran 44 times for 262 yards, led by Barkley, who carried it 31 times for 146 yards. Their quarterbacks also used their legs. Jones ran it six times for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor ran it three times for 30 yards. The passing game on a windy afternoon was beyond pedestrian. They completed three passes to wide receivers, for 25 yards.
But they won.
Jones, with 3:35 left in the third quarter, hurt his left ankle after he was hit by safety Jaquan Brisker on an 11-yard sack, coming up limping. He handed the ball to Barkley on the next two plays and Graham Gano then hit a 44-yard field goal for a 17-12 Giants lead.
Jones went to the sideline to have his ankle taped and lobbied to return but he could not move nearly well enough to protect himself.
“It’s frustrating,” Jones said. “Obviously you want to play and you want to be out there with your teammates at the end of the game where we’re fighting and trying to win.”
Jones was replaced by Taylor, the veteran backup signed for this exact situation. He did not last long. On his second series, Taylor ran 8 yards for a first down but was nailed with a hit to the helmet by cornerback Kyler Gordon. Taylor immediately came off the field and it was determined he sustained a concussion. There was 8:24 remaining and the Giants had gone through the two quarterbacks they had active for the game.
Head coach Brian Daboll on the sideline actually asked for a grease pad and went to work, diagramming plays along with offensive line coach Bobby Johnson from their time together with the Bills. There were Wildcat plays for Barkley in the game plan but Daboll saw the need to improvise in this dire situation.
“I just think that’s what you do in a leadership position,” Daboll said. “You don’t panic. You try to stay composed. You try to give people a plan that they can go out and execute and believe in when they need to do it.”
Barkley got the battlefield promotion. There were three running backs in the backfield and Jones returned to the field and lined up wide, as a wide receiver. Barkley out of the Wildcat formation handed the ball to running back Matt Breida, who picked up 13 yards. Barkley ran for 4 yards and Breida for 5. Gano’s 43-yard field goal gave the Giants an eight-point lead.
“I thought it was dope just seeing him back there and seeing the confidence in those guys knowing that they’re going to take over and nobody flinched,” rookie edge-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux said.
Khalil Herbert was stopped for no gain on third down by Tae Crowder and the Giants got the ball back with 3:04 remaining, backed up on their 3-yard line. Jones went behind center but could not move and was limited to handing the ball off to Barkley three times, forcing the Bears to burn their three timeouts.
Jamie Gillen punted from out of his own end zone, a booming 59-yarder that was muffed by rookie Velus Jones Jr. and recovered by Gary Brightwell with 2:01 remaining. Incredibly, Gano’s 37-yard attempt with 17 seconds left hit off the left upright, giving the Bears a few plays and a crazy bunch of last-play laterals as the fireworks went off prematurely before it ended.
“The biggest thing,” Barkley said, “it shows how gritty this team is.”
