Vikings likely won’t have to face Saquon Barkley in Week 5

The star New York Giants running back suffered an injury in Week 3 and he is not expected to recover in time to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5.

Looking at the remaining opponents for the Minnesota Vikings this season, the New York Giants are certainly not one of the toughest matchups left on the slate. 

Well, the Vikings’ Week 5 matchup against the Giants might have become even less difficult after New York lost one of their top players to a significant injury on Sunday.

During their win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, Giants running back Saquon Barkley suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter that forced him to miss the rest of the matchup. On Monday, it was revealed that Barkley’s injury is a high ankle sprain and it’s expected to keep him out of action for at least the next four weeks.

With this news, it’s highly unlikely that New York will have their top running back in the lineup when they have to take on Minnesota in Week 5. 

Barkley, who was averaging 7.8 yards per carry in his first two games this year, is someone who could have given the Vikings a lot of problems. Especially since Minnesota recently showed that their run defense still needs work after allowing the Green Bay Packers to rush for 144 yards in Week 2.

But with Barkley now unlikely to see the field for at least four weeks, the Vikings’ defense can put the majority of their focus on stopping New York’s passing offense that is now led by rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.

Jones performed well during his first career start on Sunday, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for another two scores. However, the Minnesota defense should be able to make life much tougher for the Giants rookie signal-caller than what the Bucs were able to do this week.