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When Saquon Barkley was lost for the season in Week 2 with a torn knee ligament, the subsequent questions centered primarily on the health of both the Giants’ celebrated running back and the team’s rushing attack.
Barkley essentially was the Giants’ ground game in 2018-19, accounting for 92.4% and 78.9% of the yards generated by the team’s running backs (despite missing three games with ankle injury last year). The 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year rushed for 1,307 and 1,003 yards to become the first player in Giants history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.
With Barkley accounting for only 19 carries, the Giants averaged 79 yards and exceeded 89 yards just once in their first five games this season. Their per-carry average was 3.8 yards.
But their rushing attack has since found its footing.
Since the start of Week 6, the Giants have rushed for 1,042 yards and averaged 148.8 yards a game and 4.8 yards an attempt. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, during that span, they have the NFL’s sixth-highest rushing total, fifth-highest per-game average and fourth-highest average per carry, behind Philadelphia (5.5), Tennessee (5.3) and Arizona (5.2). The Giants host the Cardinals Sunday in MetLife Stadium.
The 5-7 first-place Giants are now averaging 119.8 yards a game and 4.5 yards-per-carry for the season. That places them 11th and 12th, respectively, in the league. The Giants’ last notable rushing season was 2010, when they finished sixth in the NFL with an average of 137.5 yards. Since then, their highest season-ending ranking and average was in 2012, when they were 14th in the league at 116.4.
The Giants have rushed for more than 100 yards in seven consecutive games, their longest streak since doing it nine games in a row in 2010. They are 5-3 when they rush for more than 100 yards and 0-4 when they don’t.
After the Giants’ 17-12 defeat of the Seahawks Sunday in Seattle, coach Joe Judge said, “Part of our game plan obviously was to run the ball.” That has been the norm. The Giants had 31 rushing attempts, their lowest total in the last four games. It is their longest streak with 30+ carries since they had five in a row from Oct. 19-Nov. 16, 2008.
The Giants are averaging 26.8 rushing attempts per game, their highest total since they averaged 28.1 carries in 2014. The 26.8 attempts places them 15th in the NFL this season.
*Wayne Gallman didn’t have a carry in Week 6, when the Giants defeated Washington for their first victory of the season. Daniel Jones and Devonta Freeman led the Giants with 74 and 61 rushing yards, respectively. But since the Week 7 Thursday night loss in Philadelphia, Gallman has been, as Barkley calls him, “Wayne Train,” rushing for 428 yards (the league’s sixth-highest total in that span) and six touchdowns (tying him for second with Cam Newton, Derrick Henry and Dalvin Cook, who trail Washington’s Antonio Gibson’s 8).
In Sunday’s 17-12 victory, Gallman’s career-long 60-yard run fueled his career-high 135-yard outing, on 16 carries.
*Four different running backs have rushed for a touchdown for the Giants this season (plus Jones and tight end Evan Engram). Gallman leads the way with six, followed by Freeman, Dion Lewis and Alfred Morris with one apiece. That is the most Giants backs with a touchdown since 2013, when they also four – Brandon Jacobs, Andre Brown, Peyton Hillis and David Wilson.
Via: giants.com