On Sunday, the New York Giants will take on their NFC East division rival, the Washington Commanders, at Northwest Stadium.
New York will look to improve to 4-1 and hold their place atop the division, in what has already been a tumultuous season for the Giants. Despite their impressive 3-1 start, New York’s hopes this season primarily were related to Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo finally being able to play football together. Unfortunately, that did not last long as Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury during the team’s Week 2 loss against the Los Angeles Rams.
Meanwhile, Malik Nabers is fresh off his first 100-yard game since suffering his torn ACL in 2025. However, second-year running back Cam Skattebo has been unable to make the impact that the team perhaps expected. New York’s running back is averaging a subpar 3.5 yards per carry, and now head coach John Harbaugh has chimed in on the team’s struggles in the run game.
New York Giants Head Coach John Harbaugh Doesn’t Hold Back on Cam Skattebo and Running Game
New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh was asked about the team struggling to generate explosive plays in the running game. Harbaugh said, “Yeah, I mean, we’re just not good enough yet. Defenses are playing us pretty well. As we get better, we’ll probably have more longer runs. Also, if we make them pay a little more with play action, I think that’ll loosen them up a little bit, probably. But we just got to keep getting better. I think the guys are working hard at it. We’re playing very hard. We’re trying to play very physically. So, all the elements are there. We just have to get better, keep getting better.”
Despite coming off a season-ending injury in 2025, Skattebo has seen high usage this season, but has been unable to translate that into explosive runs. As Harbaugh stated, it simply has not been good enough.
Last season, Skattebo averaged 4.1 yards per carry. However, while his numbers were more efficient, his game was not particularly explosive. His longest run of the season was a 24-yard run. This season, Skattebo’s longest run went for 13 yards.
New York Giants Running Game
Regarding New York’s issues running the ball, SB Nation’s Ed Valentine wrote: “The New York Giants’ offense is built upon a run game that has helped them to a 3-1 start by grinding out first downs and controlling the clock.
A closer look at the numbers, though, shows that the Giants have not actually run the ball well. They have simply run the ball a lot. And ground the play clock down to the nub as much as they can.
Through four games, the Giants have run the ball 49.17% of the time, sixth-most in the NFL. They are fifth in the league with 29.8 rushing attempts per game. They are second in the NFL in time of possession at 32:41 per game. They are also second in the NFL in seconds used per play at 32.4.”
New York Giants Head Coach John Harbaugh Doesn’t Hold Back on Cam Skattebo