East Rutherfoprd, N.J. ? A frustrated Tiki Barber criticized the New York Giants’ play calling on Wednesday, saying abandoning the running game against Jacksonville was a slap in his face and a sure way to lose more games.

The mild blowup from Barber came two days after the Giants (6-4) called only 14 running plays in a 26-10 loss to the Jaguars.

Barber, whose 998 yards rushing put him at fourth in the NFL this season, carried the ball a season-low 10 times for 27 yards.

He spent most of the second half in pass protection as Eli Manning threw 27 of his 41 passes.

“We have to find a way to correct it,” Barber said. “That’s the bottom line. I talked about this earlier in the season; if you don’t have balance, you can’t win in the NFL. A disproportionate amount of teams that win, win it by running the football.

“That’s football,” Barber added. “It’s not complicated. This is something that teams and kids and coaches do from 12 years old to college and beyond. It isn’t rocket science.”