Saquon Barkley broke a pair of tackles and cut to his right and was Sa-Gone, now, a great MetLife roar accompanying him down the sidelines, 68 yards to pay dirt in the blink of an eye, the home opener suddenly no longer lost but there for the taking.
“One touchdown’s not gonna win the game, and that touchdown didn’t win the game this week,” Barkley said after Jaguars 20, Giants 15. “It was a dream come true, I was able to keep the ball, but it was just like, ‘Move on, next play you gotta find a way to get in there again.’ ”
Barkley (18 carries, 106 yards rushing/2 catches, 22 yards receiving) and the Giants never found a way to get in there again over the last 10:39, never even found a way to convert the two-point conversion on a ill-advised handoff to Barkley off left guard that went nowhere fast.
This was one that got away, even on a day when Odell Beckham Jr. dominated (11 receptions for 111 yards, two drawn pass interference penalties worth 45 yards on one drive). One with too many dropped passes by Evan Engram and too much Ereck Flowers yet again and too much Eli Manning arm on what should have been a 33-yard touchdown to Beckham. One where Bill Parcells would have reminded us that there are no medals for trying.
“We left it out there … we could have did a little bit more as a team to finish the game and win the game,” Barkley said.
The kid sensation was looking himself in the mirror over three woulda, coulda, shouldas that reminded him that football is a game of inches, more so in the NFL than at Penn State.
On the ensuing Giants possession, from the Giants’ 31, Manning’s third-and-5 swing pass to Barkley in the left flat against two defenders was good for … 4 yards. Manning was left 36 yards short of the end zone on his next — and last — possession because Kaelin Clay’s muffed punt deprived him of the chance for last-minute heroics.
“Eli made a great read. It was me against two guys but don’t matter, you gotta find a way to make that first down,” Barkley said.
Give Barkley an inch and he’ll take a mile. But give him a fourth-and-2 and he’ll be second-guessing himself after gaining only 1.
There were a little over six minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Giants, trailing 13-9, were at the Jacksonville 38.
Barkley leaped. And, against a brick wall that serves as the Jaguars defensive line, found out he wasn’t Superman.
“I jumped. I thought I had it. I thought I did enough to get the sticks moving, but I didn’t. No excuses, I gotta realize how important that is,” Barkley said.
He was asked what he might have done differently.
“Maybe not dive,” Barkley said. “I’m a 230-pound back, lower my shoulder there and fight for it. Or maybe dive again, and do it in a different way. There’s so many things you can do in that scenario. I can go back and play that in my head so many times. Whatever the case may be, gotta find a way to make it happen.”
He found himself singing the same sad song about the two-point conversion.
“I got stopped at the 1. I gotta find a way to get it, it’s that simple,” Barkley said.
Barkley had 12 yards rushing in his Welcome to the NFL, kid, first half. Curiously, all six of his targets in the passing game came after intermission.
“There was one play when I like made a guy miss and I broke outside and [Tashaun Gipson] came and tackled me. That was like in college, that was a touchdown,” Barkley said.
He never stopped believing his touchdown would come.
“He knew something was gonna pop,” Evan Engram said. “We’re gonna see a lot more of that.”
There were also one carry for minus 3 yards, another for minus 4, another for minus 1, and a couple for no gain.
“It’s kinda like playing chess, and when you get your opportunity you gotta execute,” Barkley said.
And you do the things that cause you to lose, it’s checkmate.
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