Giants president John Mara has his worst nightmare: A brilliant performance by Saquon Barkley
Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles runs the ball for a long gain during the third quarter against the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
John Mara famously said last offseason he would have “a tough time sleeping” if star running back Saquon Barkley signed with the rival Eagles.
So imagine the restless night the Giants’ president faced on Sunday after the fact that Barkley did, in fact, go to Philadelphia blew up spectacularly in the Giants’ faces.
It is difficult to imagine a worse outcome than what befell them at MetLife Stadium, a 28-3 loss to the Eagles that was almost surreal in its awfulness for the home team.
First, there was Barkley carrying 17 times for 176 yards and a touchdown, with rushes of 55, 41 and 38 yards. And he was pulled early in the fourth quarter.
The 176 yards were the most by a Giants opponent in the 15-season history of MetLife Stadium.
Then there was Daniel Jones, the quarterback whom the Giants paid well to re-sign before eventually letting Barkley move on, ineffective at the helm of an offense that totaled only 119 yards — the fewest under Brian Daboll by 31 yards and the team’s lowest total since it gained 112 against Tampa Bay in 1999. Jones was benched early in the fourth quarter.
The rest of the season and beyond will tell us definitively whether the Giants went with the wrong guy.
But on Sunday, the answer was clear and loud — including from fans who started the day booing Barkley and ended it booing Jones.
“To be honest, I’m so happy this game’s over,” a beaming Barkley said. “I don’t think I should get — besides [Sunday] — any more questions about the Giants.”
Barkley doggedly stuck to the high road in talking about the team that drafted him second overall in 2018, insisting he has “nothing but love and respect for all the guys over there.”
But he did not deny there was a little extra juice in this matchup for him. It began with the booing.
“It is kind of hard not to hear that,” Barkley said. “I didn’t help myself when I said early in the week that I didn’t think I was going to get booed. But they are booing for a reason. It’s a compliment at the end of the day. That is how I took it.”
Barkley admitted to being taken aback by seeing his replica jersey burned in the parking lot as he entered the stadium.
“That was crazy,” he said. “That was definitely different. I don’t know if I ever experienced anything like that in my life, and hopefully I don’t experience that again. But in that moment, I was ready for third-and-1, let’s just say that.”
Barkley said he talked more trash than usual this past week, but most of it was good-natured. “I’m literally playing some of my friends,” he said.
One of those friends was nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, whose recent wedding Barkley attended and who stopped Barkley cold on a couple of occasions.
Did Barkley feel as if he had something extra to prove this week?
“I don’t think it’s this week,” he said. “It’s every week. Howie [Roseman, the Eagles’ GM], took a chance on me, the whole organization took a chance on me, and I’m thankful for it.
“Stuff like that means a lot to me. That’s why there’s no hate in my heart with the Giants’ organization. They drafted me, brought me in, helped a kid live his dream.”
Said quarterback Jalen Hurts, “I’m just ecstatic for him, happy for him, not only how he performed, but how he was able to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles. Jones signed a new deal with the Giants before last season for four years and $160 million.
That difference reflects the way running backs are viewed by the market compared to quarterbacks. But on Sunday, none of it seemed fair — and none of it seemed smart on the part of Giants GM Joe Schoen.
As for Jones, Daboll said he merely was looking for a spark from the offense when he benched him and that he will start again next Monday against the Steelers.
“I was frustrated,” Jones said of being benched. “I want to be out there. I want to be playing for my teammates, trying to score points. So yeah, I was frustrated. I didn’t like it, obviously.”
Jones got no help from a line that failed to protect him — he was sacked seven times — and a running game that was decidedly un-Barkley-like.
But he accepted responsibility as quarterback for the lack of production. “I’ll certainly look at myself first and see where I can improve,” he said.
If this keeps up, the Giants presumably will look to move on from Jones for next season — if not from Schoen and Daboll, too.
But Barkley appears to have found a home in Philly, which has an established quarterback in Hurts and serious weapons and experience around him.
“He played a good game,” Jones said of Barkley. “Tough to see Saquon do that. He’s obviously a good player. We know that very well.”
Everyone else at MetLife Stadium and beyond was reminded of it, too. Perhaps John Mara and his not-so-pleasant dreams most of all.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
