Sunday was Saquon Barkley’s best game since returning from an ankle injury three weeks ago, but that “best” was 11 carries for 55 yards and six catches (on nine targets) for just 19 yards.
The Miami Dolphins clearly had stopping the run as a top priority on Sunday, understandable given the Giants were without two of their top playmakers and their starting quarterback, and the Dolphins have had one of the best rush defenses of late (sixth in the league with an 86.7 yards allowed average over their last three games).

“They’ve been on a streak the last seven or eight games, and been one of the top defenses in the league,” Barkley said. “They did a good job today.”
The problem, though, is that Barkley only got those 11 carries in a game that was close most of the way, and had the Giants already short-handed in the passing game, even though he averaged five yards per carry and the team averaged 5.4 – and that’s been a trend, not an aberration, as Barkley’s season highs are 16 carries and 57 yards.
“I mean, you know, we’re not producing in the run game right now so I can't be upset that I've got 11 carries. We're not doing anything,” Barkley said. “I'm not doing anything in the running game. I'm not affecting the game in that aspect. That kind of happens, especially when you get down and you play from behind.”
He did get nine targets, but of the three he missed, two were drops that he simply said were plays where “I have to make that catch,” and the third came late in the game where he had a chance for a game-breaking reception and just couldn’t get to the ball.
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“You know, we knew they were a big coverage zero team. We emptied it out and got me in a little position. They had a blown coverage, and we didn't make the play,” he said. “It touched my hands, and could have been a big play, but I failed. I didn't make the play.”
Not making plays is why the Giants have scored 10, 13, and nine points in their last three games since the bye, with Graham Gano accounting for 20 of those 32 and the others coming on touchdowns from an offensive lineman and a little-used tight end whose touchdown grab was his first career catch.
“That’s not acceptable. We’ve got to be better as a whole and capitalize on opportunities, starting with myself,” Barkley said. “We’re very tired (of not producing). We know we have to be better, and we haven’t been scoring touchdowns. The defense is playing lights out and we’re not doing it on our side.”
Barkley noted he thinks the defense is “annoyed” because the offense isn’t holding up their end of the bargain…but what he wouldn’t buy into is that those in the fan base and/or the media who think his lack of production is because he’s no longer the same player he was before his ACL injury last season are right.
“It’s week whatever in the NFL, no one is 100 percent physically. That’s their opinion, but I know I am,” Barkley exhorted.
Still, he’s just as perplexed as anyone as to why, regardless of the coordinator shuffle and all the injuries, an offense with as many playmakers as the Giants have is struggling so much, but he’s not going to dwell on it.
“It's part of the game. I guess we're in a slump right now, talking personally, myself. And I could either sit down and cry about it and give up, or go back to work and keep working and keep figuring it out,” he said. “I’m going to go back to work, put my head down and keep working, keep leading and keep trying my best.”
Next week brings a tough task in Los Angeles as it is, one made perhaps even tougher with the news that Mike Glennon suffered a concussion in Miami and the Giants might have to start newly-signed Jake Fromm.
The team is headed straight to Arizona from Miami instead of coming home and will work out in the desert this week ahead of next week's game against the Chargers, and perhaps – in an opposite way as the now-infamous “boat trip” a few years back – the chance to be away for the week and re-focus will be a boost to the Giants.
“I don't think it's a bad idea to get away, spend some time with your team, like a little college trip,” Barkley said. “Obviously, you want to be with your family, but we can take advantage of this, use this as a trip to, relax, breathe, come together collectively, spend more time with each other, and figure out what we've got to do better.”
The Giants may be 4-8 and 13th in the NFC with five games to go, but with two 6-6 teams holding the final two NFC playoff spots, Big Blue may control their own playoff destiny just as much as they did heading into Week 17 last season.
“I don't see any fault or any negative things that can come out of spending time together as a team and getting to know each other more,” Barkley said, “especially in this part of the season where we've got to try to make a run at it and try to win every game we can.”
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