Saquon Barkley Confident Offense Can Produce More Points

Saquon Barkley is coming off of a career high game and knows this Giants offense is capable of doing much more.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Nov 18, 2022 12:06 PM EST

In this story:

Thirty-five carries. That’s how many times New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley ran the ball last week against the Texans, a career-high. Houston had the 32nd-ranked run defense in the league, so there was no question that the Giants would feature Barkley again.

Despite the heavy workload, Barkley said he's fine and ready for more if the game plan calls for him to carry a similar load.

"For me, it’s just continuing to be a pro. We’ve got great people within this facility, and I’ve got great people I work with outside of the facility to get my body back in shape and get my body right for the next game.”

This week, the Giants play host to a Detroit Lions team ranked 31st in run defense and dead last in points allowed. The Giants are one of the top rushing teams in the NFL, and with Detroit allowing an average of 160.9 rushing yards per game, it's only logical to assume Barkley will draw another busy day on Sunday.

As part of that workload--and this applies to the rest of the offense as well--the Giants will certainly have to put up more points than usual if they want to win this game. Detroit has scored at least 30 points in four games this season, something the Giants' offense hasn’t done in almost three seasons.

Barkley is confident that the Giants' offense is built for a scoring shootout.

“I think we’ve got the skilled guys, the talent, the coaches, to find ways to win games, whatever that is. If we’ve got to run the ball 30 times, 40 times, then that’s the way. If we’ve got to throw the ball and make it a shootout, then I feel like we can do that too," he said.

"That’s something that’s the biggest blessing about this team, especially on the offensive side this year. It’s how we’ve been able to adapt, adjust, and try to find ways to put points on the board or find ways to help our team win games.”

Scoring points has been a problem for the Giants, especially in the first half. The Giants average just 7.4 points through the first two quarters, near the bottom of the league. They are near the top of the league in second-half points scored, but the offense knows they need to get off to better starts if they want to continue winning games.

Despite their scoring struggles, Barkley feels no pressure when it comes to scoring points.

“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure or anything. Every time we touch the ball, the offense’s objective is to go out there and score, put points on the board – whether that’s six or three," he said.

"Like I said, they’re a great team over there. We know they’re going to come with a lot of energy and come out with a great game plan. For us, we’ve just got to go out there and focus on the little things and focus on us first and the opportunities they give us, we’ve got to capitalize them and make them pay.”