Following a turbulent offseason full of QB controversy, a coaching staff overhaul and Cam Skattebo… being Cam Skattebo, there were certainly many questions to be asked of the New York Giants heading into Week 1; questions that were emphatically answered on Sunday night, as they took down a Cowboys team that many predicted would be well in the hunt for a playoff position, a result that surprised fans and pundits alike. But if you’re familiar with John Harbaugh (as a Ravens fan I can assure you I am), this result perhaps wasn’t as surprising as you might expect.
Harbaugh’s 17 year span with the Ravens was defined by physical, run first offences – units that will bully you into biting on play action plays, control the pace of the game and maul teams in the trenches. And they were, for the most part, very effective. Despite the team’s consistent playoff struggles, Ravens teams had some of the most exciting and impactful offences in the league during his tenure at head coach.
And this is a pattern that he looks to be carrying on in New York. On Sunday night, the Giants came out in heavy formations for 49% of offensive snaps, with 22 personnel being used in 19% of their plays. These heavy offensive packages allowed them to open up the passing game which lead to a great day for Jaxson Dart, who racked up 230 yards in the air and 3 passing touchdowns. And Dart is exactly the type of quarterback Harbaugh needs to make his offence click, with his ability to run with the ball and throw outside of the pocket adding yet another spanner in the works for defences attempting to read this offence. He rushed for 54 yards against Dallas, and the option for designed quarterback runs and run option plays is so crucial for an offence like this to work, as we saw in the later years of Harbaugh in Baltimore, as Lamar Jackson produced some of the best offensive numbers in the league.
Another key piece of the puzzle, surprisingly, is the fullback. A dying position in NFL football, Harbaugh has maintained usage of this position to great effect throughout his career, whether it be Kyle Juszczyk in his earlier years in Baltimore, or the wrecking ball Patrick Ricard in the later years. Following Harbaugh’s move to New York, Ricard was signed by the Giants to a 2 year, $7.63 million deal and saw the field on 48.5% of snaps against the Cowboys, the highest single match share for a fullback since 2018, where his lead blocking and pass protection proved incredibly useful to the offence.
When you pair Ricard with their former 4th round running back Cam Skattebo, you get a backfield that has the potential to terrorise defences. Weighing in at 136 and 98kg respectively, this pair bowling balls are perfect for the way Harbaugh likes to run the ball. As opposed to the current NFL standard of spreading the defensive line to create space, Harbaugh likes to crowd the trenches, and force running gains through shear downhill momentum, a strategy that, once again, we saw work to great effect on Sunday as Skattebo ran for a respectable 81 yards and 1 touchdown.
This great performance should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt – week 1 historically throws up results that are not representative of the rest of the season, but to me, all the pieces of this strange football puzzle seem to be matching up very well, and with Malik Nabers and new signing Isaiah Likely (another former Raven – get your own players, John) both also putting up some great numbers, perhaps the New York Football Giants finally have season to look forward to.
