Giants Say Saquon Barkley is Still Same Threat Despite Sluggish 2025 Start

Blame the Madden cover curse, Super Bowl hangover, or the offensive line, but after leading the league with 2,283 scrimmage yards and 2,005 rushing yards at 5.8 per carry, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley's production in his second season has significantly declined so far.

Barkley, the former New York Giants star whose contract disputes led him to their division rival, has 369 yards on 113 carries (3.26 avg.) and three touchdowns for an Eagles rushing attack ranked 30th in the league (88.1 yards/game), its 3.34 yards per attempt ranked 31st overall.

All that would appear to be good news for the Giants' run defense, which, after two consecutive weeks of holding opponents to under 100 yards on the ground, went right back to giving up triple digits in their heartbreaking 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos last week.

The Giants' run defense remains at the bottom third of the league, ranked 25th overall (130.7 yards/game) and has allowed opponents an average of 5.23 rushing yards per attempt, which is 30th in the league.

Barkley is the straw that stirs the Eagles’ running game’s drink. So it’s only fair to wonder if something is going on with him that has watered down his production.

Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns doesn’t see it.

“He's definitely the same threat he used to be,” he said. “I don't think there's any slack in his talent or anything of that nature. … I don't know why his numbers are down. Maybe just a year.”

Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II shared Burns’ assessment.

“He's definitely the same threat if you watch the tape,” he said. “I think you get lost in highlights and stuff like that, but a down-to-down play, a down-to-down running back, he's still playing really well. Numbers don't always show that, but the tape does.”

The Giants run defense, in the first meeting between the two teams just a couple of weeks ago, held Barkley to just 58 rushing yards on 12 carries, and the Eagles' ground game to its second-lowest total yardage (73) thus far in 2025.

Stopping Barkley was a big key in accomplishing that, and for the Giants, Lawrence said that it came down to the defense wanting it more.

“I think everybody was just flying to the ball, getting a good knock back up front, wrapping him up and making sure he was hitting the ground,” he said.

Lawrence added that if the Giants want to give themselves the best chance of snapping the Eagles’ hex over them on Philly’s home turf, stopping the run remains a high priority.

“You want to be the most physical group out there as a defense, and that's what we want to do,” he said.

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