Big Blue View
The New York Giants bullied the Philadelphia Eagles to the tune of 172 yards on the ground in their 34-17 win. The Giants have talked about imposing their physicality on opponents — and on Thursday Night Football, they delivered. Cam Skattebo rushed for 98 yards on 19 carries (5.2 yards per carry) with three touchdowns as the Giants collectively averaged 4.4 yards on the ground.
Since the return of Andrew Thomas, the Giants have found more success on the ground, as well as much better protection for the signal caller. Thomas’ return, together with a more diverse rushing approach from Mike Kafka and a Tasmanian devil wearing No. 44, has helped the Giants control the football and successfully employ a rushing attack for the first time in years.
This newfound revelation must prove consistent, but it’s a welcome development — likely aided by the mobility of quarterback Jaxson Dart. Still, the catalyst for the development is the emergence of rookie running back Cam Skattebo.
Skattebo has 338 yards on 82 carries (4.1 yards per carry) with five touchdowns on the ground. He averaged 3.09 yards after contact (23rd in the league) with 17 total missed tackles forced (6th in the league with an extra game played, but he also hardly saw the field to start the season).
Skattebo is currently second in the NFL with first downs earned on the ground. He has 24; Javonte Williams of the Dallas Cowboys has 25.
Skattebo was put into a successful position against the Eagles in Week 6. Even with the return of Tyrone Tracy Jr., it was Cam Skattebo who played 74% of the snaps to Tracy’s 32% (Devin Singletary played 6%). New York utilized the PONY package (21 personnel), featuring two running backs, at a season-high 9% rate.
Should the Giants sustain this physical style of play, their capacity to dictate the flow of games could significantly enhance their chances of success, even in the absence of Malik Nabers. Diversifying their rushing attack will help them achieve success; let’s take a look at exactly how they did that in Week 6 against the Eagles.
Mike Kafka and Brian Daboll are no strangers to the crack-toss run, which is a play designed to attack the edge of the defense with a down-blocking condensed split wide receiver, an HB pitch, and a pulled play-side tackle into space against a smaller defender. The Giants add a neat wrinkle to the play by motioning a tight end from the backside to block; one gains an advantage when that tight end is 6’5, 270 pounds. New York ran this play twice on a second-and-one and a second-and-ten:
Both plays are executed to perfection for the Giants, resulting in six and twelve-yard gains, both converting first downs. On the second-and-ten (bottom), Austin Schlottmann does a great job of crossing the face of the front-side three-technique and maintaining contact on Byron Young (94) until the defender fell to the ground. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey (89)...
