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.
Run the rock!
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) threw the initial down block on both plays, which is — yet another — reason why he should be on the active roster; his blocking is invaluable on plays such as the crack-toss.
The Giants used GH counter well — a play where the backside guard and H-Back pull to the front-side of the play to create extra gaps/responsibilities for the defense.
PONY personnel adds to the counter element of deception that draws the eyes of Philadelphia off their run keys and towards Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29); it held Ogbo Okoronkwo (50) in place on the backside. Greg Van Roten (74) threw the kick-out block on Za’Darius Smith (52) with Daniel Bellinger (82) lead blocking to the WILL (Jihaad Campbell, No. 30).
On the front side of the play, Jon Runyan Jr. (76) and Andrew Thomas (78) wash the line of scrimmage down and climb to the MIKE (Zach Baun, No. 53). Cam Skattebo ran through the soul of Cooper DeJean (33), and the Giants secured a solid gain on the deck.
The Giants have employed some more power runs in recent weeks, with only the backside guard pulling to the front side of plays. New York ran it a few times against the Philadelphia Eagles. Cam Skattebo’s first touchdown was that type of run:
Van Roten pulled to kick out off the backside of Thomas, who removed the four-techinque, Ty Robinson (95), from the front side. Bellinger helped by running into the outside hip of Robinson to ensure the block was secure. Skattebo out-ran Baun, who attempted to undercut the run and Reed Blankenship (32) didn’t seem too interested in taking on a Skattebo with a full head of steam, as Wan’Dale Robinson mentioned when conversing with the media after the game.
New York ran the ball five consecutive times out of the I-Formation with a little over six minutes left on the clock. The runs weren’t all the same, but the Eagles’ inability to halt any of them remained. This was the third of the five runs, and the Giants decided to pull Van Roten to the front side. Van Roten did a good job noticing the holes, and Skattebo did well to hit the front side A-Gap, which was not by design.
A veteran play from Van Roten to see the advantageous route and the flow of the linebackers, while understanding that Skattebo would likely see the same and follow his block. An underrated off-script teamwork play by Van Roten and Skattebo. Below are two other plays on that final drive by the Giants’ offense:
This first-and-ten 18-yard rush by Skattebo was the first of the six runs — just a punch in the mouth for the Giants against the Eagles’ feeble jaw. I-Formation off-tackle run with Bellinger as the full-back; Thomas and Runyan transition Young (four-techinque) well, and Thomas eliminated Campbell at the second level. Bellinger took out Andrew Mukuba (24) and Chris Manhertz (85) easily handled Azeez Ojulari (13). That is elite — physical — play side blocking by the Giants.
This is the second run of the six, and the Giants flip the play, still in 13 personnel. The Eagles got a beat on the flipped play and maintained defensive integrity to the play side. Young crashed hard into the A-Ga, and Skattebo found the cut-back into the backside blocking, which Thomas and Manhertz executed well. New York secured another consecutive first down — this one went for 11 yards.
This is a second-and-six DUO run for the Giants out of PISTOL. We witnessed a lot of DUO runs last year; this style could help the Giants if New York continues to harp on the development of their physical nature. None of the DUO plays resulted in enormous gains for the Giants, but Skattebo’s rushing style fits well with the physical displacement off the double-teams; plus, Skattebo has the quickness and vision to maximize this type of rushing style successfully, and the Giants have the tackles and tight ends to withstand one-on-one blocks as well.
Final thoughts
The Giants diversified their rushing approach against the Philadelphia Eagles. They varied their formations and styles while creating extra gaps on one side of the play. They were successful on the edge and running up the middle. But, most importantly, they PUNCHED the Eagles in the mouth and were the more physical and dominant team up front. It’s been a while since the Giants were so dominant in the offensive trenches in both the run and pass phases. The Giants didn’t miss a beat, either, when center John Michael Schmitz exited the game. The third-year center is having his best season to date. Overall, this was an exceptional performance by the Giants’ big men, Cam Skattebo, Jaxson Dart, and the coaching staff against the defending Super Bowl Champions.
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