It’s questionable what the biggest play of the game was in the Giants’ 24-20 win over Baltimore Sunday, but one of those in the conversation is definitely the smartest.
Facing a second-and-five at the Ravens’ eight with 1:24 to go, Saquon Barkley took a hand-off, made a spin move to avoid traffic in the middle, and cut outside to a wide-open flat…and then slid down at the two-yard line:
Terrible for Barkley’s stats and his fantasy owners, who lost 6.2 points on what would’ve been a sure touchdown – but it was the correct move game-wise. As he went down with less than 80 seconds left and Baltimore had just one time out, the Giants only needed to kneel three times to secure a win.
That’s exactly what Big Blue did, and even though the Ravens called their final timeout after the first as a formality, Daniel Jones kneeled it twice more to salt the victory.
Of course, the most famous Giants moment of “probably shouldn’t have scored” – Ahmad Bradshaw falling backwards into the end zone in Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants down two – also worked out, but hey, the Giants are 5-1, and that’s what matters.
Unless you have Barkley in fantasy, which again, is why it is indeed NOT a game of skill!
