Saquon Barkley Not Taking Struggling Texans Run Defense for Granted

The statistics suggest that New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley should have a huge game Sunday against the Texans. Barkley sees things a lot differently.

Any defensive coordinator worth his salary has had to have known for months that one of the keys to slowing down the Giants offense is to take running back Saquon Barkley's contributions out of the game.

Yet despite this common knowledge, only Seattle seems to have figured out how to accomplish that feat, having held Barkley to a season-low 53 rushing yards on 20 carries (2.65 average) in Week 8.

Two weeks later, a refreshed and healthier Barkley, who got a chance to rest his sore shoulder over the Week 9 bye, looks to have a smoother road ahead when the Giants host the Houston Texans Sunday. 

The Texans run defense has allowed 180.6 yards per game, the worst in the league. The numbers alone would suggest the Texans are at a disadvantage against a Giants rushing offense averaging 161.5 yards per game (fourth in the league) as led by Barkley, whose 779 rushing yards rank third behind Derrick Henry of the Titans and Nick Chubb of the Browns. 

"That doesn’t mean anything. I don’t read into the numbers," Barkley said of the Texans' struggles against the run. "Statistically, their rush defense is not up there. It’s not the highest. When we played Seattle (Seahawks), their rush defense wasn’t up there. It wasn’t the highest. They did a really good job of game-planning and scheming the run. 

"Every week, it’s a new challenge. It’s the NFL; there are a lot of good players over there. They’ve got a talented team--great coach, great scheme. You’ve got to take it – take every week (as) a new opportunity and a new challenge to get better. That’s the main focus."

While it might stand to reason that the Texans might look to copy what the Seahawks did to limit Barkley's impact on the game by overloading the box, the Giants are expecting to get receiver Kenny Golladay back this week after a four-game absence due to a sprained knee. 

Although Golladay's contributions thus far to the Giants have been underwhelming, he's still capable of adding big-play explosiveness to the offense that could help the Giants if the Texans zero in on stopping Barkley. 

"The beauty of having more people in the box – the safeties, they’re a little tired. Once you get past a certain level, there’s no one else back there. So, you’ve got to capitalize on that," Barkley said. 

"The coaches are going to continue to do a great job of doing creative things to put the ball in our playmakers' hands to make plays, especially when DJ (Quarterback Daniel Jones) can make plays with his feet and when we get down the field and start getting passes together on the drive and be a little more consistent on the drive, the run game is going to continue to open up. It’s a balance." 

If Golladay can come out of the gate quickly, that could thwart any plans by the Texans to load up the box to stop Barkley and the Giants rushing game and help the offense achieve that balance.

"I just need KG to be KG," Barkley said. "Just go out there and play the game that you love. I think I saw he said something in the media where you guys asked him if he had anything to prove or to prove to coaches. His responsibility is to go out there and play the game he loves and do it for his brothers, do it for his teammates. 

"We all have high respect for KG in this locker room and every single player in this locker room. We know that’s the way how we win games. Whatever it is, whether it’s catching the ball, whether it’s blocking. We know when KG’s out there, he’ll give it his all. And that’s all we can ask of him."

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