LANDOVER, Md. — Saquon Barkley wanted the Giants to put the biggest game of his NFL career on his shoulders. 

Then he lowered those shoulders and spun them through holes when it mattered most. 

After the Giants’ defense forced a red-zone turnover to protect a five-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, there was nothing exotic about the offensive game plan: Give the ball to the best playmaker and let him go work. 

A 12-yard run off left guard. A 15-yard run up the middle. A 14-yard run up the middle. With three straight plays, the Giants went from backed up against their own end zone to across midfield on the path to Graham Gano’s field goal to put the finishing touch on a 20-12 victory over the Commanders on Sunday night. 

“You realize the moment and you want to be the guy who can make plays in that moment,” Barkley said after finishing with 120 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. “You relax, take a deep breath and let your body take over.” 

The former No. 2 overall draft pick knew critics were saying that he was worn down by a heavy workload and shoulder and neck injuries after a great first half of the season. And that averaging 3.3 yards per carry over the past six games as the Giants went 1-4-1 was a sign of bad things to come. Or that a small sample was proof that a team’s best player cannot be a running back and that it would be foolish to give him a big contract extension after the season. 

Instead of getting sensitive about it, Barkley owned it and said that he was “lacking the last couple of weeks — being the guy and making explosive plays.” He then showed for the umpteenth time he is the exception to the NFL’s unwritten position rule. And still wasn’t satisfied. 

“You have to be your biggest critic,” Barkley said. “We didn’t end up with six [points] in that situation. We’ve got to find a way to end the game right there.” 

Amid calls to get Barkley more involved as a receiver, he finished with five catches for 33 yards, including an 8-yard grab as Jones’ security blanket over the middle to convert a third-and-6 early in the fourth quarter. 

Another example of delivering when it mattered most? 

The Giants went on their best drive of the season — a 97-yard march that chewed 8:35 off the second-quarter clock — and couldn’t come away with a deflating field goal that only upped their lead to 10-3. So, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, whose early-season creativity faded in recent weeks, called for Barkley and Daniel Jones to motion into each other’s spots before the snap, leaving Barkley as the wildcat quarterback for a 3-yard touchdown run. 

“Great play call and design by all the coaches,” Barkley said. “Once we did the motion, I saw we had numbers and it was on me to make it work.”