Saquon Barkley is a magician, but he can’t save the Giants’ hopeless offense

If any running back is worth the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, Saquon Barkley is the guy.

In hindsight, it probably would’ve been smart for the New York Giants to get their Eli Manning replacement sooner rather than later. But it’s hard for the team to be too upset with its draft strategy when Barkley looks like a cheat code six games into his NFL career.

For most of the Giants’ 34-13 loss on Thursday Night Football, it was surprising when an Eagles defender was actually able to tackle Barkley. He finished with 130 rushing yards on 13 carries and nine receptions for another 99 yards. New York’s only touchdown came when Barkley exploded through the right side of the line for a 50 yards.

And the Giants still only finished with 13 points.

That’s not normal. It’s the first time in five years that a player topped 200 yards from scrimmage for a team that couldn’t put at least 17 points on the scoreboard. The last one was Josh Gordon, who had 237 receiving yards for the Browns in a game in November 2013. His huge day still wasn’t enough to carry the Brandon Weeden-led offense to more than one touchdown in a 27-11 loss.

Barkley’s Thursday night was a similar exercise in futility for a Giants offense that looks hopeless.

There are many problems with the Giants offense and it starts up front. The team finally gave up on failed top -0 draft pick Ereck Flowers, releasing him earlier in the week. But the problems on the offensive line run much deeper than one weak link.

Luckily for the Giants, Barkley can make things happen even if the line doesn’t clear huge lanes. One of the most impressive plays of the game was a 9-yard rush for Barkley that included about three cuts, a hurdle and a couple broken tackles:

On the few times the Giants gave him a lane against the Eagles, he took advantage — like his 50-yard touchdown and this 46-yard burst through the middle of the line:

There was also this 55-yard gain on a screen pass, where he ran by or through only 10 or so members of the Philadelphia defense:

The Giants entered the game with three plays of 40 or more yards in the first five weeks of the season — two of which came from Barkley. The rookie running back doubled the total Thursday with his three explosive touches. One ended with a touchdown and two set up field goals, accounting for all 13 points of the game for the Giants.

Eli Manning threw an interception on New York’s second offensive play of the game and it set the tone for the rest of the night. Two possessions later, a Giants drive was doomed when it started with Manning fumbling on a sack that backed up the New York offense to its own 1-yard line.

It didn’t help that Manning had to face the stacked Eagles defensive line, which blew through the Giants offensive line for four sacks on the night.

The difficult day for the Giants’ passing offense only continued to frustrate Odell Beckham Jr. who hasn’t hesitated to share his thoughts about the team’s struggles. The receiver caught six passes for 44 yards and was visibly frustrated for much of the night.

When things finally went right and the Giants scored a touchdown, Beckham punched a fan on the sideline. No, like a literal fan.

With Manning struggling to find success and Beckham never really getting involved, it ended up being Barkley and nobody else producing for the Giants:

At Penn State, Barkley was an all-or-nothing running back who often gave away opportunities for a few yards because he was hunting for a big play. He’s a home run hitter — and that often means a lot of striking out.

That issue has carried over to New York, where he’s been prone to negative plays. Barkley entered Week 5 as the league leader in plays stopped for zero or negative yardage with 24, and he added another three Thursday.

Before he had his big game against the Eagles, Barkley was held to 48 rushing yards on 15 attempts against the Panthers and 44 yards on 10 attempts against the Saints in the two weeks prior. The majority of his production came as a receiver where he managed to catch two touchdown passes against the Panthers, including what should’ve been a game-winner in the final minute.

Negative plays or not, Barkley is the only good thing right now about this offense. He was unstoppable Thursday, setting a rookie franchise record for yards from scrimmage, and making an unwatchable Giants offense actually entertaining.

But it didn’t matter one bit and probably won’t until the Giants make wholesale changes just about everywhere else on offense.