Giants bench Cam Skattebo as offense sputters vs. Saints

Skattebo came into Sunday with 4 fumbles in 5 games, and John Harbaugh had spent the week hinting there would be a price. The word came out Sunday morning.

Jordan Raanan

@JordanRaanan

Expectation is there will be a change to the Giants RB rotation, per sources. Najee Harris is likely to have a larger role with Cam Skattebo downgraded but still part of the mix after the fumbles. All 4 RBs (Harris, Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary) should be active.

The fumble that did it came in the Week 5 overtime against Washington, when Skattebo put it on the ground at the Commanders' 24 with 2 minutes left and the Giants lost a game they very likely win. Asked Friday whether fumbles cost a guy playing time, Harbaugh said of course there's a point. Asked whether Skattebo had reached it: "We'll see." It turned out they had. Najee Harris, a 1-year, $1.215 million signing in August who ran for 1,000-plus yards in each of his first 4 seasons in Pittsburgh, got the start.

Early on the rotation looked like it might work. All 4 backs had played by the end of the second drive, and the first touchdown went to a guy who knows exactly how Skattebo feels.

Mike Garafolo

@MikeGarafolo

Tyrone Tracy, buried on the depth chart after a Week 1 fumble, has worked his way back into John Harbaugh’s good graces and into the end zone for the #Giants, who are rotating all four backs today.

Tracy got buried on the depth chart after a fumble in Week 1 and worked his way back. Fine story. The trouble is it was close to the only thing the backfield did. At one point in the first half, wide receiver Darnell Mooney had 20 rushing yards on 1 carry and every other Giant combined had 11 on 11. Then came the halftime snap count.

Field Yates

@FieldYates

First have snaps and opportunities for the Giants running backs: Najee Harris: 9 snaps, 3 rushes, 0 yards (0.0 average) Tyrone Tracy, Jr.: 9 snaps, 2 rushes, 4 yards, 1 catch, 17 yards, TD Devin Singletary: 9 snaps, 3 rushes, 5 yards Cam Skattebo: 6 snaps, 0 touches

Harris: 3 carries, 0 yards. Singletary: 5 yards. Skattebo: 6 snaps, never touched the ball. You can bench a guy for ball security, but if you bench him and then get nothing at all from his snaps, you're basically just punishing him while the offense pays for it.

The second half was worse. Jameis Winston threw his second interception, the Saints kept piling on, and with 11:34 left the Giants still had only 37 rushing yards. With the Giants down 24 in the fourth quarter, J.J. McCarthy came in for what was basically a preseason drive, and that one ended in an interception too. The jokes wrote themselves.

Joe Schad

@schadjoe

Benching Skattebo broke their spirits

Skattebo has a real problem with the ball and Harbaugh had every reason to make the point. But a team that came in at 3-1-1 and leading the NFC East just showed it has nothing else in the backfield. Now watch the RB snap count next week. Either Harbaugh sticks with the rotation to make the point, or Sunday convinces him the guy who fumbles is still the best back he has.