'Kick ass' and take games: How Cam Skattebo, Giants RBs dominated Texans and earned redemption

HOUSTON -- A week ago, John Harbaugh called out his running backs room in an urgent quest to get more from his frustratingly unproductive ground game.

"One of those guys needs to step up," the New York Giants coach said following his team's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints, a game in which Giants backs rushed for just 34 yards and included the effective benching of starter Cam Skattebo. "Somebody needs to step up and be the back. And none of those guys have done that yet."

A message was sent. And this Sunday it became clear: The message was received.

Giants running backs gashed the vaunted Houston Texans defense, with the team totaling a season-high 188 yards -- the Giants' most since 2023 -- and four touchdowns in New York's 27-21 overtime victory.

So this Sunday after the game, instead of standing at the podium and calling out his running backs, Harbaugh was lying on the ground celebrating with one of them.

"I got tackled on the field, yeah," Harbaugh said with a laugh, recalling Devin Singletary bowling him over in the mayhem of celebration after the veteran running back galloped 30 yards for the walk-off touchdown. "I'm a little disappointed in my balance. Yeah, Devin Singletary ran me over. I was on my back, I have to admit. I got run over."

To be fair to Harbaugh, he was in good company. Giants running backs had been running over Texans defenders all day. And while Singletary (five carries, 41 yards) and Tyrone Tracy Jr. (six carries, 15 yards and a touchdown) each contributed to the Giants' best rushing day of the year, it was Skattebo (17 carries, 124 yards, one touchdown) who dished out the majority of the punishment.

The second-year back ran like a man determined to win back the trust of his teammates and coaches after he was "punished" for his fumbling issues. On the Giants' second possession, Skattebo ran over Texans safety M.J. Stewart, who tried to meet him in the hole. Stewart ended up on his back, though Skattebo was flagged for unnecessary roughness. While the Giants moved backward on that play, Skattebo set the tone for what kind of day it would be moving forward.

On his way to the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown, Skattebo powered through two tackles to put the Giants ahead 21-14 with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter. Finally, Skattebo burst through the heart of the Texans' defense in overtime for a 42-yard run that put the Giants in Texans' territory and set up Singletary for his game-winning scamper. That run also gave Skattebo the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.

Leading up to the game, Tracy, who scored the first touchdown of the day, said the Giants running back room "heard the noise" and was determined to silence it.

"Us three guys, man, we came together as a team this week, as our own little team," said a fired-up Skattebo in the postgame locker room. "We came together, we fed off each other. In practice, we kept each other high, continued to build off each other, and we knew coming into this game it was going to take all three of us. And it took all three of us."

To his point, all three running backs scored Sunday. The Giants' other touchdown also came on the ground, though it was the product of a Jameis Winston quarterback sneak.

While Skattebo and his fellow running backs deserve plenty of credit for what they accomplished Sunday, they were also quick to credit their offensive line for opening up holes for them. According to TruMedia, Giants running backs were gifted 2.64 yards before contact per rush Sunday, the best mark the Giants' offense has produced in almost two years.

Skattebo alone averaged 3.82 yards before contact per rush.

What made Sunday feel particularly poetic for Skattebo and co. was that in the Giants' last overtime game -- the Week 5 tie against Washington -- it was the running back room and Skattebo's fumble, in particular, that cost New York a chance to win in the extra session and should have probably led to a loss had the Commanders not so badly mismanaged the clock.

This week, however, the running backs came up clutch over and over.

In the fourth quarter, Giants wide receivers coach Chad Hall walked up to Skattebo, telling him, "I think it's time for a backflip."

Skattebo got the message, saying, "I knew that means it's time to get in the end zone." Fourteen plays later, Skattebo unleashed a signature run to give the Giants a lead.

And after the Texans forced overtime, as soon as the Giants' defense got the Texans' offense off the field, the running backs took over.

Skattebo took off on a 42-yard sprint up the middle, giving the Giants their longest run of the season -- the previous long run by a Giants running back was just 19 yards. Skattebo looked for a moment like he was going to take the long run all the way to the end zone, but instead went to the ground on Houston's 30-yard line. Skattebo later said he started to cramp up and, out of an abundance of caution to take care of himself, went down.

Singletary had his back.

On the very next play, the veteran running back found a gap set up by the left side of the offensive line clearing space, and he took off between left tackle Andrew Thomas and center Bryan Hudson.

"It was like the seas just parted," Singletary said of his game-winning run.

After Harbaugh and Singletary ended up on the ground in the mayhem, the Giants' three running backs -- Singletary, Skattebo and Tracy -- all came together and hugged one another.

"When Coach says something, not in a rude way, but he says something like he wants somebody to step up, and all three of the guys step up and be able to make plays when plays need to be made, it says something about your room," Skattebo said.

"We were all able to get in the end zone. We all got the good feeling of scoring, and if we can do that every week, then we're going to be happy running backs, and we're going to continue to kick ass."

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.