Here are six things to watch as the 1-3 Giants try to get their season turned around.Barkley’s touchesComing off a game in which Saquon Barkley ran the ball a season-low 10 times we can likely expect to see a heavy dose of Eli Manning handing the ball to the rookie running back on Sunday. Provided www.authenticsnewyorkgiants.com , of course, that the Giants are close enough on the scoreboard for the running game to matter.Barkley is averaging 14 rushing attempts per game, tied for ninth in the league in rushing attempts. In two games, though (Dallas, 11 and New Orleans, 10) the Giants have seemed to get away from the running game too quickly.After coach Pat Shurmur admitted during the week that Barkley should have gotten more carries vs. the Saints, don’t expect the same mistake vs. Carolina. The Giants need more big plays, and handing the ball to Barkley is one way to try and get them. Doing so might also help open up some avenues in the passing game.Big plays in the passing gameThrow ‘em short. Throw ‘em long. Throw ‘em somewhere in between. Doesn’t matter — at least according to coach Pat Shurmur and quarterback Eli Manning. Hit it right and you can generate big plays. Unfortunately for the Giants, they haven’t generated enough thus far. The Giants are 23rd in the league in passing plays of 20 yards or more, with just nine through four games. They are one of only three teams without a passing play of 40 yards or more. Superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the game’s highest paid wide receiver doesn’t have a touchdown and is averaging a career-worst 10.7 yards per catch. Thus far, Beckham has been a highly-paid possession receiver. Or even worse, a decoy.The Giants can talk about picking away at opposing defenses New York Giants T-Shirt , staying ahead of the chains or on schedule on offense, but this is a team with two of the game’s great play-makers in Beckham and Barkley along with some quality ancillary options. They need to begin to find ways to get those explosive plays in the passing game.Defending the zone read Blake Bortles: 4 carries, 42 yards (a long run of 41 yards)Dak Prescott: 7 carries, 45 yards (a long run of 15 yards)Deshaun Watson: 5 carries, 36 yards (a long run of 10 yards)Taysom Hill: 4 carries, 28 yards (a long run of 19 yards)That’s 20 carries for 151 yards, an average of 7.55 yards per pop, by quarterbacks running against the Giants this season.Sunday, the Giants face Cam Newton, who could end his career as the most prolific rushing quarterback of all time. Newton needs 27 yards rushing to surpass Randall Cunningham (4,482) for most rushing yards by a quarterback with a single team. Only Michael Vick (6,109) and Cunningham (4,928) have more rushing yards than Newton (4 New York Giants Hats ,456) among quarterbacks.You can bet that the Panthers will use a heavy dose of the zone read, which has bedeviled the Giants all season, and other designed quarterback runs until — and unless — the Giants finally show they can handle it.Defensive coordinator James Bettcher knows what’s coming.“He [Newton] is a very physical, big guy who at times in the zone option scheme, will take the matchup. You will be in the right spot, you’ll have the guy that’s supposed to be on the quarterback on the quarterback, and he will take the matchup at times whether that’s just pulling the ball, or maybe that’s giving the ball and taking the matchup,” Bettcher said. “He’s really smart with those kinds of things and they do a nice job putting him in some of those kinds of situations.”The Giants really haven’t successfully defended the zone read yet. Can they figure out a way to do it against perhaps the best quarterback who has ever run it? That’s not fun to think about.Here is part of what Chris wrote about the Carolina offense earlier in the week:Which brings us to McCaffrey Back to more of what Chris wrote earlier in the week:After Newton, the second-year back is clearly Carolina’s most important offensive player. “One thing about him, when I turn the tape on, I see an explosive guy who’s not afraid. He’s shifty, he can do all those things in space New York Giants Hoodie , but he’s not afraid to put his foot down, lower his pads, and he’s going to try and run someone over,” Bettcher said. “Those are the kinds of backs that as a defensive coach you have a lot of respect for, that when it’s time to put your pads down and get those tough two yards, this is a guy who’s going to put his pads down and get the tough two yards.”Can Olivier Vernon make an impact?Vernon, who had 6.5 sacks a season ago and has 44 in six NFL seasons, could make his season debut Sunday. The Giants, 30th in the league in sack percentage at 3.65 and facing a prolific running quarterback like Newton, could use Vernon’s help.Vernon said this week he wants to be certain he can move well enough not to be a liability. Vernon is the team’s most talented EDGE player. His presence vs. the Panthers would be a huge plus.Oh, those negative playsManning, Shurmur and offensive coordinator Mike Shula all talked during the week about the need for the Giants to eliminate negative plays. That seems obvious, of course. Just how many negative plays have the Giants had on offense? Here’s how many:15 sacks (fourth-most in the league)14 runs for negative yardage (fifth-most)Four passes for negative yardage (that’s unofficial Youth Customized New York Giants Jerseys , by my count having gone through every play)Sixteen accepted offensive penaltiesThat is 49 negative plays in 279 potential offensive snaps, including the 16 plays that didn’t count because of penalties. That means that 17.5 percent of the time the Giants have gone backwards. You just can’t overcome that high volume of bad plays, especially when you are running an offense that is trying to minimize risk. If he knew that the New York Giants would suffer through what promises to be the fourth losing season in his five years with the team, and begin tearing down the roster to begin an arduous rebuild, would Odell Beckham Jr. have put his name on that five-year, $90 million contract he signed in August?“I don’t really know. It’s not really re-sign, I signed something. I could have been here another three years,” Beckham said on Thursday. “It’s hard to think about that right now, and it’s really irrelevant to think about that now because I’m here and I will be here.”With Beckham due $65 million in guaranteed money through the 2020 season, he likely isn’t going anywhere. From 2019 to 2022 he carries a cap hit of no less than $19 million per season. Whether he wants to be part of a rebuild or not, it looks like that is what Beckham will be part of over the next few seasons. He said he wouldn’t second-guess his decision to sign the long-term deal, richest ever for a wide receiver.“I just wish we had a better record than what we have,” he said.Beckham www.giantsauthorizedshops.com , always a lightning rod no matter what opinion he offers, didn’t go anywhere near offering an opinion on the trades of Eli Apple and Damon Harrison — other than to understandably bemoan the loss of teammates.“It’s really not my job. This is a multi-million, billion dollar industry, and at the end of the day it is a business so it’s really out of my control,” Beckham said. “Those guys were family, Snacks (Damon Harrison) was like a brother to me, he came and visited me in the hospital. We’ll forever be lifelong friends, brothers, and I’m wishing him and Eli (Apple) the best in their careers, but it is a business. It’s tough, that’s the toughest part about this. You get close with people and things like this could happen at any point. It’s just the reality of our sport.”