JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Saquon Barkley spent the agonizing final 1:04 of Sunday’s 23-17 win over the Jaguars anxiously roaming the sidelines. Rather than being able to help make a difference on the field as the seconds ticked down, the Giants running back could only watch, hoping the defense would hold firm against the Jaguars’ last-second rally and prevent the mistake he had just made from becoming a backbreaker.
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“In my mind, it’s like, ‘Damn, I can’t put us in that situation,'” Barkley (24 carries, 110 yards) said of watching the Jaguars mount a comeback attempt. “But it came down to the last second, probably two yards, but this team has grit; the team has fight, and we found a way.”
GO DEEPER
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In possession of the ball and a 20-17 lead, the Giants were trying to grind the clock down in the red zone. All season long, Barkley has been trusted with the ball in spots like this, and he’s come up clutch. Last week, he displayed a high football IQ in the team’s closing seconds against the Ravens, sliding in bounds to keep the clock moving and effectively end the game, rather than scoring an easy touchdown and giving the ball back to Baltimore. Sunday played out similarly, with Barkley being given the ball the entirety of the final possession, save two carries.
But this time, he failed to make the heady play that would have all but sealed the game for the Giants.
On a third-and-10 with 1:11 to go in the game, Barkley ran toward the right sideline for a gain of four yards. It was initially ruled that Barkley went down in bounds, but after a replay review, officials ruled that Barkley had stepped out of bounds with 1:07 remaining. It was a costly misstep, giving the Jaguars more time to operate after Graham Gano’s field goal extended the lead to six points. Instead of around 21 seconds, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars had 1:04 to eclipse the Giants.
And all Barkley could do was watch. And hope
“I mean, yeah, you know that you’re the reason why they’re even in that situation,” Barkley said, “but you believe that our defense is going to get the job done.”
Just as Barkley has helped carried this team throughout the season, his teammates provided a lift Sunday, stopping the Jaguars’ final drive and sealing the victory. It wasn’t quick or easy thanks to some debatable calls, but the Giants figured out a way to come up with their fourth-consecutive stop of the game, win their fourth-consecutive game and move to 6-1 on the season, their best start since 2008.
The Jaguars' last four possessions:
1: Punt
2: Turnover on downs
3: Punt
4: Stopped on the 1-yard line
The Giants' defense continues to tighten the screws as the game progresses.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 23, 2022
The Jaguars started that final drive at their own 25-yard line. After picking up a first down on third-and-10, Lawrence was sacked by Dexter Lawrence to start the next set of downs. However, a penalty negated the sack, as officials flagged Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson for holding. The very next play, Fabian Moreau should have ended the game with an interception, but that, too, was negated when officials called Dane Belton for questionable illegal use of hands.
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Four plays later, backed into a fourth-and-15 situation at his own 40-yard line, Lawrence connected with Marvin Jones for a 28-yard gain that became even costlier for the Giants after Dexter Lawrence was called for roughing the passer (though the flag, if it should have been thrown at all, should have been on Leonard Williams, who hit Lawrence on the play). The guilty party didn’t matter: The Jaguars still had a first down on the Giants’ 17-yard line with 16 seconds remaining.
Jackson defended Lawrence’s first attempt adeptly before the Jaguars QB sailed his second-down throw over Jones’ head.
With five seconds left, Lawrence bulleted a pass into Christian Kirk, who caught the ball at the 1-yard line but was immediately stood up by Moreau. As he tried to bring Kirk down, safeties Xavier McKinney and Julian Love arrived to help and tackled the receiver to the ground before he could find the end zone.
What a wild ending in Jacksonville 😳 #NYGvsJAX pic.twitter.com/cwH1wYPycb
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
“I expect myself to make plays,” Moreau said of his gave-saving tackle. “Just come in and do my job.”
With the win in hand, an assuredly relieved Barkley took a solitary seat on the bench as teammates rushed toward the action.
“You’re going to make mistakes,” Barkley said later. “You’re going to have your failures in life. But it’s easier to learn from them when it’s a win, but this could have easily went the other way.”
Encouragingly for the Giants, but not surprisingly, it didn’t. Despite all of their injury troubles — including losing two starting offensive linemen (Evan Neal, Ben Bredeson) and a tight end (Daniel Bellinger) on Sunday — and the potential for costly mistakes, they keep finding ways to overcome it all and grind out wins.
goodnight 😊 pic.twitter.com/p1RMx4ubCl
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 24, 2022
“We talk about fourth-quarter finishes,” Love said. “We talk about bringing them out to the deep end, so we can drown people. That’s the team we are.”
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“That’s a Dabes thing: Bring them to the deep end and see if they can swim. He’s been saying that all year. After the first few games, those close, late finishes, that’s what we realized we have to do — bring them to the deep end.”
While their opponents keep drowning, the Giants are returning from the deep end. Again and again and again.
(Photo: Douglas DeFelice / USA Today)
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