Giants’ Aggressive Overtime Strategy Backfires After Skattebo Fumble

The Commanders’ clock mismanagement at the end of overtime in Sunday’s 27-27 tie with the Giants overshadowed another questionable coaching decision earlier in the extra period.

The Giants gained a first down at the Washington 24-yard line at the two-minute warning with a chance to drain the clock for a game-winning field goal as time expired, since the Commanders had exhausted their timeouts. However, they never attempted the kick because running back Cam Skattebo fumbled on the next play—a situation that would have drawn far more scrutiny had Washington secured the victory.

In his postgame press conference, Giants head coach Brian Daboll described a 42-yard field goal as “very makeable, but not a gimme,” explaining that the strategy was to gain additional yardage rather than kick immediately or simply kneel to run down the clock.

“Strategically, the idea was to run it twice, get as close as we could, protect the football—which we’ve discussed repeatedly—and then run the clock down and take a knee,” Daboll said, per the team’s transcript. “That way, if he misses the field goal, there’s no time left for them to come back and tie it. That’s the strategy we settled on in training camp, and it’s likely what we’ll do next time, depending on field position. Skat knows he has to—he played a hell of a game, but he has to learn from that. I think everyone has to learn what kind of running is required in that spot. We practice that situation plenty. I expect him to be accountable; I know he will be, he already is. He’ll be better next time, and we all have to learn from it.”

The lesson would have been far more painful had the Giants lost, but there remains plenty to dissect before the next time New York finds itself in a similar scenario.

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