EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Five nights ago, New York Giants teammates Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo sat next to each other on a plane ride back to New Jersey. The rookies were leaving New Orleans following a frustrating 26-14 loss to the Saints, a game that, in Dart’s mind, the Giants absolutely should have won.
“We just kept telling each other we got each other; we’re going to lay it all on the line each and every play for each other,” Dart said.
Five nights later, nearly any time you glanced at the Giants’ sideline throughout the course of New York’s Thursday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, there was Skattebo, not far from Dart. They had meant what they said.
Through four quarters, they had each other’s backs.
Through four quarters, they bulldozed their division rivals, bullying the Eagles — just as recent Giants teams had so often been bullied before — in a 34-17 rout.
Through four quarters, Dart and Skattebo looked like the future of New York Giants football.
After Thursday night’s stunning victory, losing felt like a thing of the past, like something Dart and Skattebo would never allow to happen to the Giants (2-4) and their fans again.
Of course, they will lose again, but there’s no way to escape the thought that Thursday’s win felt transformative. Whether it is remains to be seen, but the victory felt like one of those moments — where if things turn around, this will be the game Giants fans remember.
And you can largely thank two rookies for that.
Because something about Dart and Skattebo, both separately and together, has captured the imagination and hearts of Giants fans. Individually, Dart’s calm confidence and fearless poise in the pocket seem to inspire belief that the Giants will soon emerge from their prolonged funk. At the same time, Skattebo, the battering ram personified, pushes and plows through defenders, injecting energy into the Giants and their fans.
And then there’s their friendship. From adjoining lockers to neighboring spots in stretch lines, the two appear to have quickly developed a kinship. Together, the two of them have ignited something within the Giants fanbase — and, apparently, on the Prime Video postgame show, too.
It’s going to be a long time before the national audience forgets Skattebo ripping off his shirt with former NFL QB and Prime Video analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick in celebration of Thursday’s win. And of course, like he’d been all game, Dart was right there, egging and cheering Skattebo on.
That started early Thursday night, as Dart led the Giants on yet another first-possession touchdown drive, running it into the end zone from 19 yards out — the Giants have now scored a touchdown on their first possession in three straight games for the first time since 2009.
On the Giants’ second offensive possession, Dart added another score to his ledger. This time, he bought enough time in the pocket for Wan’Dale Robinson to come uncovered, then he let the wide receiver do the rest, as Robinson slipped a tackle en route to a 35-yard score.
From there, it was a Skattebo barrage. The Giants would score three more times, each of them on Skattebo runs. He notched a 4-yard score late in the first half to give the Giants a 20-17 lead they would never relinquish. He later followed that up with 1-yard scores in both the third and fourth quarters to help seal the win for New York.
Skattebo concluded his breakout night with 98 rushing yards and the three TDs on 19 carries, becoming only the second rookie running back in franchise history to rush for three touchdowns in a game (Charlie Evans, 1971). On the third one, Skattebo added a cartwheel to his signature backflip to celebrate.
Skatt flips and surfs. pic.twitter.com/hx9teW6T42
— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2025
“That’s the thing you love about him, is he just loves football,” Giants running backs coach Ladell Betts said last month. “He’s got the energy. That kind of stuff, you can’t really fake. You just, you just have it.”
From start to finish Thursday, the football was fun, and Giants teammates were getting into Dart and Skattebo’s “contagious” energy, pass rusher Brian Burns said.
“I hope that as they get older, they age well in this league, and they’re going to make more calculated decisions,” said Burns, who tallied two sacks to lead a sterling Giants defensive performance. “But right now? Hey man, (go for it).”
In the third quarter, the fun came to a brief halt after center John Michael Schmitz exited with a concussion. Austin Schlottmann replaced Schmitz, and aside from two penalties, it appeared to be a smooth transition, perhaps because the pair had worked together on the second team throughout camp.
“He’s a dog,” Schlottmann said of Dart. “Doesn’t give up. Fights his tail off to get first downs and just to win. Him and Skat had great days.”
However, Dart’s big day did include one dramatic twist.
In the third quarter, he took a significant hit from Eagles defender Patrick Johnson and remained on the ground. Dart eventually got up and jogged to the blue medical tent, where he was checked for a concussion — his third such check and clearance since the preseason. However, during the process, in a bizarre sideline showing, both coach Brian Daboll and Skattebo popped into the tent to check in on the QB.
Daboll later explained that he wanted to know whether and when Dart would return.
“I was making sure that Jaxson wasn’t hurting anybody in the injury tent,” Skattebo said. “He’s a dog. He wants to be back on the field. I knew going over there, I needed to calm down a little bit because I knew he was going to be on fire.”
That Giants drive ended with Russell Wilson in at QB, but as soon as Dart was cleared and back on the bench with his helmet, Skattebo was there waiting.
By the fourth quarter, the energy hadn’t wavered. If anything, it had reached a fever pitch. After cornerback Cor’Dale Flott picked off Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, returning the interception 68 yards to the Eagles’ 23-yard line, Skattebo grabbed Flott’s jersey in celebration, along with “a lot of curse words.”
“Literally during the play, I was like, ‘out route, out route,’ and he jumps it and takes it back. And I’m like, ‘All right, this is amazing,’ ” said Skattebo, who scored his third TD after that interception. “You know, I was feeling it for him, because I know how good that felt for him.”
The Eagles’ next possession ended in another turnover, as Dane Belton knocked the ball out of running back AJ Dillon’s hands, allowing Dru Phillips to recover at the Giants’ 37-yard line.
From there, the Giants imposed their will on the Eagles, running 12 plays to drain the final 6 minutes, 50 seconds off the clock and secure their second win of the season.
Coming off a short week, instead of answering for their mistakes once more, the pair of rookies got to relish in their successes in front of a home crowd. In the final seconds of regulation, Dart knelt once more to seal the win, while Skattebo flipped in the air in celebration.
In the craze of the postgame field madness that comes with beating an NFC East rival for the first time in eight attempts, a horde of cameras had to decide which players to follow around in the madness.
After finishing one of his media obligations, Dart made sure to pop over to his friend’s interview. They screamed at one another and rubbed each other’s heads together.
Mini headbutt between 6 and 44 😂@JaxsonDart @camskattebo5 pic.twitter.com/7zANSrXTwS
— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2025
Once more, they were together. Once more, giving Giants fans something to smile about.
