Can the Giants Beat the Eagles if Saquon Barkley Doesn't Play?

Sooo, you are about to read an article written by a man convincing himself in real-time that the Giants are capable of beating the best team in the NFC this Sunday without the help of their star running back and coming off a tie with a significantly worse football team.

The 7-4-1 Giants are hosting the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday and they might be without the most important player on the team.

Giants are listing RB Saquon Barkley as questionable for Sunday vs. Eagles due to a neck injury.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2022

Well, shit. No idea when Saquon Barkley injured his neck but apparently it’s so bad that it’s a coin toss whether or not he plays this week.

But perhaps it doesn’t matter at all. Saquon has been held under 100 yards rushing in the last 3 games. If you can imagine, the Giants haven’t won any of those games. He looks like he’s either exhausted or hurt. He’s running the ball completely differently than he was in the beginning of the season.

Saquon was asked about his injury and this is his response:

“What week is it, 13, 14? I feel like it’s Week 13 or 14 in the season no matter if I had 200 touches or 10 touches,” Barkley said. “It’s a grind. It’s the wear and tear of the mind, the body. That’s the nature of the NFL but also the beauty of it. I know people saying slow it down — I really don’t see it like that. I think we play some tough teams. I think it’s been November, December football and we’ve been playing meaningful games, going against some really good teams, and they’ve been doing a really good job.

“Now, it’s on my side where I’ve got to continue to reflect on myself and see what I can do better and take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.”

Oh. In case you thought Saquon was slowing down because he was injured, nope. He wants you to know that his production has fallen off a cliff because he’s going against good teams. Ok. Don’t love the star player on the team saying “Oh, I’m healthy. I just stink because I don’t know what to do against good defenses. Shrug.”

So can the Giants beat the Eagles is Saquon Barkley is out?

It sounds like this team can’t win even if Saquon was 100% healthy. The Eagles are a good team and Barkley has announced that is his kryptonite.

Remember when the Giants were 5-1? Let’s just all enjoy the first two months of this season. What a time that was. It’s a painful breakup but when you look back, it was a wonderful fling that I’ll always dream about at least once a week.