Published October 12, 2026 06:50 AM
The Giants didn’t win on Sunday, but running back Cam Skattebo still let out “a sigh of relief” when the clock ran out in overtime against the Commanders in Washington.
Skattebo fumbled with the Giants in field goal range on the first play after the two-minute warning when Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne punched the ball out of his grasp and Washington drove into position for a kick of their own as time ran down. They never got a chance to kick because they made the strange decision to run a play with 12 seconds to go and time ran out before they could line up to spike the ball after a Jayden Daniels run.
Skattebo called that sequence “insane” while noting that it will lessen the amount of criticism he takes for a play that he’d like to have back.
“I fumbled the ball. We can’t have that,” Skattebo said, via a transcript from the team. “I understand that. I’m going to go into the film room and get it fixed. I felt like I had good protection on it. The kid made a hell of a play. I think in that situation what I think I could do differently is try not to get the extra yards because we’re already in a good position and continue to take care of the ball. If I get tackled for a loss at one yard, then I get tackled for a loss at one yard. I’m the player that tries to fight for as many yards as possible for this team. It kind of bit me in the ass there. I got to make sure I protect the ball for this football team. We win that game if I do.”
There was still a kick to make and Dominic Zvada missed three field goals Sunday, including one earlier in overtime, but it’s easy to understand why Skattebo would put the result on his shoulders. Thanks to Daniels and Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, he won’t have to deal with quite as much grief from anyone else.