The Giants are in an early hole at 0-2 after a deflating loss to division rival Washington on Thursday night, leaving to question what kind of step forward, if any, New York is poised to take this season.
But Saquon Barkley wants to remind everyone that the season is still young, even if the excitement over a new season has already started to fade among Giants fans.
“There’s no need to panic,” Barkley said. “I know…everyone’s going ‘0-2, it’s a broken record, the Giants are doing this again,’ but at the end of the day, the only people we got is those guys in the locker room. We gotta look in each other’s faces and say ‘we gotta stop this.’”
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New York looked poised to even its record at 1-1 by taking the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but Washington and new starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke marched down the field before an offsides call awarded kicker Dustin Hopkins another try at a game-winning field goal, which he drilled from 43 yards out as time expired.
It was a painfully familiar sight for the Giants, who have let a seemingly endless amount of winnable games slip away over the last two seasons.
“We gotta figure out a way to stop it,” Barkley said. “When we get the opportunity to win games and finish games, we gotta capitalize.”
New York started last season with five straight losses, then went on to win five of its next seven, with the two losses coming by a combined three points, which was the difference in a playoff spot, as they fell one game short of Washington’s NFC East-leading seven wins. The Giants appear to be digging themselves another early hole, but Barkley is optimistic that there is still plenty of time to climb out of it and avoid a repeat of last season.
“It’s a 17-game season,” Barkley said. “There’s 17 games this year. There’s a long season ahead of us. Everything we want to accomplish is still out there.”
Barkley upped his touches from 10 on Sunday to 13 on Thursday, and did break off a 41-yard run, but logged just 16 yards on the ground otherwise. If the Giants are to turn things around, Barkley and the running game will have to be better, and Barkley is putting that on himself.
“It's important to get the run game going,” Barkley said. “That's what we gotta do. As a leader and the running back, that's on me. I'm just going to take that one right there. That’s just what it is.”
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